There will be some who claim ‘market forces’. Others who might describe it as exploitative. But let’s not beat about the bush. The prices we’re asked to pay to get a drink and a bite to eat at a sporting event are daylight robbery.
They’ll charge you £7.50 for a beer, or £14 for a small glass of bubbly. A tenner for a cocktail. Ring any bells The Open?
A tradition unlike any other. You can mock the oft-used idiom all you like, but when it comes to food and drink at the Masters, I’ll wholeheartedly get behind it.
The concessions prices here come from the tournament inflation has forgotten. $1.50 for the signature egg salad and pimento cheese sandwiches. Yes, you read that right. £1.20 for a sandwich. I’d struggle to buy the ingredients and make it for less.
Want to add a bit more to your palate? It doesn’t matter whether it’s Pork Bar-B-Que, Masters Club, the Ham and Cheese on rye, the Chicken Salad on Honey Wheat, or Classic Chicken. It’s all three bucks.
For 2025, the Tomato Pie will be making its debut.
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The domestic beer, the Crow’s Nest, the import beer and the white wine is $6 (about £4.78) – we’ll forgive you. It’s still cheaper than a pint in my local pub. The soft drinks, bottled water and freshly brewed iced tea is all $2.
I worked out you can go through the entire concessions menu – and I believe this is a project some patrons attempt throughout the week – for $71.50. An average of $2.75 per item.
Let’s compare that with The Players last month, where a Michelob Ultra was an eye-watering $15. The $18 for the same drink at the 2022 PGA Championship even had Justin Thomas up in arms.
You can get an apple slice for $1.50, chips with BBQ sauce too. Southern Cheese Straws are $2 and the Georgia Peach Ice Cream Sandwich is $3. Yes, an ice cream sandwich.
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Talk about a cost-of-living crisis. Why don’t I just open a vein for you?
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Masters Concession prices: The model all tournaments should follow
Maybe it’s a bit easier when your golf shop is reportedly seeing $1 million an hour passing through the tills. But it’s actually a Masters policy that’s been going longer than I’ve been on the planet.
“We believe that one of the reasons the Masters is popular with patrons of the game is because they can obtain good food and drink at reasonable prices,” said former chairman Clifford Roberts in his 1976 book, The Story of Augusta National Golf Club.
It’s part of a commitment to make the general experience of watching the tournament affordable to those who visit – a gesture that also extends to other facilities like free parking.
For those of us used to getting rinsed every time we want a diet Coke, the Masters concession prices are as refreshing a change as a Crow’s Nest (your guess is as good as mine, but it’s very, very, good).
Entertainment events on the whole have got to treat their paying customers better. The Masters is the model all tournaments should follow.
Because when you don’t feel like you’re being ripped off, you might just feel more inclined to spend elsewhere. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m just going to pay the shop another visit.
Now have your say on the Masters food prices
What you make of the Masters concession prices? Should other major championships follow suit? Let me know what you think by leaving a comment on X.
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