COMMENTARY : Milking an Expensive Cash Cow

Winning the U.S. Open is worth $550,000 on the spot and much more than that later on in endorsement and commercial income.

Those payoffs make up the major portion of $9,360,100 in prize money offered in this final Grand Slam event of the tennis year. Just making the field of 128 is worth $8,150, a tidy payoff for what is just one day’s work for 64 of them. And if a player who happens to get there is a qualifier, add another $3,000 on to that.

For the USTA, though, all of that is nothing more than petty cash. The Open is a license to print money, a task the organizers and their corporate partners go about with great zest and efficiency.

Sponsorships for this final Grand Slam event run from $200,000 to $2 million. “It’s never been more expensive to participate in the U.S. Open,” said Seena Hamilton, who operates her own sports marketing company. Evidence of that is all over the place.

It’s no accident that every time CBS or USA Network shows a player serving, the word “Heineken” is peeking over their shoulder, plastered on the back wall.

This is called signage and is an important part the National Tennis Center, where, by the way, you can buy the official brew at $4.50 a cup. That’s not because Heineken is an official sponsor but rather because it cut a separate deal with Restaurant Associates, which owns the food and drink concession at the Open.

Every event at the Open has a corporate sponsor and all of them have signs in prominent places, just in case the audience forgets. The glamour ones--the men’s and women’s singles--carry the names of Infiniti, which supplies courtesy cars for the players, and Elizabeth Arden. You won’t see Arden’s sign on CBS, though, because Chanel has an exclusive deal with the network.

Junior singles and doubles are underwritten by MassMutuel. Prudential Securities and Chase Manhattan have the men’s and women’s doubles. Fujifilm bought the mixed doubles, while General Foods, NYNEX, Redbook Magazine and VF Corporation purchased other doubles events.

For some, like the men’s and women’s singles sponsors, the tab is about $2 million each. For others like K-Swiss, which became the official shoe of the Open at the last moment when Reebok pulled out, the price was a bargain basement $100,000.

For that, the company got an eight-seat box but no signs in the stadium and not even exclusivity in the booth area outside the courts, where equipment and accessories are sold at a frenzied pace.

Booth space is a separate deal, so shoppers can pay $88 for the most expensive K-Swiss sneaker, or stop two booths down where Nike has a $135 model on display.

Citizen is the official watch of the Open, winning a bidding war and paying a cool $750,000 for the privilege. Seiko was paying $350,000-$400,000 for that honor last year and a decade ago, Omega paid $205,000.

The official ice cream of the Open is Haagen Dasz. Price for the designation: $200,000. Price for a cup of the product: $3.50. If you prefer a jumbo waffle cone--which looks suspiciously like an ordinary waffle cone--it goes to $4.50.

Stroll through the food market, and a wallet can thin out in a hurry, even if a waistline won’t.

A large bucket of Cajun French fries costs $6 and a foot-long hot dog is $4. The cholesterol is included at no extra charge. Wash it down with lemonade at $2.50 a cup. That’s for the regular. The premium fresh-squeezed is a fancier $4.50.

Prefer something stronger? Pina colodas and daiquiris go for $7. Prefer something softer? Bottled water is $2.

Want an official U.S. Open thermal mug? That’ll be $7. If you’re willing to settle for the non-thermal variety, why that will chop a full 50 cents off the price.

Cold? Get a sweat shirt for just $40. If you want more protection, there are jackets for $115 and whole sweat suits for $220. At that price, you might not want to sweat in them, though.

Sun in your eyes? A visor costs only $10. If you want the rest of the cap, the price goes to $16--and up.

Remember, though, all of this stuff does carry the official U.S. Open 1994 logo. Next year, the merchants will all be back peddling ’95 logo gear, because, after all, no one would want to be seen with last year’s stuff.