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PGA signs PrimeSport for Ryder Cup secondary ticketing

The PGA of America has signed its first secondary ticketing deal tied to the Ryder Cup, a 13-year agreement with PrimeSport.

Atlanta-based PrimeSport becomes the official secondary ticketing seller around one of golf’s biggest events, beginning with the 2016 edition this fall and running through 2028. The company will also sell travel hospitality packages around the PGA Championship and KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

The Ryder Cup returns to the United States this year for the first time since 2012.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
But it is the Ryder Cup that carries the most prestige — and ticket demand — in the deal.

“In the past we have had nothing,” said Kevin Ring, chief marketing officer for the PGA of America. “As the event has grown, we had to get some control over that market.”

Ring would not disclose financial specifics of the agreement, but said that the PGA of America, which runs the Ryder Cup in the U.S., will take an undisclosed percentage of the secondary ticket sales and receive an annual fee from PrimeSport.

PrimeSport also will run the future Ryder Cup travel package business. The PGA of America is in the last year of its deal with Premier Golf to sell travel packages around this year’s Ryder Cup, set for Sept. 27 through Oct. 2 at the Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn. Premier will still sell golf travel packages for PGA professionals to create trips for their members and customers to play golf that are not related to the Ryder Cup or other PGA of America Championships.

In 2017, PrimeSport will take over as the official distributor of travel packages to the Ryder Cup as well as run a secondary ticket exchange for future Ryder Cups held in the U.S.

For PrimeSport, the PGA of America agreement comes after the NFL approved a deal that shifts 6,000 Super Bowl tickets from the two participating teams to On Location Experiences. These tickets in the past typically went to PrimeSport, given that both teams in the last three Super Bowls were PrimeSport clients.

Tickets to this year’s Ryder Cup have long been sold out. The PGA of America sold the inventory through a random selection process.

“It is a high-demand event, and we are trying to get involved,” said Brian Wilder, senior vice president of PrimeSport. “It is something that they haven’t done in the past.”

Other PrimeSport clients include the NCAA, 20 NFL teams and Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The PGA of America is looking at its deal with PrimeSport to limit any ticket fraud issues related to the Ryder Cup. Secondary market tickets to the event will be sold through a ticket exchange run through PrimeSport.com and Rydercup.com.

“We haven’t had any major issues, but having our heads in the sand isn’t a solution,” Ring said. “If people spend money for a Ryder Cup ticket, they need to know what they are getting.”

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