Miami Open smashes attendance record at new location

The Miami Open's new location in downtown Miami produced a new attendance record for the tournament, with 388,734 spectators coming to the event.

The previous record was 326,131 spectators in 2012 at the tournament's previous location, Key Biscayne. That included a single session record of 32, 813 spectators on the first Saturday, and record attendance for both the women's and men's finals despite rain interruptions on several days.

The increase appeared to be helped by more convenient access and bigger capacity at Hard Rock Stadium, along with fan interest in the new location.

Even eventual champion Roger Federer said playing somewhere new influenced his decision about participating the event. ''To be honest, I think that was something also I was excited to see... I'm happy I chose to come back," he commented upon winning the title.

While all but one of the day sessions beat their previous high, there was just one night session that set a record, the first Thursday. The figures reflect large amounts of grounds tickets holders filling the side courts during the day, but less than capacity crowds in the higher-priced 14,000 stadium for most of the event.

The increase in attendance at Miami allows it to be more comparable with Indian Wells, which has had substantial growth in recent years and now brings in more than 450,000 spectators.

The two events with the largest crowds are the Australian Open and the US Open, bringing in around 750,000 spectators.