U.S. Open fans feeling priced out by secondary market tickets
Tennis fans watch a match between Miomir Kecmanovic, of Serbia, and Denis Shapovalov, of Canada, during the first round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026, in New York. Credit: AP/Adam Hunger
Mike Kelly of Ocala, Florida, has been traveling to New York for the U.S. Open “off and on” since 1990.
He spent over $900 total on the secondary market for three tickets into Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday, the second of three days of the men’s and women’s singles first round.
Earlier this month, a report noting that grounds pass tickets for this past Sunday were $363 went viral on social media. The get-in price for a grounds pass ticket for Tuesday was down to $128, according to TickPick as of 2:30 p.m. Monday. But the cheapest grounds pass tickets for Friday ($299), Saturday ($399) and Sunday ($274) were much more expensive.
It’s obvious to Kelly that fans are being priced out of the U.S. Open. And, as someone who has been attending the tournament for decades, he’s questioning whether this trip will be his last.
“Look, this is the beginning session. These aren't really even good games,” he said Monday. “Those ticket prices have to be much more expensive. It's cheaper to go – I could get a nice deal and go out to [the Indian Wells Open in California] for a whole vacation, or go down to the Miami Open for cheaper than it is coming up here. It’s disappointing. It went up a lot from last year.
“We have friends that don’t go now because of ticket prices … It's probably our last year doing it.”
Will French, of Waco, Texas, similarly has been traveling to the U.S. Open every other year for 20 years.
He bought two $75 tickets near the top of Arthur Ashe Stadium for Monday, which he said is “not bad for a whole day of tennis.” He noted he could come at 11 a.m. and stay on the grounds until midnight if he wanted.
French missed the opportunity to buy the $65 face-value ground pass tickets, and he didn’t entertain purchasing them on the secondary market once he saw prices north of $200.
“I thought they were pretty bad this year, especially for the grounds,” he said of the resale prices.
As prices to attend the U.S. Open increase, could the United States Tennis Association do anything to make the event more accessible for fans?
New USTA CEO Craig Tiley said Saturday it’s “critical” to balance the tournament’s accessibility – especially for children – while also keeping prize money high for the players. He said earlier this month that “we are proud to deliver” a record-setting prize money pool of $108 million.
He recognized that “one of our biggest challenges is the secondary market.”
“I've been on the job for five weeks and I've learned more about the secondary market. If you want to get on the grounds and have to pay their tickets, it's a price that's challenging,” he said. “I'll get to understand more about it, and we need to continue to find ways to make it affordable, and most importantly, accessible.”
Tiley said that “there is an insatiable demand” for the U.S. Open, which “as a sporting and entertainment event, is up there, No. 1, No. 1 or No. 2 in the United States and potentially globally.”
He speculated that the free-to-attend “Fan Week,” the seven days last week that featured qualifying matches, “probably” will become the tournament’s most attended week.
Kelly recalled the “very affordable” days when he used to bring his own food and beer into the U.S. Open and make a weekend out of the trip.
Those days are long gone, and he is far from the only fan impacted.
“I forget the prices, but it was extremely cheap,” Kelly said. “It’s not that way anymore.”
Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
