It takes a truly exceptional affordability crisis to put Bill Ackman and Zohran Mamdani on the same side of the barricade. Yet this month the billionaire hedge fund manager and New York's democratic socialist mayor found common cause over an unlikely grievance: the cost of getting into the US Open.
Ackman took objection to the cost of a grounds pass listed for $363. Mamdani responded to the broader uproar by securing 1,000 tickets for New York residents at $100 apiece, prompting more than 336,000 people to apply for them. Somewhere between the two sits the uneasy economics of the modern US Open, where a $65 ticket with no guaranteed seat on any court can fetch more than five times that amount on the tournament's resale marketplace.
For generations the US Open has traded on its reputation as the people's slam. Take the 7 train to Queens, buy a grounds pass and spend the day milling about within a few feet of the world's best tennis players. But as the final major of the season begins in earnest on Sunday, that democratic ideal has been confronted with a basic problem: more and more of the people are being priced out.
"The US Open is owned by the USTA which is a non-profit," Ackman wrote on social media. "The idea that a day one ground pass is $363 is absurd. The USTA's mission is to promote the sport of tennis. How is a $363 ground pass consistent with this mission?"
Related: Novak Djokovic feels 'as best as I can be' before tilt at 25th grand slam ***** le in New York
#open #pass #mamdani #democratic
Ackman took objection to the cost of a grounds pass listed for $363. Mamdani responded to the broader uproar by securing 1,000 tickets for New York residents at $100 apiece, prompting more than 336,000 people to apply for them. Somewhere between the two sits the uneasy economics of the modern US Open, where a $65 ticket with no guaranteed seat on any court can fetch more than five times that amount on the tournament's resale marketplace.
For generations the US Open has traded on its reputation as the people's slam. Take the 7 train to Queens, buy a grounds pass and spend the day milling about within a few feet of the world's best tennis players. But as the final major of the season begins in earnest on Sunday, that democratic ideal has been confronted with a basic problem: more and more of the people are being priced out.
"The US Open is owned by the USTA which is a non-profit," Ackman wrote on social media. "The idea that a day one ground pass is $363 is absurd. The USTA's mission is to promote the sport of tennis. How is a $363 ground pass consistent with this mission?"
Related: Novak Djokovic feels 'as best as I can be' before tilt at 25th grand slam ***** le in New York
#open #pass #mamdani #democratic
3 days ago
