To borrow a phrase from the famous sign that adorns Bethpage Black in New York, the site of the 2025 Ryder Cup: WARNING. The Ryder Cup is an extremely expensive event that we only recommend to very cash flow positive golf fans.
The Ryder Cup has announced the ticket prices for next year’s event, and thank goodness they are high. A family of four is going to spend $3,000 on tickets just to get in – and that’s if they win the lottery to buy tickets. The Ryder Cup is one of the exceptional events on the sporting calendar, but the 2025 version will certainly put a strain on the loyalty of American fans.
Here you will find, via the official Ryder Cup website, the cost of a day ticket, depending on the day you want to attend:
That’s $255.27 for two days of practice, $423.64 for the celebrity matches and the opening ceremony, and a whopping $749.51 for each of the three days of competition. But hey, at least food and (non-alcoholic) drinks are included!
The easy comp, of course, is the Masters, where tickets cost about a fifth of Ryder Cup prices, and you could feed an entire village with $750 worth of Masters food. (Merch, of course, is a whole different story.) Granted , the Masters could command Ryder Cup-level prizes and the Augusta National Golf Club would still be sold out, but can the Ryder Cup? (Probably, honestly.)
The irony of these high prices at Bethpage Black is that the course itself is one of the most notable public courses in the United States, a testament to the inclusive nature of golf. The green fees are reasonable – a New York resident can play the course about ten times for the price of one Ryder Cup ticket – and getting a tee time depends on whether you can use a cell phone, not on whether you great-grandfather knew the job. elites of his time.
However, there is a more subtle reason behind the high entry costs than just a simple profit motive. The Ryder Cup is golf’s most partisan event, with a crowd that rivals European or college football in vocal ferocity. At the upcoming Ryder Cup, there was significant concern on both sides of the American-European divide about the expected behavior of New York-area fans. (European fans are just as passionate, just swearing in different accents and languages.)
High prices can do a lot to deter the kind of fan who is likely to curse Rory McIlroy. The result could be an unusually lukewarm crowd, which is exactly what the Ryder Cup doesn’t need. Home advantage isn’t just palpable at the Ryder Cups, it’s virtually necessary; the home team has won eight of the last nine Ryder Cups. There is a conversation about leveling the playing field at Ryder Cups, but is pricing out part of the gallery the right move? We’ll know in a year.
