US Open is might be one of four Grand Slams in tennis but there is no doubt it is the biggest spectacle in the sport. Not only does it offer the highest prize money pool, $65 million if you’re wondering, than any other Major, it also brings in the most revenue of all with USTA clocking a cool $472 million in 2022. And as mind boggling as it may seem, $8.9 million of that came from a single cocktail!
Wimbledon may have the strawberries and cream, but it is no match for the Honey Deuce cocktail you can sip on at Flushing Meadows. The revenue Wimbledon rakes in from its most popular snack is a blip compared to what the cocktail makes for USTA.
Honey Deuce Hero
US Open reported a record revenue of $472 million in 2022 and is set to eclipse that in 2023. And the organizers have the Honey Deuce cocktail to thank for almost 2% of that. Priced at $22 a pop, the US Open sold a record 405,000 cocktails in 2022, making the organizers a cool $8.9 million. No wonder “everyone is drunk as hell after 3 PM.”
Compare the cocktail to All England Club’s highly popular strawberries and cream and it comes as no surprise that the prize money is so generous in New York. The snack brings in fraction of the revenue the cocktail can boast about. Wimbledon sold a record 249,470 servings of strawberries and cream in 2022. Priced at roughly $3.50, it generated less than a million dollars with $873,000. This pales in comparison to the millions brought in by the highly popular cocktail at Flushing Meadows.
It is worth noting, however, that Wimbledon has made a conscious effort to keep the price the same since 2010.
US Open renews partnership with Grey Goose
Keeping in mind the fortune the cocktail makes for US Open, it comes as no surprise that the organizers have renewed the partnership with Grey Goose Vodka, which has been in play since 2007. The event has sold a whopping 1.8 million cocktails since then. The US Open put out a statement earlier in August announcing this continuation.
“Over the past 17 years, Grey Goose’s support of the tournament and innovative spirit has helped to drive our collective success. We are thrilled to celebrate this renewal and look forward to many more years of partnership.”
Looks like the Honey Deuce is here to stay. And given the inflation, it is likely to cost an upward of $25 from 2024. Could it break the $10 million mark this year?