Ryder Cup ticket prices smack of greed and exploitation

If you are going to The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale this July then you will have paid £35 for the practice days and £150 for the final day.

There are some who will complain but I reckon that represents pretty good value for money for attending the world’s oldest and best major golf tournament.

How Do Ryder Cup Ticket Prices Compare to other Events?

Tickets to the FA Cup final will set you back between £45 and £115 - if you can get your hands on them. Again, if your team makes it to Wembley the chances are that you will not begrudge paying those sums.

Wimbledon Centre Court tickets for the men’s singles final will cost between £245 and £350. 

If you are a music fan you don’t need me to tell you that going to see your favourite band is going to set you back at least £100 - and that’s without taking into account the cost of food, drink, transport and accommodation.

Tickets to attend last year’s Ryder Cup in New York cost a minimum of £550. It caused uproar but the event was still sold out. There was a forlorn hope that the ticket prices might just weed out the worst of American golf fans but it did no such thing.

Next year’s event is being staged at Adare Manor in Ireland and ticket prices have been announced - and they are eye-watering. 

Daily tickets have been set at 499 euros (£434). They were 260 euros for the match in Italy in 2023. I have registered for the ballot for Adare Manor but I can tell you now that I will not be going.

Can Price Increases Be Justified?

I do not see any way that £434 can possibly be justified. On days one and two there will only be four matches on the course at any given time. Try to imagine how much golf you are actually going to be able to see. As my colleague Kieran Clark has said, you might be better served watching the drama unfold on TV - you will certainly see more of the action.

I love the Ryder Cup and I have attended it several times. I watched Sam Torrance holing the winning putt in 1985. I saw Paul McGinley leap into the pond by the 18th green at The Belfry after securing the trophy for Europe.

The atmosphere is like no other golf tournament. Until the day I die I will never forget the crowds at Gleneagles. But I attended as a member of the media and that meant I was able to walk inside the ropes and could get up close and personal to the action.

Charging £434 for a Ryder Cup ticket smacks of both greed and exploitation and the worst thing of all is the efforts of the organisers to justify it.

Without a hint of irony, Richard Atkinson, the European Tour Group's chief Ryder Cup officer, told BBC Sport NI: "We acknowledge it's an increase from Rome. That was four years ago and a lot has happened in the world since then. We are lower than Bethpage. We've tried to make this as accessible as possible to a wide demographic of people. Our practice day tickets will be from 89 euros and juniors from 20 euros. 

"Our prices are proportionate to a global sporting event. This event has grown in stature and profile, it's one of the biggest sporting events in the world. We're confident in our pricing but we've made it accessible to everyone."

I should think that your prices are lower than Bethpage!

Yes, a lot has happened since Rome but nothing that justifies an increase of almost 100%. 

It may well be a global sporting event but charging more than the twice the price for a ticket for the final day of The Open Championship? Come on!

That Atkinson then deflects the issue by quoting the prices for practice days is indefensible. Have you ever attended a practice day? If you have then you don’t need me to tell you the it is NOTHING like a tournament day.

Could This Damage The Ryder Cup?

And please explain to me how charging such exorbitant sums makes the 2027 Ryder Cup "as accessible as possible to a wide demographic of people". Surely precisely the opposite is true. Genuine golf fans will take one look at the ticket prices and, like me, will decide that they are out of reach. If you want to attend all three days it is going to set you back a whopping £1,302 - and that is if you attend on your own.

I would also challenge you, even at this early stage, to find accommodation. Hotels and boarding houses in the area have also jumped on the bandwagon and hiked their prices through the roof - and most of it has already been snapped up.

This is an event that is made what it is by the atmosphere created by the fans. There is a real possibility that charging these obscene amounts of money will price genuine fans out of the market and change the Ryder Cup forever. I am sorry, but the European Tour should be ashamed of themselves.