The US Open winds down this weekend but not before Serena Williams gets her chance at history and the crowning of the men’s champ. Then it will all be over but the recap. WalletHub put together a 2015 US Open By The Numbers report that explores the tournament’s financial impact, the economics of professional tennis and fun facts related to this year’s event.
A few highlights include:
- $750M – The US Open’s estimated economic effect on the New York City metro area.
- $3.3M – The winner’s share for the 2015 men’s and women’s singles champions. (The US Open introduced equal pay in 1973 and is still the only Slam to do so.)
- 22 – The number of Slam titles Serena Williams will have if she wins Saturday, tying her with Steffi Graf. (Margaret Court has 24 titles. (More important, Williams would become the first woman since Graf to capture the calendar year Grand Slam).
- 14 days between the first game and the final – After being 15 days the past two years, the Open will go back to having the men’s singles final on Sunday afternoon rather than Monday, so fans don’t have to choose between work and tennis.
- 12,000+ – Gallons of food grease from US Open concessions that will be converted into biodiesel fuel.
WalletHub’s report also includes commentary from leading experts in the fields of sports management and economics about everything from ticket prices and the state of the global tennis industry to predictions for this year’s tournament. You can find it all by visiting http://wallethub.com/blog/us-open-by-the-numbers/5935/.
Meanwhile, the PBS Newshour’s website looks at the 16th-century French origins of tennis as the indoor game jeu de paume through the recent discovery of images in the 1540 book “The Theater of Fine Devices.” http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/16th-century-tennis/ For what the game might’ve looked like back then, check out this offbeat ad for Peugeot with men’s No. 1 Novak Djokovic – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LG-Cv0DE-3I – edited by Georgette Gouveia
