DC Open Quadruples Revenues: How It Rewrote Its Economics

WASHINGTON D.C.—The Mubadala DC Open has quadrupled its revenues since 2019, the tennis tournament’s chairman Mark Ein told Sportico. That is due to increases across all revenue categories, including ticketing, sponsorships and concessions.

Over that same time frame, total player payouts have grown less than half that fast. Together, those two facts showcase the complicated economic structure of professional tennis—many decisions are made at the Tour level, meaning the financial success of individual tournaments doesn’t immediately translate into high purses at that event.

Ein, a venture capitalist who is also a minority owner in the Washington Commanders and Baltimore Orioles, acquired the tournament in 2019. Before that, it sold roughly 88% of available tickets, but it has sold 100% every year since (the 2020 event was canceled due to COVID-19). “There weren’t a lot more tickets to sell,” Ein said. “The event is thriving because we’ve made it an event that people want to come to and they plan their calendar around it.”

Full-tournament packages made up just 18% of tickets sold prior to 2019, but now account for 75% of the total. “No one knows which players are playing. They don’t know what their vacation schedule is. But they know ‘I just want to be here next year,’” Ein said. “If you do that, the whole business model is better. You’re not dependent on one star or two stars.”

Tickets sell out, but that doesn’t mean the venue is overcrowded—there are plenty of available seats on most courts throughout the day—which makes for a pleasant environment.

The first year after Ein took over, the tournament added an indoor, air-conditioned food court that immediately improved the fan experience on hot summer days in Washington, D.C. This year, a practice court was turned into an additional outdoor fan area with TV screens, food trucks and picnic tables. “People aren’t just coming, but they’re staying longer,” Ein said. “I’m obsessed with creating good food experiences in sports.”

Arguably the event’s most significant change came in 2023 when it upgraded from a WTA 250 to a WTA 500, meaning more ranking points and prize money available to the women. That was also the first year as a title sponsor for Mubadala, a state-owned investment firm from Abu Dhabi, which is now the sole title sponsor after Citigroup didn’t renew its deal this year.

The tournament is the first and only joint 500-level event on the ATP and WTA tours.

Becoming a WTA 500 attracted better women’s talent. On the men’s side, the tournament reduced the size of the draw this year from 48 to 32, raising the bar for qualification and therefore creating better early-round matches. “From the very first day you have these unbelievable matchups because everyone who gets in the draw is a top-50 player,” Ein said.

Another incremental revenue driver was splitting Wednesday and Thursday into day and night sessions in the main stadium, which had previously only been done for Friday and Saturday. Ein said the tournament will likely make the change for Monday and Tuesday as well in 2027.

“[It’s underreported] how well [tennis] is doing,” Ein said. “If you talk to any event owner, players… It’s thriving. It’s doing really well in the United States. People love this sport.”

Amidst a quadrupling of revenue, however, the total prize pool for the DC Open has increased 91% since 2019. The purse for the men is up just 30% in that span, from $1.9 million to $2.47 million. Prior to 2026, according to the ATP rulebook, prize money at the ATP 500s increased annually based on a formula using average growth rate of revenues across all ATP 500s. In 2026, prize money was set to increase roughly 2.5% for all ATP 500s, but players will be paid additional money at the end of the year from a variable bonus pool that is calculated based on aggregate profits across all ATP 500s relative to base prize money across all ATP 500s.

Under both the current and former rules, DC Open prize money was linked to all ATP 500s across the calendar rather than its own revenues. The men’s prize pool is tied for the lowest of any ATP 500 that has been played up until this point in the season, but all fall within a narrow band from $2.47 million to $3.45 million.

The women’s purse operates differently. As part of becoming a WTA 500, prize money has increased more than 6x—from $250,000 to $1.64 million since 2019—including a 28% increase this year following a 39% bump last year. According to Ein, the increases were essentially built in as part of a long-term plan to close the gap between men’s and women’s prize pools.

Instead of the formulaic increases that determine ATP 500 prize money, there is a minimum prize money total required for WTA 500s as determined each year by the WTA, but tournaments can voluntarily exceed those amounts. This is welcomed by the WTA and there are no limits on the maximum—the Charleston Open, for instance, offered $2.3 million this year, despite a minimum requirement of $1.21 million. The DC Open’s women’s pool is the fourth-highest of the 12 WTA 500s that have been played so far in 2026.

While the tournament is thriving financially, the facility needs work. The DC Council recently approved a total of nearly $10 million for upgrades, some of which will go toward improvements such as new locker rooms. The courts also need lengthening because players are hitting the ball harder. Ein hopes for additional changes that will improve the facility’s quality for the public year-round, such as overdue repainting, replacing the bubble and adding heating.

“This thing has been, honestly, undermaintained and underinvested and I would say neglected for so long,” Ein said. “That $10 million is really just the start to get it to what it should be, for what the community deserves, really. And the tournament, but more for the community.”