Overview
- One week before the main draw, secondary-market data show the average get-in price at about $288 while some day-one grounds-pass listings are near $363, well above the $65 face value.
- Reporting across outlets attributes the surge to automated bots and organized resellers that bought large blocks of presale tickets and moved inventory onto platforms such as Ticketmaster.
- The USTA points fans to Ticketmaster’s resale channel for tickets even as critics, including investor Bill Ackman and tennis journalists, say that practice conflicts with the USTA’s mission to broaden access.
- Fans report being priced out of a long-established experience and some say they will skip the tournament, raising the possibility of weaker attendance during Fan Week and early main-draw sessions if star players decline to appear.
- The gap between US Open resale costs and ground-pass prices at other Grand Slams helps explain the outcry, and the USTA’s recent $623.8 million revenue disclosure underscores how much the tournament’s commercial model depends on ticket sales and on-site attractions.