Western & Southern Open staying in Mason

MASON, Ohio (WXIX) - The Western & Southern Open tennis tournament is staying in Mason.

The announcement was made Tuesday on the tournament’s social media with a video featuring Novak Djokovic and Coco Gauff, winners of the 2023 tournament.

Warren County Commissioner Dave Young has been extremely vocal about keeping the Western and Southern Open Tennis Tournament in Mason.

The tennis tournament is an event that each year brings in millions of tourism dollars to our area and with a tournament expansion on the horizon it will soon bring in even more.

The Lindner Family Tennis Center will receive more than $200 million in investments to raise the tournament’s prestige on a global stage, Djokovic says in the video

The tournament also is expanding in 2025 with two weeks of competition in both the women’s and men’s matches.

“It’s not here just in Mason, it’s the entire Tri-State region that is impacted by the tennis tournament, so estimates go well over $160-$200 million after a two-week tournament,” said Mason Mayor Barbara Spaeth. “We are beyond excited to know tennis fans around the world will continue traveling to Mason each August for decades to come.”

Beemok Sports, LLC bought the rights to the Western & Southern Open in 2022 for around $250 million and mulled over moving to Charlotte in North Carolina.

The tournament has been located in the Cincinnati area for 124 years.

The Warren County Board of Commissioners announced in a news release Tuesday morning they adopted a resolution to enter into a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Beemok Sports, LLC, City of Mason, Mason Port Authority, and Warren County Port Authority.

They pledged “to support project development of a world-class tennis and other sports and entertainment facilities,” the news release says.

State Rep. Adam Mathews of Lebanon sent out a news release saying he “successfully secured $22.5 million of investment in the tournament” in the two-year state budget approved over the summer.

“I am thrilled that the Western & Southern Open recognizes that Mason and Warren County are the best home for this tournament. Our tradition and teamwork were key elements in creating the environment for this success,” he said. “This event adds such an economic boost to our communities, and I stand behind the investment I introduced that showed our commitment to keeping this in Ohio.”

The tournament brings in over 180,000 visitors from all 50 states and $80 million to the local area annually, he said.

“The ATP plans to expand the tournament to a two-week event, expecting an economic impact of at least $150M. I would like to thank (Ohio) Senator (Steve) Wilson, Warren County Commissioners David Young and Tom Grossmann, Mason City Council, and all of our local, regional, and statewide leaders that made this possible.

“By working together and focusing on the task at hand, we demonstrated Ohio’s commitment to keeping this world-class tournament in our local community.”

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