2019 US OPEN SETS MULTIPLE RECORDS

Record Attendance, Surging Television Ratings Around the World, and Impressive Digital Engagement Brings Tournament to More Fans than Ever Before

FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y., September 10, 2019 – The USTA today announced that the 2019 US Open connected with more fans than ever before in its history. The tournament set record attendance levels, saw ratings spike on ESPN and with international broadcast partners, and received healthy engagement across all of its digital platforms.

2019 US Open Attendance

• The total three-week attendance surpassed 850,000 for the first time, with 853,227 attending the entirety of the event
• US Open Fan Week, from August 19 through August 25 set an all-time attendance record of 115,355
• The two weeks of the main draw saw a record 737,872 attendees
• Arthur Ashe Stadium sold out 23 of 24 sessions during the main draw

Television Ratings

• ESPN’s live, exclusive coverage of the US Open was seen by an average of 1,275,000 viewers (P2+), up 23% from last year (1,038,000), ESPN’s most ever for the event.  The previous best was 2015, ESPN’s first year of exclusivity and airing the entire tournament (1,265,000)
• 28 of 29 comparable telecast windows saw an increase in viewership over 2018
• The most-watched telecast on ESPN this year was the women’s singles final on September 7 which earned a 2.0 rating and an average of 3,219,000 viewers, ranking second all-time (behind only the 2015 men’s final at 3,321,000) The men’s singles final on September 8 posted a 1.6 rating with an average of 2,751,000 viewers and was the the most-watched men’s singles final since 2015.
• Eurosport garnered a 25% ratings increase on Eurosport 1 and 39% increase on Eurosport 2 during television coverage of the 2019 US Open along, with a 37% increase in minutes streamed and 22% increase in video views on Eurosport Player

Digital Impressions

• USOpen.org and the US Open Mobile App, the tournament’s official digital properties developed and hosted by IBM, attracted more than 10 million unique visitors, 5 million of whom were from outside the United States
• US Open Now, the tournament’s new, digital-first live-streaming lifestyle channel, attracted 5.5 million viewers. Engagement with US Open Now was a near-even split between U.S.-based and international viewers (53%/47%)
• Total interactions and video views across the four major social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube) topped 300 million for the first time

Special Events

• A dramatic sculpture honoring Althea Gibson was unveiled on the first day of the US Open’s main draw
• Kim Clijsters was the newest inductee into the US Open Court of Champions
• The US Open’s annual Military Appreciation Day was renamed in honor of 1943 U.S. Nationals men’s singles champion Lt. Joe Hunt
• Rod Laver was presented a special commemorative plaque by the four leaders of the Grand Slam’s honoring the 50th anniversary of Laver’s second calendar year Grand Slam

Offbeat Numbers

• 909 matches were played during the US Open
• 1,545 kids took to competition courts as part of the Net Generation Kids on Court program for pre-match demos, coin flips and trophy presentations
• ESPN presented 178 hours of television over the three-week event
• The roofs over Arthur Ashe Stadium and Louis Armstrong Stadium were closed for 2,883 minutes during the tournament
• US Open fans enjoyed more than 250,000 Honey Deuce cocktails, the signature cocktail of the US Open.  Over 35,000 pounds of honey dew melon balls were used
• US Open fans consumed 13,300 pounds of lobster
• 3,260 pounds of bacon was served during the tournament