US Open Stadium Naming Rights Not For Sale Despite $600 Million Renovation

US Open tournament organizers do not plan on selling the naming rights for any of its stadiums or venues, despite recently completing a $600 million renovation project.

The 50th US Open kicked off this week in Flushing Meadows, New York, and leading up to the event, renovations that saw the introduction of new small courts, more seats to watch practice, flexible and/or retractable roofs, and modern construction were completed.

But unlike other sports such as football, baseball and basketball where teams usually have their stadiums or venues named after companies, tennis stadiums are mostly named after the sport's icons.

And when it comes to the US Open, they intend to keep it that way for its Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong stadiums.

"Arthur Ashe stadium and the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center are named not only after just two sports icons, but social icons," CEO and executive director of the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Gordon Smith told Reuters. "We are in the business of selling sponsorships. But we’re also in the business of promoting the game and promoting the social icons related to our game."

King was notably a 12-time Grand Slam winner and helped women earn equal prize money on par with men at Grand Slam events. Ashe is the only black man to win singles titles at Wimbledon, the US Open, and the Australian Open. He was also a civil rights activist and was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1993.

"We’re lucky," King said before the tournament’s opening night ceremony Monday. "It was unbelievable for Arthur and me to be honored in this way. There’s a sense of permanency."

New York is a hotbed for sports, and the state boasts two of the most expensive naming rights contracts in the New York Mets' Citi Field, and the Brooklyn Nets' Barclays Center. Both companies are reportedly paying around $20 million a year to have their names as part of the venue.

But even if the US Open planned on selling their naming rights, it wouldn't attract the same kind of money that the Mets or Nets do, according to chief executive of 21 Sports and Entertainment Marketing Group Robert Prazmark.

That's because unlike those other sports or events, the US Open takes place for just two weeks in the entire calendar year.

"It would be a tough sell," Prazmark explained. "They’d get huge opposition from the tennis community if you took the names off those buildings and I doubt there’s enough value for them to do it."

It certainly makes more sense to keep the names as it is with all things considered. Besides, the US Open still has its fair shares of sponsorships. After all, the likes of Rolex, Evian, Emirates, Chase, American Express, Deloitte and IBM all pay large amounts to have their names on the ground.