The Masters tee off this weekend, and tickets to see the azaleas blooming and hear the birds chirping — and perhaps catch a glimpse of Tiger Woods in action — is almost definitely going to cost fans thousands.
Tickets for The Masters, which will be held from April 7 to April 10 at the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia, are sold through an application process each year, but the chance to nab a view of the world’s best players during the four-day tournament sold out well in advance. Tickets are actually awarded via a lottery system, because the demand for tickets is such that it will sell out every single year, so fans only enter for the privilege of purchasing tickets each year.
Now the only place to score a ticket is through the secondary market, which of course has its pitfalls and chances to get scammed out of a lot of cashola for what Business Insider has called “the world’s second-most exclusive sporting event.”
Bills and Tigers
Long story short, tickets for one day are just below $2,000 on the low end and start to rise from there. Tickets for four-day passes are anywhere from $6,000 to well above $10,000 per person, and the sales on the secondary markets are ongoing, though those trying to buy tickets in person really need to pay attention to the rules and boundaries.
As for Woods, speculation has literally been flying about whether or not he’ll tee off this year. There’s no certainty that he’ll play this week, but if he decides to, there’s no doubt that ticket prices will rise swiftly and even exponentially, so you might want to get ahead of the game if you’re willing to take the chance. Woods drives all things golf — including demand and cost for tickets — whether he’s at the top of his game or recovering from a malady.
The world’s most famous golfer is fighting through injuries, but he’s also been spotted flying into the area this past weekend and even played the course briefly, according to The Athletic. Woods himself took to Twitter to say that it will be a “game-time decision.”
According to Masters.com, the status for tickets and the only way to secure guaranteed access with an official ticket no longer exists.
“2022 MASTERS TICKETS – SOLD OUT,” the website reads. “The ticket application process for the 2022 Masters Tournament has concluded. All tickets were sold in advance by a selection process and no additional tickets are available.
“As a reminder, Augusta National, Inc. is the only authorized source/seller of Masters® Tickets. The resale of any Masters Ticket is strictly prohibited. Holders of Tickets acquired from third parties, by whatever means, may be excluded from attendance to the Tournament.”
Secondary sales OK, with stipulations
And yet, there those tickets sit on essentially every digital resale market out there. Even further, the Augusta National website itself even has an article about how people can buy secondhand tickets, which seems to go against the very policy they stipulate on the ticket sales page.
According to Augusta.com, there are some actual legal areas to buy secondhand tickets, however, as the course and tournament themselves allow, as long as people adhere to some physical guidelines. Ticket sales within a 2,700-perimeter surrounding Augusta National Golf Club are considered illegal, with the course threatening that those who break the rules could “get a ride in a police car.”
“Measuring around the course isn’t necessary,” according to Augusta.com. “Richmond County sheriff’s Capt. Scott Gay said the illegal area stretches between the Washington Road Taco Bell and Calhoun Expressway and between Wheeler and Smith Creek roads in the National Hills neighborhood. The same rules apply for licensed brokers.”
So, in short, yes, you can still get tickets for the show, either to see a practice round, one day, multiple days, or the whole shebang. Every year, fans flock to the resale sites and get tickets for The Masters (though we’ve personally never thrown down to enter the greens).
Ticket time
Starting the search, StubHub states that “Ticket prices will vary, but typically, you can expect to find Masters tournament tickets starting around $115.” If you can get that price out there, go for it, but of course, buyers beware.
Our search on the site Monday night pulled up the cheapest ticket at $270 just for the Tuesday practice round, which shows that there is only one ticket left “at lowest price,” with some more slotting in going all the way up to $995. The Wednesday practice tickets started at $700 on StubHub.
For the real deal, one-day tickets are all slotting in starting between $1,500-$2,000 right now, while all four days is going for starting at $5,500. Some two-day tickets, such as Thursday-Friday and Saturday-Sunday are going for $4,175.
On SeatGeek, a four-day pass starts at $6,478 as of Tuesday, and one seller has 1-4 tickets up for $15,399 each. There are some sub-$2,000 one-day tickets up for grabs in limited supply on SeatGeek as well.
One more check on Vivid Seats shows four-day passes ranging from $5,799 to $9,022, with one-day slots in the same range as the other sites, between $1,600 and upwards of $4,000. In other words, if you’re thinking about it at all, go ahead and grab those tickets now, as the demand is sure to rise — especially if Woods announces that he’s playing.
In case you were wondering, tickets for 2022 for those who were able to buy them through the ticket lottery started at $75 for the practice days, of which you could only enter to win the chance to buy them for one day (up to four tickets). Tournament tickets themselves went for $115 per day and you could only apply for tickets for each individual day as well (not for a package of all four days, for instance) with a maximum of two tickets per person.
Wait a second ⏤ how are 4-day passes out there for resale purchase, then? And are they even valid?
Yes, four-day passes, or badges, exist. However, they’re just about impossible to get if you don’t already have one, except through the secondary market (or a good buddy letting you use theirs).
Fans can pay $325 to get access to Augusta for every day of the tourney, but the very limited number of badges is essentially “out there in the world” already, according to the PGA, and “once you have one, you can keep it for the rest of your life.” The waiting list for badges last opened up in 2000.
To get tickets for 2023, the process follows the same as every year, though entry into the ticket lottery is not yet available. For more details on the entire process, check out this article from Golf.com on the 2022 tickets and keep an eye out for the announcement on next year’s tickets to get the chance to buy tickets before the small window closes.