New York (USA), Sep 9 (EFE).- New York, tennis and… vodka. The ‘Honey Deuce’ cocktail has become a perfect business for the US Open, in which Carlitos Alcaraz raises passions. Its price increases every year more than the American inflation. It costs 20% more than last year and despite the 22 dollars per cup, it is estimated that the tournament will sell more than 250,000 in this edition for an income of more than 5.5 million dollars.
Vodka, raspberry liqueur and lemonade, with three balls of frozen melon to symbolize the tennis balls. Since its introduction in 2007, more than a million ‘Honey Deuce’ have been sold and this year there will be more than 9,000 liters of vodka in the glasses. The restoration, coupled with million-dollar sponsorship deals, make the US Open a money-making machine. Players benefit from these deals with a record prize pool of more than $60 million.
There is no shortage of culinary opportunities in Flushing Meadows, with forty bars and restaurants serving food and drinks for all tastes. The common denominator is the high price: $22 for a cocktail, $14.50 for a beer, $10 for a hot dog.
PRICES INCREASE BETWEEN 10% AND 20%
This year, also due to record inflation in the United States, prices for food and drinks in Flushing Meadows have increased by between 10% and 20%.
The famous Honey Deuce vodka-based cocktail, a Flushing Meadows court favorite, is selling for $22 this year. In 2021 it cost twenty and previously it was sold for 18.
Since they were first launched in 2007, more than a million Honey Deuce have been sold at Flushing Meadows, recording notable sales increases each year, according to data published by ‘Forbes’. Last year more than 250,000 cocktails were sold, for a total of more than 9,000 liters of vodka, and this trend has increased in this edition.
For the most demanding palates, it is also possible to enjoy a lunch or dinner based on oysters and champagne in one of the Arthur Ashe boxes. Half a dozen oysters sell for $31 and champagne is $32 a glass.
In a city known for its high cost of living, prices at Flushing Meadows stand out as being particularly high. The price of a Honey Deuce is comparable to that of a cocktail at the Four Seasons in midtown Manhattan, one of the most luxurious hotels in the city.
CADILLAC REPLACES MERCEDES
In 2021, the tournament exceeded 100 million dollars in profits generated by sponsorship contracts and this edition, the first since 2019 without limitations caused by the coronavirus pandemic, appears even richer due to the signing of new millionaire agreements.
One of the most prominent was the “several-year” contract signed with the American car manufacturer Cadillac, after the Mercedes sponsorship contract, in force since 2009, expired. The economic data on the new agreement with Cadillac did not come out, but it was It deals with numbers that are around eight figures: the German house paid an amount greater than nine million dollars per year.
Cadillac, which recently launched its first-ever line of electric cars, has its logo online and also opened a 3,000-square-foot showroom in Flushing Meadows.
The list of sponsors is not lacking the usual Rolex, JP Morgan, American Express or Emirates Airways and they are joined by the Moderna biotechnology, one of the main producers of vaccines against the coronavirus.
RECORD NUMBERS IN THE STANDS AND ON TV
Serena Williams’ retirement announcement in early August, Rafa Nadal’s return three years later and the amazing growth of Carlos Alcaraz, one of the local fans’ favorites, triggered the anticipation for this US Open and the Numbers of fans in the stands and viewers are record high.
The three rounds played by Serena Williams, all televised in prime time in the United States, were the most watched on the “ESPN” network, owners of the rights, with peaks of five million viewers in the second round match against the Estonian Anett Kontaveit.
$50,000 FOR A BOX AT THE FINAL
The American legend said goodbye on Friday when she fell to Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic, but each of her matches was a massive event. Seeing her “last dances” of hers was expensive: more than 700 dollars on average in the digital applications of sale to sit in the Arthur Ashe.
Those same tickets cost half until last July, when Williams’s will to leave tennis was not yet known.
There are hardly any tickets left to attend the women’s final, on Saturday, and the men’s final, on Sunday, with prices reaching up to $50,000 for the boxes on digital sales platforms.
There is no doubt that the grand finale will be another catwalk for celebrities, when politicians like Bill Clinton, athletes like Lindsey Vonn or Tiger Woods, filmmakers like Spike Lee, among many others, parade through the boxes of honor of a tournament that every year raises the bar of excesses further.
Andrea Montolivo
(c) EFE Agency
