The house that Arthur Ashe built is getting a major makeover.
The U.S. Tennis Association has announced an $800 million investment to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. This includes modernizing Arthur Ashe Stadium, the main stadium for the U.S. Open and the largest tennis facility in the world. The single largest investment in the tournament’s 145-year history also includes building a $250 million player performance center adjacent to Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The phased project, which will begin after this year’s Grand Slam in September, will take shape over three phases and is expected to be completed by the 2027 U.S. Open. The USTA maintains that fan access and play won’t be disrupted during the 2025 and 2026 events. It’s the first major campuswide renovation since the $600 million renovation completed in 2018.
The project will be entirely self-funded, the USTA said, with zero public funding needed. USTA CEO and executive director Lew Sherr said that his organization will take on debt to finance more than 80% of the project while also utilizing a small amount of cash reserves. He declined to provide a specific number when asked about revenue projections once the renovated stadium is completed, but said he expects USTA to pay off the debt within 10 years thanks to anticipated profits gained from ticket sales, sponsorships and other revenue streams.
“We feel very good about our financial rating,” Sherr said at a USTA unveiling event in Manhattan on Monday afternoon. We’ve had a A- Fitch Rating for over a decade. Covid didn’t impact that, nor did our last round of construction. We feel very comfortable that we’ll maintain that.”
The USTA, a nonprofit, receives most of its revenue from the U.S. Open. It reported $623,846 in operating revenue last year, with nearly $560,000 (about 90%) coming from revenue associated with the hardcourt tennis tournament in 2024.
The organization reported $291,298 in cash and equivalents last year. It’s unclear how much cash to debt will be used to finance the upcoming project. The five-year renovation project in 2018 was also fully financed by the USTA. Sherr said that once this project is completed, the USTA will have invested nearly $2 billion into the U.S. Open and the complex without government or taxpayer funding.
The lead architect for this next project is Rossetti, which spearheaded the original construction for Arthur Ashe Stadium in the 90s. CEO and president Matt Rossetti himself oversaw the most recent transformation roughly a decade ago. The Open’s main court, most noticeably, will receive a new grand entrance as part of the renovations. Rossetti, a Detroit-based firm, worked with architect Daniel Libeskind, who played an influential role in the reconstruction of the World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan.
Arthur Ashe Stadium will receive modernized concourses to add new retail, food and beverage spaces. It will also gain 2,000 new courtside-level bowl seats, expanding seating in that area to 5,000 seats. Two new dedicated luxury suite levels are expected to be built as well. The seating capacity at the facility will remain nearly 24,000 after completion but with more variety between suites, lounges and conventional seating.
The player performance center, meanwhile, will feature both indoor and outdoor performance and relaxation spaces. The design will also include expansive locker rooms and lounges with an all-new outdoor player courtyard. A new dedicated café for players will also be constructed.
“Where was this when I was playing?” four-time U.S. Open singles champion-turned-tennis commentator John McEnroe said laughingly at the Monday event. “I know the players are going to be absolutely thrilled to see this.”
(This story has been updated with quotes and additional info from Monday’s unveiling event.)
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