I could happily wax lyrical for the rest of the blog about the golf course at Augusta National, which looked even better in real life than it does on TV, and the fact that it was probably the best organised sports event that I have ever attended.
However, I guess that the powers that be would not deem that as not being particularly related to the bridging and commercial sectors so I am going to have to look at this from a different angle.
Professional sport and finance are now inexorably linked and here in the UK the most commonly used example is of course the Premier League and the huge amounts of money paid for television rights and the massive salaries paid to the players on the back of the TV contracts.
Elite football seems to have pretty much ignored the credit crunch and the subsequent recession – at least in terms of revenues – but, none of this seems to have much of an effect on the prices paid by fans to attend the games.
Here in the UK the demand is strong and is reflected in high ticket prices and long waiting lists for season tickets. Equally strong is the demand for pay TV customers for live sport with football being by far the most popular and in my opinion ultimately it is these subscriptions that fuel the megabucks that circulate within top level football.
Golf is no stranger to the world of corporate sponsorship and you would be hard placed to find a USPGA tour event that doesn’t boast a first prize of at least $1 million and it is TV coverage that drives the sponsors and provides the advertising profile.
I use this as a general example to offer a comparison to the almost unique set-up at Augusta National. They don’t like to talk about money at the Masters – any mention of prize money is discreet.
The event generates vast revenues from the ubiquitous TV rights and membership is by invitation only, so assume that it doesn’t come cheap. This means that Augusta National is probably the most profitable and cash liquid golf clubs in the world.
This is where the club diverges from most other professional sport as they do not then try to ring the last drops of profit from the event. Within the course there are no corporate hospitality marquees lining the fairways and no advertising hoardings.
Ticket prices are cheap (if you are lucky enough to get them direct from the club – on resale sites they go for ten times face value at least) and when you are in the event food and drink prices are the same as they are outside (and I haven’t been to many events where that is the case).
It was a refreshing change to feel like you weren’t being ripped off – I wonder if that will ever catch on here?
Attributed to Robert Collins Director of Commercial Finance at Brightstar
Leave a comment