Attendance for the WTA Connecticut Open, which ended Aug. 29, was up 10% "over last year to 51,946," while ticket revenues spiked 16% to about $750,000, according to Dan Haar of the HARTFORD COURANT. A crowd of 4,800 for the Petra Kvitova-Caroline Wozniacki semifinal "was the week's best -- the largest in five years." The crowd "justified the state spending $618,000 to buy the tournament two years ago, $400,000 this year on an operating subsidy" and $3M over the last two years improving the Connecticut Tennis Center. The tournament this year "was in the black, barely" -- with $4M in revenue and $4M in expenses, though an "exact tally isn't ready yet." Most of the revenue comes from $3M "in sponsor fees, roughly even" with '14, though the number of sponsors "jumped from 60 to 75." With the $400,000 subsidy, down from $600,000 in the previous two years, the state of Connecticut is, "in effect, a lead sponsor -- paying about half the amount of the biggest commercial sponsor, United Technologies." The picture "is improving" since '13, when the state "bailed out a tournament that seemed headed for North Carolina." But it "could be, should be, better still." The actual number of "butts in the seats -- a number the tournament will not release -- was still respectable, but somewhat less." Keeping the tourney current is a "constant process," as everything "requires constant renewal in the iPhone age, or it dies." The tour "needs to loosen up its starchy tennis culture, and Connecticut people need to step up and do their part." Prices are "in line with other professional entertainment." It is a "matter of building the environment, and Tournament Dir Anne Worcester views charity events within the tournament as key to that" (HARTFORD COURANT, 9/5).
