U.S. Open prize money surpasses $100M for first time as Grand Slams establish player council

The U.S. Open will once again be the richest tournament in tennis history.

The U.S. Tennis Association, which owns and organizes the fourth Grand Slam of the year, announced a 2026 prize pool of $101 million Thursday. The figure is a 19 percent increase on last year’s $85 million, and has likely staved off the player protests over remuneration that took place at this year’s editions of the French Open and Wimbledon.

$101 million is 18 percent of the 2024 U.S. Open’s operating revenue of $559.7 million. The 2025 revenues have not yet been published. The players involved in the protests, led by a group of top-10 stars, want prize money at the four Grand Slams to represent 22 percent of their respective revenues by 2030.

The group assumes that Grand Slam revenues will grow by five percent per year when calculating its expectations. That would put its hypothetical benchmark for the 2026 U.S. Open at $616 million, with the prize money 16.3 percent of that figure.

The USTA, newly led by former Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley, has committed to the players’ three asks over remuneration: welfare contributions, a Grand Slam player council and a prize-money formula tied to revenues. Tiley met with the player group at the Cincinnati Open in mid-August and said that the association is aligned on all three of its asks, according to a person briefed on the talks who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about them.

The four Grand Slams duly announced the creation of the player council alongside the U.S. Open prize money.

“This is a significant first step in a multi-year investment in athletes as the U.S. Open continues to be the best economic opportunity for players and the most valuable platform in tennis for players, fans and partners,” Tiley said in a statement. “We are proud to deliver record-setting prize money and expanded player benefits as well as providing a new platform to work together with players.”

“Having a seat at the table with the Grand Slams is something we have wanted for some time, so I’m really pleased to see this council come together. It gives us, as players, a real opportunity to have a voice, contribute to the conversation and help shape the tournaments beyond what happens on the court,” Ben Shelton, the No. 6-ranked men’s player, said in a statement in the news release announcing the council.

The council will focus mostly on “sporting matters” that affect the Grand Slam tournaments collectively. Players can raise compensation issues through the council but those will be handled separately by each Grand Slam. The U.S. Open has also put $2 million — $1 million per tour — into a new Player Support Program. Add on $5 million in player stipends and the total commitment is $108 million.

Top players had initially threatened to skip the star-studded mixed doubles event, which is the cornerstone of the U.S. Open’s “Fan Week”, but its prize money and commitment to other elements of reform mean that is no longer on the cards.

That followed a July meeting in London at which Tiley, who had not yet started, was not present. Leaders of the player group met with Brian Vahaly, the USTA chairman, and Eric Butorac, the U.S. Open tournament director. Both sides came away with the sense they had made progress, according to people briefed on the talks who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to speak freely about a sensitive matter.

Two days later, organizers of the French Open committed to all three asks, but negotiations are ongoing about the prize money formula, with the French and Wimbledon officials not believing that revenue is the right figure on which to base prize money, because that revenue is used for other purposes like the development of tennis in each Grand Slam nation.

The players first approached the Grand Slams looking to open a dialogue on the issue last year. After a year of making no progress, players decided to act by establishing low-stakes media boycotts, in which they limited their availability to 15 minutes at a time and pulled out of rights-holder interviews. At the French Open, that protest lasted for just the pre-tournament media day. At Wimbledon, it was planned to span the first week, but after talks with officials it was curtailed.

This year’s U.S. Open is expected to produce record revenues for the USTA. The organization is in the middle of a $800-million renovation of Arthur Ashe Stadium, the biggest show court at the tournament. Prices for all seat categories have increased, and the tournament has also added even more premium hospitality seats, which command a higher price than the “loge” or upper-level seats that they have replaced.

The singles champions will this year receive a record $5.5 million, with runners-up earning $2.8 million and first-round losers earning $140,000, a 27 percent increase over last year. Doubles and mixed doubles champions will receive $1 million. Wheelchair singles champions will receive $104,000.

Overall spending on players, including the prize money, has risen more than 40 percent from 2024.

The mixed doubles event starts Tuesday, Aug. 25, while the singles main draws start Sunday, Aug. 30. Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka are the defending singles champions.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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