US Open ‘highly unlikely’ to hold tournament without fans
The US Open has time on its side, but its outlook for this year is in question, much like everything else.
USTA chief of operations Mike Dowse told reporters on a conference call this week that they are hoping to hold the tennis tournament like usual, but they won’t make a decision until June.
According to the New York Post’s Marc Berman, Dowse said they are “highly unlikely” to hold the tournament without fans.
The USTA makes more of its revenue from tickets and concessions than TV money, which means their events will be hard hit if there are limitations on fans.
“Playing without spectators – we’re not taking anything off the table – but it’s highly unlikely,” Dowse said. “It’s not really in the spirit of the celebration of tennis. We really don’t see that as an option. Unless the medical experts comes back with: here’s a foolproof way of doing a safe tournament without fans, we may look at it at that point.”
The US Open takes place annually in New York and is scheduled for Aug. 31-Sept. 13. It is traditionally the last major in the calendar year, but this year’s schedule is different. Wimbledon has already canceled its tournament to collect an insurance payout, while the French Open moved to mid-September.
