So, that’s it. The sun shower of revolt and outrage passed by in a flash and daily match day tickets for the 2027 Ryder Cup available via an exclusive priority window for residents of the island of Ireland sold out in under an hour today. Sports fans are the most transparent consumer market going.
Yes, charging €499 for a daily ticket is completely wrong but there is method to the madness when the powers that be know that they will be snapped up. To quote Roy Keane, anyone who thought that these tickets wouldn’t sell out is living in “cuckoo land.” A public ballot opens on Wednesday June 3rd and any available tickets will sell in double quick time – otherwise it will be time to hit the tout sites.
For those prices you would think paying fans would be given the chance to team up with Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry in the Friday fourballs. But is it any wonder they can demand such fees considering the astronomical prices of up to €10,000 per person for accommodation?
Sports fans are an easy market. Once you charge something and the available tickets are paid for there is no going back. I’ve gone on about the rugby and look, I should probably lay off the ruggers as we are now in prime barbecue season. Enjoy your €160 autumn international tickets and a sausage.
Anyway, the term ‘bucket list’ is a phrase that basically means tickets will come with a premium charge. The cheapest face value ticket for the recent Super Bowl was $950 although prices of up to $6,000 were mooted.
Should Donald Trump let us all in this summer he will have fleeced football fans across the globe – and that doesn’t even make the cut in his list of heinous crimes. The most expensive ticket for the FIFA World Cup Final this July was quoted at $11,000. Quite the wallet cruncher for a potential stalemate.
Bucket list events come with a premium. Fleecing fans is part of the gig and the Ryder Cup is no exception.
Prices have been steadily and understandably increasing over time for European hosted Ryder Cups. In 2014 the Gleneagles edition of the biennial contest cost €167 and even the €260 fee for Rome three years ago seemed justifiable. But a dizzying spike of almost double the price for Adare Manor is ridiculous. But hey, apparently 150,000 people were willing to pay the €499 this morning – many of whom would have been complaining 24 hours earlier so who is the real winner here? They see us coming.
Oh to be a trader on the black market, this time next year Rodney, we will be millionaires, Del Boy would say.
Golf fans are aware of where the money goes and that isn’t really the issue. We know that Ryder Cup funds are critical to the DP World Tour’s finances, probably even more now given how remote it has become. Ironically the fortunes of the DP World Tour are irrelevant to Irish fans as we have no regular players competing on it this year and it remains to be seen whether we will have any in the coming years to benefit from this Ryder Cup income. But hey – sustainability is going well here!
The PGA of America pitched their tickets at $750 for last year’s contest. They knew they would sell out and did. The big wigs around the Adare Manor event knew well too.
Unfortunately there was no precedent for such an increase in ticket prices, now there will be going forward. If the Ryder Cup can charge extortionate prices for next year and get away with it, why can’t other European host countries?
The sad thing is that a number of under-16s tickets from €20 will be available for practice days but otherwise some families will be priced out of the event which is a crying shame for what is a novelty occasion.
Speaking of novelty occasions. Celtic Park GAA ground opens its doors to Derry City Football Club on Friday night with tickets set at £10 for adults and £5 for children. Over 7,000 is expected at the game.
Sporting events with buzz will always sell out, unfortunately some see that as a market to charge extortionate prices. The price hike is systematic of wider golf and the ridiculously unsustainable prize funds on offer and comes just a week after the future of LIV Golf was plunged into doubt over funding.
It is estimated that approximately €58m of the Ryder Cup revenue will be spent by the State, yet they will still insist that we pay the M50 toll.
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