Sometimes I have to remind myself that the US Open revolves around tennis. I’m kidding (kind of), but it feels like just as much of a food festival and fashion show as it does a sporting event. Last year, $17 million of Honey Deuces were sold. $17 million, just for a vodka raspberry lemonade cocktail with three little scooped out circles of honeydew that slightly resemble tennis balls.
Admittedly, I tried to get a non-alc version at the US Open a few years ago, and they wouldn’t make it. But they did agree to give me sparkling water in a US Open cup for $23. Obviously I passed and opted to just snag cups people left behind in the stands. Don’t judge me.
The US Open is a huge event, and big food players cash in. Five restaurants. 70 concession stands. 78 carts. Not your average stadium food. In fact, it’s safe to say some people go for the food.
New additions: Salt Hank’s French Dip, a Mexican menu from Cosme chef Enrique Olvera, chef Eyal Shani’s Miznon pita concept. Simon Kim’s COQODAQ is launching new drinks called “Finesse” and “Dropshot.” And chef Masaharu Morimoto is bringing a new handroll and nigiri concept to the club level of Arthur Ashe Stadium.
You don’t have to be a drinker to know the beverage sponsorship roster is impressive, too: The Grey Goose Honey Deuce is the official cocktail. Dobel Tequila has its own Ace Paloma. Moët & Chandon has the Moët Serve. And Lavazza, Evian and Heineken are official partners. It’s basically a hospitality trade show.
If your brand isn’t working with the US Open in some capacity, are you relevant?
Hotels are going big, too, building entire packages around the tournament.
The Ritz-Carlton New York, NoMad. An “Ace the City” package with a private lesson at the members-only Hudson River Tennis Club, two nights in a Penthouse Residence, an in-suite cocktail class, and dinner for two.
The Waldorf Astoria. The chandeliered Grand Ballroom is getting turned into a full-sized tennis court for a Ballroom Tennis Invitational with tennis stars Ben Shelton, Tommy Paul, Leylah Fernandez, and Maria Sakkari.
Park Lane New York. Serving its own Honey Deuce at Calvert’s, plus a tennis-ball-shaped vanilla cake filled with guava, pitched as letting guests participate in Open culture “without a ticket to Arthur Ashe.”
Fashion brands are also in on it, per usual.
Ralph Lauren redesigned this year’s ball-crew uniforms, now in marigold and navy.
The brand has been the official US Open outfitter since 2005 and signed a six-year contract with the USTA in October, extending the partnership through 2032.
Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka are both brand ambassadors for Gucci.
Miu Miu is still dressing Coco Gauff.
Carlos Alcaraz is still a Louis Vuitton House Ambassador.
But the real story is the massive crowd and the cultural capital that comes with attending. Last year, more than 1 million fans attended, often spending hundreds of dollars on merch, food and drinks. And that’s what’s really being sold: not tennis, but the feeling of being somewhere glamorous that everyone sees on social. With activations all over the city, you don’t actually need an expensive ticket to participate. The US Open is becoming less of an event you have to attend to feel plugged in and more of a collective state of mind and morale booster New Yorkers opt into.
Happy (almost) US Open.
xx
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