In 2013, following a stretch of rain-drenched US Opens, the United States Tennis Association set in motion a three-phase plan to build a retractable roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium. As the 2013, 2014, and 2015 tournaments came and went, a massive structure slowly grew on the Flushing Meadows campus. Today, in time for the 2016 US Open, the roof is complete and ready to wow, come rain or come shine.
The roof structure surrounds Arthur Ashe Stadium with nearly 7,000 tons of steel and supports two retractable panels weighing a combined 800 tons. Because there's a 15-ft. space between the roof structure and the top of the stadium, the USTA installed 54 garage doors that can be opened to allow a summer breeze or closed to shut out inclement weather.
The new roof on Arthur Ashe Stadium opens/closes in six minutes. (Photo: DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images)
The roof had to feel as if it architecturally fit with the structure of the stadium itself, explains USTA COO Danny Zausner. It couldn't just be some albatross that's lying on top of it. It far exceeds my greatest expectations for how it seamlessly fits into the design of the actual stadium. For those who have never been out here before, they would be hard-pressed to imagine that it wasn't built with the stadium.
Following the 2015 US Open, fabric skins were added to the fixed and retractable portions of the roof, the mechanization that opens and closes the roof was installed, and the air-conditioning system was added. Air-conditioning will be used only when the roof is closed and the garage doors are sealed.
Throughout construction, the USTA estimated that the roof would be able to open and close in seven to 10 minutes. Now that the roof is complete, the time is actually closer to six minutes. The roof is intended to provide scheduling consistency for the tournament and eliminate rain delays and postponed matches, particularly in the later rounds. Zausner expects that opening and closing the roof will cause minimal delay and that fans and players alike will stop to watch.
It's incredibly quiet, he points out. The irony is, it certainly would be possible for the players to continue playing even while the roof is opening and closing but it's actually quite the spectacle. Everyone in the [stadium] - including the players - would be looking up the whole time, watching it happen, so I think the players will stop playing for a while.
The retractable roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium isn't the only new feature that tennis fans will find at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. A brand-new Grandstand was constructed in the southwest corner of the campus; with 8,100 seats, the new venue will be slightly larger than its predecessor but will still retain the original's charm and appeal.
The existing Grandstand, which has served us well since the USTA got here in 1978, was built for the 1964 World's Fair, so, at 50-plus years old, it has kind of outlived its useful life, Zausner points out. We wanted to replace it in kind, meaning that everything the fans love about it and the players love about it - it's sunken in, it's very tight, fans are right on top of the action, there's a lot of shade there - we moved to the new Grandstand.
The new Grandstand will also benefit from new videoboards, broadcast infrastructure, LED court lighting, concession stands, and retail stores. The old Grandstand, which will be referred to as either old Grandstand or P6 during the 2016 US Open, will be used as the sixth practice court for this year's tournament. It will be torn down, along with Louis Armstrong Stadium, following the tournament, and construction will begin on a new Louis Armstrong Stadium on the combined Armstrong/Grandstand footprint. The new Armstrong, which will also feature a retractable roof, will be completed in time for the 2018 tournament.
The area between new Grandstand and Court 17, which features 10 field courts, was completely gutted and rebuilt. Courts 10 and 13 are now centered on the axis connecting the Unisphere and Arthur Ashe Stadium with a 40-ft. walkway in between; with a permanent broadcast tower now in place, each will be used as a broadcast court.
In addition, the USTA has replaced the existing alphanumeric scoreboards in each of the field courts with videoboards and has replaced all metal-halide lighting with LED. Looking forward to 2018, the USTA intends to be able to show instant replay on all courts and to have transitioned every court into a broadcast court.
We've got so much more open space and trees and everything like that, so I think, from a fan perspective, they'll barely recognize the site, says Zausner. It'll just look much better than it's been in the past, as much as they enjoyed it in the past. Many people know about the roof, and that's what they're coming out here to see, but they're going to find out that the roof is just one out of three significant projects that have taken place.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
06/12/2025
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...
06/12/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...
06/12/2025
NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
04/12/2025
SBS launches Future Frames initiative to support emerging First Nations video ed...
04/12/2025
Coronal mass ejections caused by eruptions on the surface of the sun can have fa...
04/12/2025
Gracenote Content Connect enables media ecosystem to precisely align ad campaigns and programming based on rich content signals
NEW YORK - December 4, 2025 - N...
In 2013, following a stretch of rain-drenched US Opens, the United States Tennis Association set in motion a three-phase plan to build a retractable roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium. As the 2013, 2014, and 2015 tournaments came and went, a massive structure slowly grew on the Flushing Meadows campus. Today, in time for the 2016 US Open, the roof is complete and ready to wow, come rain or come shine.
