Prices Fall for Attending the Masters, Golf's Prized Event

by Paul Rogers (RSS feed)
Mar 10th 2009 at 9:02AM

The anemic economy and outrage over corporate perks seem to have driven down prices for online tickets to the Masters and housing during tournament week in Augusta, Ga., Bloomberg reports.

To be sure, the Masters, the first of golf's four major championships each year, remains the most sought after ticket in the sport. Tickets to this year's tournament are sold out as always, creating a market for them at online brokers such as StubHub. But ticket prices are nearly 15 percent lower this year than last; on average, four-day passes (whose face value is $200) have fetched $3,377 on StubHub, down from $3,930 a year ago, according to Bloomberg.

Even steeper falloffs can be found in the prices of rental housing during Masters week, April 5–12. Once highly coveted by companies that use the tournament as a key opportunity to entertain, private houses and estates in town are being rented for as little as half what they commanded last year. The decreased demand isn't surprising given the intense criticism of corporations such as Northern Trust, sponsor of a PGA Tour event last month at Riviera Country Club in suburban Los Angeles, that have spent lavishly on golf after receiving federal bailout funds.

Tags: Augusta, Ga., golf, masters, Northern Trust

Filed under: Sports

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Roger Mar 23rd 2009 4:41PM

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