Ryder Cup championship director defends ticket prices for Bethpage

The Ryder Cup is no stranger to controversy but even by those normally exaggerated standards, this was a bizarre week for the matches.

“Ryder Cup ticket prices have never been higher. That’s a real problem for golf,” the headline in The New York Times declared in the wake of news that tickets for next year’s installment on Long Island’s Bethpage Black course will be dramatically more expensive.

Single-day tickets for one of the three competition days will be $749, which is roughly three-times more than last year’s Ryder Cup in Rome and the 2021 matches in Wisconsin.

The short answer for the increase is simple – location, location, location – but Ryder Cup championship director Bryan Karns offered a more nuanced explanation to the historic price hikes.

“We really did the research relative to where we were with our event. There’s such a demand and it’s in New York and it built up just this unprecedented demand,” Karns told GolfChannel.com. “We were also aware of the revenue we take away from this event for our [PGA of America] members.”

Because the Ryder Cup is only played in the United States every four years, the best comparison is the ’21 matches, which were not only held in a small market compared to New York but were also played in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic with plenty of uncertainty.

Competition day tickets at Whistling Straits were $185, but that didn’t include taxes, service fees or demand and inflation.

“The last time we did this [create a ticket pricing plan] was at the end of 2018 in Kohler, Wisconsin. One of the things we’ve certainly felt post-COVID is the cost to build the massive infrastructure has increased and we factor that in,” Karns said. “We believe the Ryder Cup is one of the preeminent events in all of sports and it only happens once every four years in the U.S. and this year it’s happening in one of the world’s largest markets.”

The escalating costs of holding one of sport’s largest events will be on display from the opening tee shot at Bethpage with a grandstand that will ring the first tee and 18^th green with seating for 5,000 fans.

“You’ve seen those first tees where you get total pandemonium,” Karns said. “That horseshoe that we’re building is sure to be a truly memorable moment.

“The Ryder Cup is going to look like something different from the moment you walk in. It’s kind of a Disney mindset, we do this once every four years.”

That atmosphere comes with a hefty price tag and the PGA of America and Karns are confident the increased price point will be supported by fans. According to Karns, over 500,000 fans registered for next year’s Ryder Cup ticket lottery that closes next Tuesday and the “assumption” is those tickets will sell out.

Karns also acknowledged that with those ticket increases will come higher expectations for services and atmosphere. The $749 price tag includes unlimited food and non-alcoholic drinks, and an adult with a practice-round ticket, which costs $255, can bring two juniors without charge.

“We feel like this is tremendous value when you consider people get there and they stay all day,” Karns said of the “food-inclusive program,” which is being used for the first time at the Ryder Cup. “At the PGA Championship, for example, no one stays there all day. We’re offering a chance to have breakfast, lunch and dinner all at one cost.”

Karns compared the Ryder Cup to some of sports’ most popular properties like the NBA Finals or NFL playoff games, and said the process to reach the ticket price point for next year’s matches was extensive and driven mainly by the largest sporting market in the United States. But it is the PGA’s more than 30,000 members and the association’s various programs that are funded by the Ryder Cup and PGA Championship which helped make the decision to increase ticket prices.

“The responsibility we have once every four years is tremendous and we look at this as a start-up business that must be successful for our members,” he said.