An increase in corporate hospitality and higher ticket prices in the New York market are expected to drive a 10 percent increase in PGA Championship revenue compared with last year’s event in Wisconsin.
Ryan Cannon, tournament director for this year’s PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J., said revenue from this year’s final major will top last year’s record mark set at Whistling Straits near Kohler Wis., though he declined to cite specific dollar projections.
Tournament play begins Thursday.
“Baltusrol is an iconic venue, and being in the largest market in the country makes all the sense in the world,” said Cannon of the expected sellout of both tickets and hospitality at the suburban New York City course. “We are always trying to make our hospitality better and we’ve added some different touches.”
The new hospitality inventory at this year’s tournament comes from the conversion of 16 rooms that typically are used to house members and guests within Baltusrol’s clubhouse into pricey, all-inclusive corporate hospitality rooms. Prices for the rooms range from $32,000 for a 10-person package for the week to $96,000 for a 30-person package.
These spaces have been added to the annual tournament’s usual on-course corporate hospitality options, which range from all-inclusive 10-person tables priced at $35,500 for the week this year to $325,000 for a 100-person hospitality chalet. Overall sales included 25 chalets of various sizes, 55 tables and 28 suites, though neither Cannon nor other PGA of America executives would disclose specific pricing for all the options.
Cannon said he expects all the corporate hospitality packages will sell out, along with the event’s Wanamaker Club ticket packages that this year cost $575 compared to $475 last year at Whistling Straits. A longtime PGA Championship offering, the Wanamaker Club offering includes weeklong access to an air-conditioned pavilion, with food and beverages available for purchase.
This year’s daily tournament ticket prices for the Monday and Wednesday practice rounds were decreased by $5 from last year to $25 and $35 respectively, while the price of tickets for the Saturday and Sunday competition rounds increased to $115 compared with $95 last year. Tickets to Thursday’s tournament play are priced the same as last year, at $90, while Friday tickets cost $5 more than last year, at $100 each.
Cannon would not disclose the number of tickets sold as of last week or the expected attendance.
On the marketing front, on-course activation is limited to the PGA of America’s three top-tier, Patron-level partners — Mercedes-Benz, Samsung and Omega — all of which will have product branding and fan experience tents at Baltusrol as they did at last year at Whistling Straits.
