Who would have thought that watching a ball being hit from side to side for HOURS could be so enthralling?

Yet, with the Australian Open (AO) semi finals underway, millions will be tuning in to see who takes home the 2025 Australian Open championships in the Men’s and Women’s draw.

As the biggest sports and entertainment event worldwide in January, the Australian Open has also become a ginormous feather in the Victorian economy’s hat. 

So how much do the players earn from the Australian Open?

The prize pool alone is a record $96.5 million, an 11% increase on last year's pool. 

The good news is that this year, Tennis Australia has increased the prize money at every round of the Australian Open including qualifying, singles and doubles.

Here's a breakdown of the prize pool for both the singles and doubles tournaments.

SINGLES – men's and women's
(Per player – 128 draw)

DOUBLES – men's and women's
(Per team – 64 draw)

But this prize pool is just a fraction of the costs for Tennis Australia’s Australian Open. 

In fact, last year, it’s believed that Tennis Australia spent over $500 million to host the Australian Open in 2023.

Think: $30 million on advertising and marketing, $50 million on staffing costs plus additional costs on travel, decking out Melbourne Park, and perks for players and officials.

And what’s the impact for the Victorian economy?

The Victorian Government has been bending over backwards to lock in Victoria as the home of the Australian Open because of the enormous economic uplift and clout that the tournament provides to the state.

Given record attendance numbers, and record revenue figures in the past few years, the Australian Open has become the biggest economic generator in Aussie sport.

In fact, the 2024 Australian Open injected $533.2 million into Victoria’s economy, according to a new Nielsen Sports. 

In 2024:

• The average daily spend per visitor was $308
• Visitors to the AO booked 622,491 nights in Victorian hotels
• There were 2,51 full-time jobs generated

But it ain’t just in 2024 - over the past 10 years the Australian Open has contributed an astounding $3.14 billion in economic benefits to Victoria.

And the scale of this Grand Slam continues to grow year after year. In fact, it’s believed that over the next 10 years, the AO is expected to bring in an additional $4 billion of economic uplift. 

So the Australian Open is a cash cow that the Victorian government is holding tightly… for as long as they can.