They've Come a Long Way Down Under...
The 2008 Australian Open set the Grand Slam single day attendance record for a combined day/night session on Thursday, January 17th. The total attendance was 62,885 (43, 934 for the day session and 18, 951 for the night session) which broke the previous Grand Slam record of 61,083 set by the U.S. Open in 2007. The U.S. Open sells approximately 23,000 seats in Arthur Ashe stadium, as well as grounds passes and a limited number of seats
in Louis Armstrong and the Grandstand. In contrast, the Australian Open only has approximately 16,000 seats in Rod Laver Arena, as well as selling tickets to Vodafone Arena and grounds passes. The Australian Open has experienced impressive growth in every respect over the past 25 years. Today, all the top 128 players compete “down under” barring injuries. The tournament has expanded its marketing efforts across Asia and bills itself as the Grand Slam of Asia Pacific. Now, the Australian Open has bested the U.S. Open in terms of single day attendance – well done!
|| Comments (0)
