FLUSHING, N.Y. — On the eve of the 2026 U.S. Open main draw, during another jam-packed afternoon at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center grounds in Queens, N.Y., USTA CEO Craig Tiley said he expects tennis’ final Grand Slam tournament of the year to further swell as an entertainment mecca for children and adults alike.
“This will become tennis Disneyland,” he said Saturday during the tournament-opening press conference. “We’re going to have lots of opportunities for players and for young kids and for adults to come inside and have different experiences.”
Given the tournament’s “insatiable demand” and the ballooning success of Fan Week, which has solidified the U.S. Open as a three-week event, Tiley said future growth of the tournament will “not necessarily [come from] increasing the length of an event, but there’s more opportunity within the event” to develop activities and activations.
Tiley’s remarks come amid surging prices for main draw tickets on resale markets, underscoring the immense popularity of the tournament. Day session grounds passes, which retail at $65, were reselling for $321 on the official U.S. Open Ticketmaster on Saturday.
The skyrocketing price of admission to the tournament, coupled with the USTA’s unabashed courting of new audiences through creator content partnerships, have prompted scrutiny of whether the USTA, the non-profit in charge of the U.S. Open, is doing enough to ensure access to children and core tennis fans.
