How the U.S. Open Made Tennis the Most Exciting Sport in Booze

The most chic accessory in New York City around Labor Day is a pink-hued, honeydew ball-topped cocktail. The drink is the iconic Honey Deuce, a $23 vodka lemonade sold by the hundreds of thousands at the U.S. Open, the tennis Grand Slam that takes place in Queens, New York, at the end of every summer. 

While fans of the U.S. Open certainly come for the tennis, drinks have become another main event. Seven of the 25 official partners of the Grand Slam are beverage brands and drinks-based experiences have become a part of the entertainment. Grey Goose sold nearly half a million Honey Deuce cocktails during the 2023 U.S. Open and there were a plethora of cocktail alternatives, from event newcomer Dobel Tequila’s Paloma cocktail to a classic Aperol Spritz. 

But how did tennis, a sport where fans are notoriously asked to stay quiet and in their seats and tomfoolery is chastised on the jumbotron, become one of the booziest sports in the business?

It all started with water and beer

In 1989 Evian became the official water sponsor of the U.S. Open and has been leading the charge in beverage-centric partnerships for the event ever since. Evian’s success at positioning their water alongside the affluent market often associated with the sport served as an inspiration for partnerships to come. 

“In the mid 1990’s Evian Natural Spring Water was the bottled water in the U.S.,” says Teresa Saputo-Crerend, who served as marketing services director to Evian Natural Spring Water from 1995–2000. “The elegant 750ml glass bottle was a staple at the most talked about restaurants in New York and it was the water of choice for popular celebrities. Since the brand was an icon of fashion, fitness and culture, partnering with the greatest tennis event in the greatest city in the world made clear sense.” 

Besides being the only water brand offered for purchase on-site, Evian worked product placement into their contract in a few ways. Bottles are placed in branded coolers on the court, tucked into tennis bags, and every player must have a branded water bottle in front of them during press conferences. “The [press conference] clause seems to have remained and has clearly paid off in today’s age of viral media,” says Saputo-Crerend.  

Evian’s savvy product placement in the early years helped garner exponentially more attention to their brand as the event has grown. The scale of today’s Open is drastically different from the one Evian first sponsored back in 1989, when the tournament welcomed 416,855 attendees compared to last year’s 957,387. On August 26, 2024, the first day of this year’s tournament set a single-day attendance record for the event with 74,641 fans. Evian is also the official water sponsor of Wimbledon, the London-based Grand Slam that occurs annually in June.

Heineken joined as an official sponsor a few years after Evian in 1994, and 2024 marks their 30th consecutive year with the event. The brand continues to harness the attention of the U.S. Open to highlight new initiatives. This year, it’s all about the nonalcoholic Heineken 0.0 which, while originally launched in 2019, has gotten an upgrade. “It is important for us to show that moderation can be cool, which is why we introduced a limited-edition Heineken 0.0 can exclusively for U.S. Open attendees this year,” says Jonnie Cahill, Heineken USA’s chief marketing officer. 

This year Heineken launched limited edition cans for their flagship nonalcoholic offering, retitled L0VE.L0VE, named for the starting score of 0-0 in tennis, alongside a national campaign where consumers could win tickets to the Open.

The Honey Deuce enters the court

The early-to-mid aughts were an exciting time for tennis for a few reasons. Roger Federer's breakout success garnered worldwide attention and fame, and the Williams’ sisters quick ascent to tennis royalty brought well-deserved attention to the women’s game. Also, the Honey Deuce cocktail made its first appearance at the U.S. Open.

The Honey Deuce is a tart and sweet cocktail made with Grey Goose vodka, lemonade, and Chambord raspberry liqueur, topped with three perfect spheres of honey dew melon skewered onto a cocktail pick. Grey Goose tapped bartender and restaurant industry veteran Nick Mautone to create a refreshing and easy-to-make cocktail suited to the event’s late-summer weather. 

“After playing around with a few different recipe iterations, [Mautone] was at a farmers’ market on Long Island when he saw a carton of spherical honeydew,” says Aleco Azqueta, Grey Goose VP of marketing, North America. “It hit him right there that they looked just like iridescent tennis balls, and that fresh honeydew needed to be the cocktail’s star garnish. The rest of the recipe fell into place from there.”

Grey Goose has been a partner of the tournament since 2006 and launched the drink a year later. They’ve sold over 2.25 million Honey Deuces in the 16 years since the cocktail first launched, and it's risen from $14 to a whopping $23 per drink. According to business influencer Joe Pompliano, the cocktail yields over $10 million in sales annually, enough revenue to cover the prize money for both the mens and women's finals.

The cocktail has only grown in popularity despite its rising cost, a testament to Grey Goose’s success with marketing the Honey Deuce as a must-get tournament attraction and cultural symbol. “The Honey Deuce has developed a bigger cult following than we could have imagined,” says Azqueta. 

The drink has inspired fashion collaborations and is being remade at bars and restaurants all around New York. So many bars will be recreating the Honey Deuce that Grey Goose launched a  “heat map” where users can find the closest cocktail to their zip code. Emirates, another partner of the U.S. Open, is also serving the Honey Deuce on flights to and from New York City during the duration of the tournament. 

You can enjoy the Honey Deuce at The American Express Centurion Lounge and innovation takes on it can be found at the U.S. Open’s American Express Fan Experience where cardmembers have access to creamy, frozen versions of the modern classic. Not to leave children out of the cross-branding extravaganza, a delicious mint chocolate chip ice cream colored like a tennis ball is now also offered in collaboration with Van Leeuwen.

More fans means more opportunities

The past few years have seen a massive boom in tennis viewership as the sport has become more accessible to a larger audience. Netflix’s documentary Break Point helped pave the way for a younger generation of fans as did the rise in tennis influencers, especially the romantic partners of American tennis stars like Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, and Frances Tiafoe whose significant others have well over 1 million Instagram followers combined. 

Aperol and Maestro Dobel tequila joined the U.S. Open drinks lineup in 2023, each offering cocktails aimed at a new generation of tennis fans. “We saw an increase in U.S. consumer interest in premium tequilas as well as expanding interest in tennis, particularly among a younger multicultural audience,” says Lander Otegui, senior vice president of marketing at Proximo Spirits.

Beyond signature cocktail offerings matched with tennis players like Aryna Sabalenka and Taylor Fritz, the brand also launched the Dobel Tequila Club, an on-site space serving Mexican dishes by celebrity chef Enrique Olvera.

While Dobel is bringing a taste of Mexico to the U.S. Open, Aperol has been channeling Italy. The famed aperitif brand serves Aperol Spritzes across the tournament grounds, positioned as a lower-ABV alternative. “From the start, our primary objective was to infuse the tournament with a slice of Italian culture,” says Andrea Sengara, Campari America’s vice president of marketing. “We aimed to engage with consumers in a familiar setting by creating on-site destinations that encourage community and togetherness.” 

The Italian coffee brand Lavazza has also had a presence at the U.S. Open since 2015, but expanded their offerings this year to include an entire menu of classic and creative Espresso Martinis. 

Moët & Chandon Champagne was the newest addition to the beverage lineup this year. Their $32 a glass Moët & Chandon Impérial costs a premium, but comes in a chrome-colored wine glass that has become a sought-after souvenir for fans. 

However, if you get caught with a drink on the jumbotron, you are expected to chug the contents of your glass before the fans begin to boo. Some things never change.