Following the Golf Twitter firestorm created earlier this week by the exorbitant Ryder Cup ticket prices, there was a sentiment shared by a handful of folks that the PGA of America would see the firestorm and subsequently “make it right.” No offence to those folks, but in 2024, a time when we’re all being milked for every last dollar we have, that sentiment was a foolish one.
On Wednesday, the PGA of America’s Bryan Karns went on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio to discuss the ticket pricing for the biennial event, which will return to the United States at Bethpage Black next Fall. Speaking with Taylor Zarzour, Karns, the Championship Director at the PGA, not only defended the prices—$255 for a practice day, $750 for a competition day, to be clear—he essentially doubled down on them, saying that the demand for the event is at an all-time high.
“We view ourselves as a Tier 1 event that’s on par with a World Series, or with an NBA Finals Game 7,” said Karns. “That was a part of it. So when we look at pricing, we’re able to tap into data from all these different venues.
“We’re able to see, ‘what do people pay?'” Karns continued. “So that really drove this, too. Again, our position in this landscape — where do we see ourselves? I think that’s the reality. There are people who have the Ryder Cup on their bucket list in the same way that someone would have a Yankees opening game World Series on their bucket list. Ultimately, we felt like that’s where we are. The demand is at an all-time high for this event, so we wanted to make sure we priced it appropriately.”
As a reminder, these prices do come with unlimited food and non-alcoholic-drink vouchers. Of course, if there are going to be as many people at this event as the PGA of America hopes there will be, it will be very difficult to get your money’s worth while waiting on concession line after concession line, which will also take you away from the action, which there isn’t an unlimited amount of with only a handful of groups at the Ryder Cup. Other than that…
Here’s the thing – people will pay the ticket prices. Maybe not “the people” at the people’s country club, which, to No Laying Up’s Kevin Van Valkenburg’s point from Monday, could make it a decidedly dull environment. Sort of like the lower bowl at Madison Square Garden for a huge New York Rangers playoff game, which often sounds more like a library than it does a sporting event. Given how much golf fans have anticipated this Ryder Cup for so long, that would feel just plain wrong.
Main Image: Gary Kellner
