Every year, the US Open brings in stars including Mariah Carey, Fat Joe, Queen Latifah, and, last year, Alicia Keys from her Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Hell’s Kitchen, to amp fans up for the tournament. During the free Fan Week’s Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day, performers including Justin Bieber, Rihanna, The Jonas Brothers, and Britney Spears have provided the soundtrack.
And moving forward, the Open is looking to continue to hit the right notes with fans.
This year, with Mustard on the beat remixing Ace Frehley’s “New York Groove,” the US Open is giving its tournament two stadium shows to entice fans: Putting Odesza in Louis Armstrong Stadium on Sept. 6 and the Swedish House Mafia in Arthur Ashe Stadium after the Open on Sept. 11. Both shows sold out nearly immediately.
The Open first started holding shows before and after the tournament in 2024, and the latest concerts continue the strategy to create cultural gravity around the event—from its opening, free-to-the-public Fan Week to the finals and beyond.
Attendance spikes
During the Open itself, which takes place this year from Aug. 18 to Sept. 8, there’s little doubt that fans will embrace anything the USTA throws their way. The Open faithful endure five-and-a-half-hour matches, 95-degree heat, and the occasional weather delay despite the addition of covered surfaces in recent years. As a result, attendance in Flushing Meadows reached 1,048,669 in 2024—compared to 737,872 in pre-pandemic 2019.
The crowds during Fan Week alone surged to 219,000 last year, nearly double the 115,355 who came through the gates in the last US Open before COVID-19. An obscure freebie when it first launched eight years ago, Fan Week is viewed by the USTA as the moment when the Open is most accessible to new audiences.
“We look at the data of fans attending during Fan Week, and half of the people, according to our most recent research, identify as people of color,” said Nicole Kankam, managing director of pro tennis marketing and entertainment for the USTA. “The US Open is already fairly diverse, but Fan Week itself is even more diverse, and we are bringing in a whole new crop of fans who are getting the chance to see the best tennis players up close and personal. There’s nothing else like that.”
