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2008 US Open Biggest in 40 Year History Breaking All-Time Records

FLUSHING, N.Y. — The USTA today announced that the 2008 US Open was the biggest and most successful US Open in its 40-year history as revenue, attendance, website traffic, and concession sales hit all-time highs and American players excelled during the competition.

Attendance:

• A new all-time attendance record of more than 720,000 fans topped last year’s record
• Arthur Ashe Stadium was sold to a record 99% of capacity for the first time, with 23 of 26 sessions sold out
• Attendance has climbed by 180,000 vs. 10 years ago, and by 100,00 vs. 5 years ago
• The US Open remains the highest-attended annual sporting event in the world

Website:

• Total visits to USOpen.org, the official website of the US Open, topped 39 million visits for the first time, an increase of 33% vs. last year
• Unique visitors, from more than 200 countries, topped 9 million for the first time, an increase of 26% over last year’s record total
• Total page views exceeded 222 million for the first time

Television:

• The women’s final rating was up 57% vs. last year, and was the highest since 2002
• CBS’s ratings for the men’s semifinals was up 16% vs. last year

Competitive Americans:

• Americans captured four of the titles at the 2008 US Open: Women’s Singles (Serena Williams), Men’s Doubles (Bob and Mike Bryan), Women’s Doubles (Liezel Huber) and Girls’ Singles (CoCo Vandeweghe)
• Americans were runners-up in Women’s Doubles (Lisa Raymond) and Boys’ Singles (Devin Britton)
• Seven American juniors reached the quarterfinals for the first time in 20 years

Player Challenges:

• Now in its third year after its Grand Slam debut at the 2006 US Open, player challenges increased by 50% this year (an extra challenge per set was added for the 2008 US Open)
• A total of 477 calls were challenged with 155 (33%) of the calls being overturned

Celebrity Attendance:

• The USTA experienced its highest demand for celebrity ticket requests as the elite of sports, business, entertainment and music world descended on the 2008 US Open
• Entertainers attending the US Open included Will Ferrell, Anne Hathaway, Cameron Diaz, Tobey Maguire, Natalie Portman, Charlize Theron, John Hurt, Luke Wilson, Alec Baldwin, Steve Guttenberg, Chazz Palminteri, Rosie Perez, Sally Field, Kim Cattrall, Michael J. Fox, Kelsey Grammar, Glenn Close, John Turturro, David Blaine, Forest Whitaker, Greg Kinnear, John Lithgow and the cast of Entourage, and more
• Fashion world attendees included Oscar de la Renta, Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren, Anna Wintour, Christie Brinkley, Martha Stewart, Brooklyn Decker and Naomi Campbell
• Athletes attending the event included Eli Manning, Greg Norman, Sergio Garcia, Nick Faldo, Paul Azinger, Annika Sorenstam, Mario Lemieux, Sidney Crosby, Rick DiPietro, Curtis Martin, Don King, Johan Santana, Omar Minaya, Reggie Jackson, Pudge Rodriguez, Jorge Posada, Jeff Gordon, and Olympians Aaron Piersol, Cullen Jones and Jason Lezak
• Business and television personalities included Sir Richard Branson, Ted Forstmann, Jann Wenner, Donald Trump, Regis Philbin, Howie Mandel, Charlie Gibson, Matt Lauer, Bob Schieffer and Tom Brokaw
• Musicians included Rob Thomas, Tony Bennett, Paul Simon, Vanessa Carlton, Constantine Maroulis, Neil Sedaka, Paula Abdul, Boyd Tinsley, Aretha Franklin, Anita Baker and Harry Connick, Jr.

“This year’s record-setting US Open was the ultimate convergence of sports, celebrity, business and entertainment,” said Arlen Kantarian, CEO Pro Tennis, USTA. “We are extremely appreciative of our fans coming out in record numbers — more than 720,000 strong — particularly in the midst of a challenging economy.”

Posted on September 10, 2008
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