Menu
Download the app

SBJ subscribers – Enhance your experience with the revamped iOS app

Events and Attractions

Open tallies fewer sessions but more revenue

All 11 night sessions at the U.S. Open sold out this year, a first for the tournament.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
The U.S. Tennis Association last week was calling this year’s U.S. Open its most lucrative yet, even with two fewer sessions played this year.

The Open went from a 15-day to a 14-day schedule this year, but even with the resulting number of sessions dropping to 24, USTA Chief Revenue Officer Lew Sherr said this year’s event should set a ticket revenue record.

Sales of ticket packages, higher prices for tickets, and fees on the secondary market through USTA partner TicketsNow helped drive the revenue increase. Annual revenue for the event in recent years has approached $300 million.

Because there were two fewer sessions this year, total attendance should hover around 700,000, down from previous years. But all 11 night sessions sold out, a first for the Open.

Sherr said records were being set on concession sales and in other areas, as well. He also noted activation by Open sponsors around New York, such as the efforts of American Express and Lavazza. Those activations were more extensive than in previous years.

The focus on Serena Williams’ quest for the season Grand Slam and on Maria Sharapova (even though she did not play) attracted the attention of health and beauty brands for this year’s tournament, Sherr said. The Open does not have a category sponsor in that sector, but that could change by next year, Sherr said. Health insurance also could become a new sponsor category as that sector evolves into one that markets health and wellness.

WIMBLEDON LOOKS WORLDWIDE: The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club is hiring a global communications agency to help the Wimbledon owner market the event globally, especially in the emerging markets of Asia. Only four agencies have been invited to bid: WPP, Publicis Groupe, Octagon and WME-IMG.  Mick Desmond, commercial and media director for the tournament, said the goal with the hire is to translate the “DNA of the brand.” The club should choose a winner by early November, he said, adding that WME-IMG does not have a leg up as the commercial agent for the event.

TRACKING ESPN: Speaking of Wimbledon, don’t expect in-match interviews at the event next year. ESPN caused a stir at the U.S. Open with the event’s first in-match interview, but Desmond called the interview “gimmicky” and said the club would never allow it. ESPN also broadcasts Wimbledon.

The Williams duel drew a 4.8 overnight on ESPN.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
As of late last week, ESPN had conducted only that one in-match interview after expressing optimism for more. Jamie Reynolds, ESPN vice president of production, said players had agreed to it but logistical issues got in the way. The USTA insisted only the player who won the first set could be interviewed, he said, and some of the players who agreed lost the first set. Other times, ESPN did not have an available TV crew ready to go on a particular player’s court.

Overall, ESPN through late last week had been setting all sorts of tennis viewership records, both cable and digital. This was the first year ESPN had first-ball to last-ball coverage of the tournament, but perhaps more importantly it had the story of Williams chasing the Grand Slam.

Williams’ quarterfinal match against sister Venus Williams drew a 4.8 overnight rating, a mark even with ESPN’s coverage of MLB’s Home Run Derby in July. It also was the best figure for any tennis match since CBS drew a 4.9 overnight for Serena Williams’ win over Victoria Azarenka in the 2013 U.S. Open final.

“No question Serena in and of herself as an athlete and her performance over the years is going to warrant a big storyline,” said Scott Guglielmino, ESPN senior vice president of programming.

Kei Nishikori is near a renewal with Uniqlo.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
ENDORSEMENT DEALINGS: Kei Nishikori is close to a substantial renewal with Uniqlo, with rumblings in the tennis agent community the deal could be one of the biggest in tennis. Nishikori is perhaps the most dominant athlete in Japan, and while he went out in the first round at this year’s Open (after being a finalist last year), it’s hard to see Japan’s Uniqlo losing him. Nishikori’s agent, Olivier van Lindonk of WME-IMG, declined to comment on whether a renewal is occurring. … Nike before the tournament executed its right to extend its contract with Azarenka through 2016. … Lost in the blowup last month between Stan Wawrinka and Nick Kyrgios is that both are Yonex racket endorsers (Wawrinka is also a Yonex apparel endorser.) Wawrinka’s representatives told Yonex never to include them in the same promotion, sources said. Lawrence Frankopan, Wawrinka’s agent, declined to comment. Yonex did not reply for comment.

GETTING SOCIAL: Interesting findings by Performance Research, which offers sponsorship analytics and research, about U.S. Open sponsors and the social media mentions they generate. The runaway leader isn’t any of the big companies, like American Express or JPMorgan Chase. Instead, it’s Grey Goose.

The tournament was steamy for most of its two-week run, so maybe it’s not a surprise that the brand’s chilled vodka drinks created a certain, ahem, buzz. In the first eight days of the event, Grey Goose garnered 33 percent of all social media postings that mentioned U.S. Open sponsors, according to the data, compared to 27 percent combined for runners-up Heineken and American Express. The USTA’s Sherr said more Grey Goose drinks were sold in those first eight days than in all of last year’s event.

AROUND THE GROUNDS: John Tobias, head of tennis for Lagardère Unlimited, missed the Open for the second time in three years because of the birth of a daughter. Madison Tobias came into the world on Sept. 5 weighing 7 pounds, 7 ounces. … USTA PR found itself having to deal with several locker room matters this year. First, Eugenie Bouchard slipped and fell late at night in a darkened part of the locker room, leaving her with a concussion and forcing her to withdraw from the tournament. Later, a locker room attendant was accused of stealing Donald Young’s sneakers from his locker using a master key.

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2015/09/14/Events-and-Attractions/US-Open.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2015/09/14/Events-and-Attractions/US-Open.aspx

CLOSE