It will cost fans a penny to watch the first match at the Ryder Cup in 2025.
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Anticipation is building for next year’s Ryder Cup, with the ever-passionate American considering his chances as captain, and Ryder Cup Europe looks set to have no trouble building the team it wants. Last week Press conference from year to year worked well on that front, helping the roaring train move forward…
Until it hit a snag when ticket prices went viral on social media on Monday.
Details culled from a small FAQ corner of the official Ryder Cup website revealed an inconvenient new truth: that it will cost fans $750 per person to attend match days next fall. Early-week tickets will be discounted to $255 for the right to watch teams hit practice shots in a non-competitive environment. And Thursday’s tickets — which include the grandeur of an opening ceremony and celebrity team golf, but not CURRENT competition – will cost $423. All this, of course, before taxes.
You can think of it in many ways. How it will cost $2,250 for a father and two children to watch Rory McIlroy take on the Americans. Or that attendance at Sunday Singles is now higher more expensive than participating in the Champions League finalthe biggest annual sporting event in the world.
As for the $749.50 question – why? — had some uncomfortable answers and one logical one: Economics. The PGA of America has reached $750 per person as a balance between supply and demand. Someone, somewhere, along with Someone’s Friends, will pay that price to say hello to Scottie Scheffler and hello to Jon Rahm – that’s why it’s the right price. And hosted within the confines of the most capitalist country on the planet, this can make a lot of sense. But the world of sports has repeatedly shown us that market forces have two ways. If there’s a lot of money to be made putting on an event, there’s a lot of money to pay for it too.
Think back to just a year ago, the 18th green at Marco Simone, and that fight between McIlroy and caddy Joe LaCava. We now forget that the most heated controversy in recent pro golf history began as an apparent (and unspoken) plea for player compensation from Patrick Cantlay. Although Cantlay denied that his hatless crusade had anything to do with compensation, it became clear during the lead-up to and from the event that there are disagreements about how stage actors are unpaid for performing the show.
We found out it was the Netflix crew banned from the US team room because not everyone in Rome was interested in offering their free NIL to the production. We learned that Xander Schauffele’s father, Stefan, vocalized many valid questions about how the PGA of America uses the funds raised by hosting the Cup. We re-engaged in discussions about the existence of the PGA as a non-profit organization allegedly operating on an equal footing over a four-year hosting schedule. And we remembered how the PGA now donates $200,000 to charities chosen by Ryder Cup players (a modest note that began decades ago in response to complaints from a disgruntled Tiger Woods and David Duval). Do we expect the angst about paying players at the Ryder Cup to disappear when event organizers have multiplied the cost of participation by a factor of three?
Twenty-five years removed from those complaints by Woods and Duval, the only thing that has changed about the Cup is its waistline. The crowds are bigger than ever, the event is more important on the global golf calendar, its excitement is higher than ever and its television rights are only gaining in value. Heck, even future European countries are destined for purpose-built facilities near global capitals, often in resorts willing to build courses tailored for match play. (London is next, would appear.) From 30,000 feet, the Ryder Cup starts to look a bit like Rollercoaster Tycoon, where the amusement park grows and grows and grows, but maintenance costs grow with it. Hall of the Cup 2023 an increase in income of 40 percent since the last Europe-based Cup, but a drop in profits of around 40 percent.
After all, the PGA of America’s resistance to appearance fees lives on in the history of the event and in the hearts of many (mostly European-born) professionals who want to honor it. Some things, like representing a country or continent, are bigger than a salary. Some even swear they would i pay to play in the Cup, describing it as the only event for which they have put their egos aside. It’s a heartwarming sentiment in these money-obsessed times, but it’s unlikely to last.
Remember responses from various male professionals (Ryder Cuppers, too!) for increasing the USGA Women’s US Open purse. Great for ladies! What about us? Recall the complaints of the NIL ownership that preceded the creation of LIV, the appearance fees for every televised match or the rising costs demanded by the tournament sponsors. It has become common practice for players to look around, see rising dollar signs nearby or elsewhere, and raise their hands with a simple question.
Wait, what about me???
The problem with revealing Monday tickets is not only that the Ryder Cup now feels like another attempt by golf’s stakeholders to punish the sport’s most passionate supporters. The problem is that the price also risks alienating a much more influential part of the golfing public: the players. What about us?! it would always come back from the locker room at the Ryder Cup. And now, $750 later, it seems less wrong to ask.
