U.S. Open tennis: The $10M cocktail everyone is drinking

New York –

At the U.S. Open currently underway in New York, a single cocktail will surpass US$10 million in sales before the tennis grand slam event ends Sept. 8.

The drink’s sales alone could cover the combined championship prize money for both the male and female singles winner — US$3.6 million each this year.

The Honey Deuce – a mix of vodka, lemonade and a raspberry liqueur, plus its signature melon balls – has become a major success for both Grey Goose and the tournament. It’s the result of a strategic marketing campaign that exploded as tennis’ popularity did.

The U.S. Open is one of the biggest sports events in the world, and this year, it’s beginning to burst at the seams. On opening day, August 25, a record 74,641 fans entered the grounds in Queens – much to the chagrin of some of the event’s biggest fans, who have been rubbing elbows with people they don’t necessarily want to be quite so close to.

Massive crowds are expected to continue. The U.S. Tennis Association aims to get one million fans to the U.S. Open this year – the most in its 56-year history – according to the Sports Business Journal. StubHub told CNN that sales on the secondary-ticketing website are on track to outsell all previous U.S. Open events.

That’s a lot of people to buy the tournament’s popular – yet increasingly expensive –signature drink.

Honey Deuce’s past and future

The cocktail traces its roots back to 2007, when Grey Goose was in its second year of its vodka sponsorship with the U.S. Open, a deal it extended in 2023 for another five years. The brand needed a drink that fit the parameters of being easy to serve in a high-capacity environment, like a busy sporting event, and had to have light and refreshing taste for the hot days.

The drink was invented by a former Grey Goose ambassador and restaurateur Nick Mautone, who was at a farmer’s market when inspiration struck.

“He saw a honeydew there and was like ‘What’s the taste of summer?,’” Aleco Azqueta, vice-president of marketing for Grey Goose, told CNN. And the Honey Deuce was born.

The cocktail mixes Grey Goose vodka, lemonade and a splash of Chambord raspberry liqueur, topped with three pieces of honeydew scooped to resemble tennis balls, has become a photogenic star of the grand slam and social media feeds. (The deuce is a tennis term when the players are tied at 40-40.)

At last year’s event, a record-breaking 460,275 Honey Deuces at US$22 each — with a commemorative plastic cup to keep — were sold at concession stands throughout the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, generating more than US$10.1 million in sales.

It’s become so popular that the tournament has several “Honey Deuce Express” bars scattered around the campus that only sell the drink and new, this year, taps filled with batched cocktail mix have been installed at some bars to speed up service.

All told, more than 2.2 million Honey Deuces have been sold at the U.S. Open since its creation nearly two decades ago, with sales likely breaking records again this year as U.S. Open attendance keeps growing.

$23, with a ‘commemorative’ cup

Despite the drink getting more expensive — the Honey Deuce price has increased four times in the past five years, jumping another US$1 this year to $23 — it hasn’t stopped sales.

Azqueta credits some of the growth to its exclusivity, because it’s available for only two weeks a year. “What’s unique about the Honey Deuce is that it’s something that people really look forward to since you can only have the original at the U.S. Open,” he said.

Grey Goose has partnered with bartenders to sell the drink at roughly 140 New York-area locations and as a canned cocktail via delivery in New York and Chicago available only during the tournament as a way give people a taste if they’re not heading to Queens.

Tournament organizers are capitalizing on the Honey Deuce beyond the drink itself, for the first time selling hats, pins and T-shirts featuring the cocktail. The merchandise is selling so well that they have limited inventory left and plans to restock, a U.S. Open spokesperson told CNN.

Although other events don’t break out specific sales numbers for specialty drinks, the Honey Deuce has solidified its space in “the royalty of cocktails that are identified with major sporting events throughout history,” according to Mea Leach, the beverage director for Virgin Hotels New York, including the drink along with the Azalea, a vodka cocktail served at the Masters golf tournament and the Pimm’s Cup at Wimbledon.

“You can’t have a U.S. Open without the Honey Deuce,” Azqueta said. “It really is what the Mint Julep is to the Kentucky Derby but even more of a cultural phenomenon.”

On Sunday, six-time U.S. Open champion Serena Williams tried the Honey Deuce for the first time, posting her taste test to TikTok that has racked up 155,000 views so far. “Honey, that’s not deuce,” she mused. “That’s called Honey, ad-in, or Honey ace. Let’s rename it!”