The furor over paying players for participating in the
Ryder Cup was largely fueled by Steve Bailey's report in
GOLF DIGEST which shows that the PGA of America could earn
$63M in revenue from this year's event in Brookline, MA, on
September 24-26. Bailey calls it the "ultimate cash cow."
NBC will pay $13M for the rights to televise the event, an
increase of $4.5M from '95, and eight advertisers are paying
up to $2M each to sponsor the broadcast. There will be 59
corporate tents at The Country Club at a total cost of
$16.3M. Individual tents range from a "bargain-basement"
price of $250,000 (including 100 tickets) to $500,000 for a
"deluxe model" (including 250 tickets). There will also be
around 200 corporate tables for ten at a cost of $50,000
each, generating about $15.6M. Merchandising will account
for roughly $8M, food and beverages for $2-3M and program
advertising $2M. Organizers have already sold the 30,000
tickets to the event, and in addition to the tickets to the
corporate tents, tickets sales have generated $5M. Overall,
with total gross revenues of $63M and projected expenses of
$38-40M, the net profit for the PGA is expected to be around
$16.5-17.5M (GOLF DIGEST, 9/99 issue).
BUT NO? PGA of America CEO Jim Awtrey disputed the
report and said that the organization would take in "just
under" $50M. Awtrey noted that $12.5M would go to the Ryder
Cup Outreach Program, which benefits golf programs for
youths and minorities, and $8M would "return" to the PGA for
"what furthers the mission of the PGA and these programs
that we're doing now" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 8/12).
