U.S. Open Setting Premium Hospitality Records
New offerings driving revenue for USTA
Posted On: August 30, 2024 By :Labor Day weekend in New York City often means taking a trip to Flushing Meadows to check out the U.S. Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
And while general attendance tickets are cheap by big-event standards, the organization has also been adding some exclusive offerings that have traditionally been the purview of other sporting events.
The past years since COVID-19 and the return of fans has seen the USTA adapt and evolve its products with Elevate Experiences through premium hospitality opportunities to satisfy consumer demand. Overall hospitality sales have increased 27% from last year’s event with 85% of the premium hospitality purchased by corporate buyers. Nearly 40% of the purchasers are from outside the area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
“Each year the U.S. Open continues to demonstrate why the B-to-B client hospitality remains one of the most effective tool business organizations have to cultivate and strengthen client relationships,” said Dan Rosenthal, senior vice president of Elevate Experiences. “The market for corporate hospitality continues to be a massive ecosystem within the sports and entertainment industry. As live event premium hospitality becomes more sophisticated and thoughtful, we still see corporate hospitality clients continue to shift budget dollars from other traditional sales and marketing tactics to use for meaningful and connection-driven premium hospitality opportunities with their clients.”
Luxury suites sold out before the tournament started for the third consecutive year and both the 1968 Room (named for the first year the tournament was an open competition instead of amateurs only) and American Express Center Court Club have been at 95 percent capacity (if not sold out) since before the tournament started.
Along with courtside seats at Arthur Ashe Stadium, the Open offers packages that include dining and entertainment facilities such as the Overlook, which includes loge-level seats at Ashe Stadium. The Courtside Premier and West Side Seat experiential hospitality programs were sold out nearly a month before the tournament began with 70% of purchasers getting hospitality packages for the first time.
Among some of the newer hospitality offerings include combining courtside Ashe Stadium seating with hospitality in the Player Café and in-seat food and beverage services. There is also a finals weekend event as fans can participate in an exclusive clinic with legends including Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf, Andy Roddick, Tracy Austin and Lindsay Davenport before watching the men’s or women’s singles final in a suite. Following their April 2024 on-sale, the clinics sold out prior to women’s final in less than 30 days with packages priced starting at $20,000 per person.
“Each year, our post event analysis tells us more about our premium fan and consumer preferences, passions and needs,” Rosenthal said. “These insights inform new package opportunities that meet those needs and anticipate evolving preferences. Moreover, one of the advantages of U.S. Open Premium Hospitality is our ability to curate exclusive ticket and experience packages for both individual premium purchasers to large corporate hospitality clients.”
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