Elevate Sports Ventures is to overhaul premium hospitality sales and service at the US Open after signing a multi-year agreement with the US Tennis Association.
Beginning with this year’s event, which runs from August to September in New York City, Elevate will deliver pioneering best practices in premium hospitality sales and service, supported by its Insights team who will provide business intelligence in the areas of pricing, lead generation, and consumer profile analysis.
Elevate will also be consulting on premium experience design and amenities for the US Open, which is considered one of North America’s most prominent networking events in the sports and entertainment sectors.
NFL, NBA and NHL veteran Dan Rosenthal has been recruited to lead the project after being appointed to the role of vice president of sales. The former On Location, Madison Square Garden and New York Yankees veteran will be overseeing Elevate’s ticket and premium sales and service team supporting the US Open.
“The opportunity to showcase an award-winning event and work alongside Kirsten Corio’s team at the US Tennis Association over the past 14 months has truly been an honour,” said Al Guido, chairman and chief executive of Elevate.
“Collaborating on premium opportunities with a strategic eye for the 2021 tournament, presented Elevate the opportunity to utilise our experience in sales optimisation, customer segmentation, fan experience, pricing and programming, premium services and maximise our relationship with our partner Ticketmaster.”
Kirsten Corio, managing director of ticketing and digital strategy at USTA, said: “This kind of relationship with an industry leader like Elevate is incredibly valuable for the USTA and US Open.
“The expertise and strategic analysis they’re able to bring to the table make them a tremendous asset for us as both sporting events and consumers continue to evolve.”
The US Open, which attracted a record 740,000 fans in 2019, will be open in full this year after being cancelled last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Visitors will not be required to prove their Covid status and organisers said those vaccinated will not need to wear a mask.
Image: Steven Pisano (Flickr) / Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) / Resized to fit
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