Jamie Spence has told the Sky Sports Golf Podcast that the prices for tickets to the 2025 Ryder Cup are “ridiculous”, while fellow pundit Rob Lee has warned the high fees could give “ammunition” to raucous fans.
The PGA of America, who organise the biennial event when the United States host it, earlier in October confirmed prices of almost $750 for day tickets to New York’s Bethpage Black course.
The cost of the same standard type tickets was just over £200 when Europe hosted the event in Rome last year.
There has been online backlash over the pricing, which includes a fee of more than $250 for tickets to practice days on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“I just think that’s ridiculous money,” Spence said on the latest episode of the Sky Sports Golf Podcast.
“What you’re seeing on practice days, guys just chipping around and having a laugh and a joke really. And they’re charging $255 – I think it was around £60 at Marco Simone. That’s about right – anything under a hundred quid – people are going to go along to see everybody and get the flavour of the event.
“But then to go to $755, I know you get a chicken burger and as many cokes as you want, but crikey, how many can you have? It sounds like a lot.
“I know they’re probably trying price it alongside other big events like the Super Bowl, but a lot more people watch the Super Bowl in the world than the Ryder Cup.”
Lee suggested the pricing scheme has been designed to avoid allowing resellers to profit, but warned the high costs could lead to unruly fans being emboldened.
“Honestly, it’s a lot of money,” Lee said. “I think some of the rationale that I’ve read about is that a lot of people will buy resale tickets, so a lot of people will be paying way over the gate price on the ticket.
“So, what the PGA of America is saying is, ‘Why don’t we get some of that money? We’re hosting the thing and getting cut out of that loop completely.’
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Rory McIlroy was spotted by a handful of US fans during a round at St Andrews, with attention quickly turning to next year’s Ryder Cup! Credit: TheSecretOfStAndrews.com
“But it does to me sound like an awful lot of money. It doesn’t matter how many chicken burgers you have, it will still feel like a big hole in your pocket.
“We’re going to be in New York, and it’s going to be raucous, to say the least, and maybe we’ve given those fans that are inclined to slightly stand out from everybody else, they have to shout something, maybe they think, ‘well, I’ve paid my money, I’m going to shout as much as I want.’ Maybe we’ve given them a bit of ammunition.”
Sky Sports will continue to be the home of the Ryder Cup, with all three days of the 2025 contest from Bethpage Black, New York exclusively live. Stream golf and more with NOW.
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