Economics of Golf US Open in Massachusetts

By Julia Posillico | May 5, 2022

Coming off the heels of The Masters many excited golf fans are looking forward to seeing if Scotty Schaefer can continue his dominance and hold on to his number one world ranking at the upcoming US Open being held at Brookline Country Club in Massachusetts this June. Major sporting events are known to have beneficial impacts on the local community but how big will the 2022 US Open's financial impact be on the Brookline community?

A Community Partnership Committee has been set up and is working to form a relationship between the tournament and local communities discovering ways the tournament can benefit local nonprofits and small businesses, over the year-long planning period. This includes auctioning off the tickets that the United States Golf Association (USGA, the organization that runs the US Open) donated to the community worth $120,000. Additionally, the USGA has promised to give priority to local businesses and employees to work at the tournament and is encouraging minority businesses to get involved with their open works programs.

Hospitality and tourism business in the local area can expect a boom in business during the tournament week; there will be over twenty five hundred guests in attendance and eight hundred and fifty media credentials issued. There will also be significant spending both before and after the tournament as construction and post-championship teardown will attract more people. Typically following the tournament out-of-town visitors increase. In the past the US Open has led to over $120 million of direct and indirect economic spending in the host area.

The Covid pandemic has severely impacted spectatorship and thus economic impact in the previous years therefore the last comparable year is the 2019 US Open at Pebble Beach. This was projected to generate $175 million for the local community, as well as $3 million for local charities.

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have both signed up to play in the event which will continue to draw big crowds and this more consumer spending. The 2022 US Open is anticipated to have major economic benefits for the Brookline community especially now that many Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted.

Edited by Rachel Kunka and Zachary Elias