By Kevin Rademeyer, Sports Journalist.
Photo Credit: ATP Tour// Julian Finney/Getty Images.
Bill Ackman and Zohran Mamdani don’t often find themselves on the same side of an argument. Yet the US Open has managed it.
The billionaire hedge fund manager complained about a grounds pass being listed for $363. Mamdani, New York’s mayor, responded by securing 1,000 tickets for city residents at $100 each. More than 336,000 people applied.
That tells you something about the modern US Open.
For generations, the tournament has traded on its reputation as the people’s Slam. Take the 7 train to Queens, buy a grounds pass and spend the day close to the best players in the world.
That remains the idea. The problem is getting through the gate.
A grounds pass officially priced at $65 was listed for $321 on the resale market. Demand has exploded but so has the event itself.
Over the past decade, the US Open has evolved into something closer to a three week New York festival, with tennis sharing the stage with fashion, celebrities, food, sponsors and the increasingly lucrative business of hospitality.
The numbers tell the story. The tournament attracted more than one million visitors for the first time in 2024 and shows little sign of falling below that figure.
Craig Tiley, the USTA’s new chief executive, sees plenty more room to grow. “This will become the tennis Disneyland,” he said, describing a future built around experiences for players, children and adults rather than simply adding more people to the grounds.
Tiley called the “insatiable appetite” to visit Flushing Meadows a “nice problem”, while acknowledging that there are limits to attendance. “We’re not going to be one of those events that just want to pack the precinct for the sake of packing it,” he said.
The difficulty is that the same demand driving the Open’s expansion is also making it harder for ordinary fans to attend.
The secondary market has become a particular headache. Ticketmaster sells the original tickets and operates the official resale marketplace, while the USTA receives a portion of the fees generated when verified tickets are resold.
The USTA argues that removing the official resale market would push buyers towards less secure third party platforms. Tiley accepts, however, that prices can become prohibitive.
“One of our biggest challenges is the secondary market,” he said.
The pressure isn’t limited to resale.
Arthur Ashe Stadium is undergoing an $800 million renovation which will dramatically alter the seating mix. Around 3,500 moderately priced loge seats are disappearing, while courtside capacity is increasing by roughly 2,000.
The old loge seats averaged $291 per session. Much of the replacement inventory will cost more than $560, while hospitality seats can exceed $2,300.
The US Open is selling a different product now.
Television revenue was largely flat between 2021 and 2024, while ticket revenue increased 37 per cent to $208.5 million. Hospitality and service revenue more than doubled to $83.3 million.
The customer on the grounds has become increasingly valuable. That strategy has worked. USTA net assets have nearly doubled over the past decade, from $371 million to $734 million.
There is an important qualification. The USTA says substantial money is reinvested in grassroots tennis, facilities and player development. Fan Week also remains free, offering qualifying matches and access to the grounds before the main draw begins.
Tiley says eight of the tournament’s 22 days offer free access, and he sees the possibility of Fan Week eventually becoming the most heavily attended part of the event.
That may be the answer to the US Open’s affordability problem, but it doesn’t solve the central tension.
The tournament wants to become bigger, more glamorous and more profitable while retaining its identity as the people’s Slam.
Ackman’s complaint, and the extraordinary response to Mamdani’s $100 ticket offer, suggest that plenty of fans are wondering how long those two things can comfortably coexist. The US Open still belongs to the people. Getting in is another matter.