The biggest story in golf this week had nothing to do with the play itself. Instead, golf fans—And many journalists as well— expressed upset over the shocking price tag for next year's Ryder Cup, which will be held at Bethpage Black.
If you want to watch the red, white and blue play against Europe's best on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, you'll have to pay $750. The fee for Tuesday and Wednesday practice rounds is $255, according to the Ryder Cup FAQ webpage. Thursday's opening ceremony includes a celebrity and junior Ryder Cup match, with tickets priced at $424 each.
“We consider ourselves a Tier 1 event on par with the World Series or Game 7 of the NBA Finals,” Ryder Cup Championship Director Brian Kearns said. SiriusXM Radio Wednesday.
“When we look at pricing, we can leverage data from all these different places. Our partner, Delaware North, runs the Boston Bruins and the Boston Celtics. Running Lambeau Field. We can see what people are paying for. So again, that was the driving force. Where we stand is where we see ourselves. That's the reality.”
The Ryder Cup is held once every two years, rotating between the United States and Europe. This means that it is held once every four years in the continental United States and is held in various locations across the United States. No course has ever hosted the Ryder Cup twice, but that is expected to change in 2029 when Hazeltine National Golf Club next hosts the tournament in the United States. Hazeltine last hosted in 2016.
The 2025 Ryder Cup will be the second time New York State plays host. Thirty years ago, Rochester's Oak Hill Country Club welcomed American and European teams to Western New York. The visitors swarmed during the Sunday singles, shocking the home team and turning Oak Hill into America's “Chalk Hill.”
Nevertheless, prices have risen sharply since 1995, and significantly since 2021, when the Ryder Cup was held at Whistling Strait in Wisconsin. The PGA of America sold this year's tickets at less than half price, about $350 each.
Even better, if you live in New York, you can play Bethpage Black for $75, one-tenth of the cost of admission to next year's Ryder Cup. This is rather ironic considering Bethpage Black is known as “The People's Country Club” due to its affordability and public access.
“I'd be lying if I didn't say that the first instinct people have when they see the price is that it's expensive. Certainly on par with the level of an event of this level,” Kearns said in two weeks. He spoke at the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association press conference held at Bethpage Black.
“I’m just thinking about the Georgia-Alabama game.” [last month]it cost $1500 to sit on the 20-yard line. So coming into Friday's Ryder Cup is $750, and that ticket price includes discount programs. That's what we've been doing for the past three years. We've moved from the traditional discount model to an all-inclusive ticket model. So it still costs more, but it offers a different level of experience. ”
All tickets to next year's Ryder Cup include unlimited food and non-alcoholic beverages.
“I think the Super Bowl is doing something similar,” Kearns added.
“If you're a die-hard Kansas City Chiefs fan and want to go, it's almost impossible to get tickets to the Super Bowl. You'll probably have to pay the corporate amount, or Either you simply can't go.
“But after ticket sales, we're going to have a program in place to identify true New Yorkers. It's a program that works, but we have quotas in place to make sure we have access again. So if this is all outside We want to have New Yorker fingerprints all over it.”
It remains to be seen what that program will look like.
However, given the high demand for this event (only 10 percent of those who participate in the drawing receive tickets), the number of fans who can participate in the “True New Yorker” program may be very limited. There is a gender.
In total, the PGA of America hopes to have 50,000 fans at the course each day.
“There are some people who have the Ryder Cup on their bucket list, just like there are people who have the Yankees' World Series on their bucket list,” Kearns added on SiriusXM.
“Demand for this event has never been higher, so we wanted to get this price right.”
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation's Playing Through. Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Cover more golf. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko In the same way.
