Numerous constituencies are irked about ticket prices for the 2025 Ryder Cup, a stout $749 per day that’s equivalent to fees for nine weekend rounds at Bethpage Black, or the beer budget for a couple foursomes of its habitués. The most vocal are golf fans who are feeling gouged or simply priced out, and commentators (at least those not proudly in the tank for the PGA of America), who see pricing wholly at odds with both the municipal ethos of the venue and the ‘grow the game’ mandate of the organizers.
One constituency we haven’t heard from is the players who compete for the U.S., but one assumes that smoke has been billowing from Patrick Cantlay’s overheating calculator as he tallies gate receipts, broadcast rights, hospitality sales and merchandising, while wondering why his sort get only a $200,000 charitable donation in their names. He won’t be the only player looking askance at this controversy. That will pain the PGA of America, which prizes nothing more than being positively reviewed in the locker room.
How organizers arrived at $749 is neither clear nor relevant. They obviously believe the market will support it, and they’ll be proved correct. The Ryder Cup will sell out, but then so did last year’s U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club, when too many tickets went to club members who preferred to sit in suites and rattle their jewelry than to cheer on the rope line. The PGA of America runs on a four-year budget cycle funded by proceeds from domestic Ryder Cups, so the revenue generated at Bethpage is crucial to bridge the organization until Hazeltine in ’29.
Of course, there’s a way for the PGA of America to more comfortably underwrite operations, fund championships and devote greater resources to the education and employment goals of its members: it could sell the Ryder Cup.
Regardless of the fact that the last five Cups have been decidedly short on drama and close finishes, the event will never be more valuable than it is at this moment, when private equity is circling the sport’s biggest assets. There are compelling reasons why the PGA of America should cash in with a sale, beyond no longer having to indulge gripes about ticket prices.
Keegan Bradley of the United States tees off on the 1st hole during the Morning Fourballs of the 2014 Ryder Cup on the PGA Centenary course at the Gleneagles Hotel on September 26, 2014 in Auchterarder, Scotland. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Given the division and evident erosion…
..
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Golfweek…