How the Masters retains its concession costs low : NPR

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4854x3236+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F29%2Fd3%2Fb80475a34ff0bfd4e482f01eeee4%2Fgettyimages-2270271494.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4854x3236+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F29%2Fd3%2Fb80475a34ff0bfd4e482f01eeee4%2Fgettyimages-2270271494.jpg" class="img" alt="Concessions stand sandwiches range from $1.50 to $3.00 at the Masters this year." fetchpriority="high"/> Concession stand sandwiches vary from $1.50 to $3 on the Masters this 12 months. Andrew Redington/Getty Pictures conceal caption

toggle caption

Andrew Redington/Getty Pictures The Masters went viral effectively earlier than its first tee time on Thursday, as patrons — aka spectators — arrived on the Georgia golf event to concession costs seemingly straight out of the times of yore.

It isn't that the costs have all of the sudden dropped. It is that they've managed to remain low for many years, whilst inflation and battle in Iran ship the value of many different items skyrocketing.

The Augusta Nationwide Golf Membership's hallmark pimento cheese sandwiches value simply $1.50 this 12 months, as they've since 2002. They have been on the menu for the reason that first event in 1934, once they value 30 cents every, the equal of over $7 at this time — that means the value has truly gotten higher since yore.

"From the gadgets supplied to the value paid, Masters morsels are a mode of concessions consistency," the event stated on Instagram Tuesday.

This 12 months's numerous meat sandwiches, breakfast gadgets and desserts — just like the Georgia Peach Ice Cream Sandwich — value not more than $3.00 every. The priciest choices, cans of beer and wine, will run you a whopping $6.00.

Actually, a very indecisive or snacky attendee might purchase one in all every of the 27 menu gadgets for a grand whole of $78.75.

"After paying elevated costs at different sporting occasions, that is truly an actual nice shock to really pay these costs," spectator Monica Johnson informed NPR final 12 months. "I do not even keep in mind these costs in childhood."

NPR has reached out to event organizers for extra data. Many have spoken publicly through the years concerning the significance of conserving their menu easy and reasonably priced.

"We take sure issues very, very significantly. Like the price of a pimento cheese sandwich is simply as necessary as how excessive the second reduce (of grass) goes to be," Augusta Nationwide Chairman Billy Payne stated in 2007.

The Masters' web site explains that in its early days, most patrons got here to city solely on a day journey on account of a "dearth of lodge rooms in Augusta." The purposefully no-frills menu "allowed for the low costs and in addition supplied a way to organize the meals in resident Augustans' kitchens," it says. (The sandwiches had been made by a sequence of native caterers earlier than the event moved all concessions on-site in 2013.)

The menu has developed barely over the many years. The hen salad wrap grew to become a brioche sandwich in 2021; a savory tomato pie made its debut in 2025. This 12 months, the brand new Masters Sweet Bar ($2.25) is changing peanuts, whereas the value of blueberry muffins and cheese straws has gone up 50 cents since final 12 months.

How the Masters makes its cash <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5592x3728+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F96%2F81%2Fab383126491d81849e46dfa1c426%2Fgettyimages-2270046221.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5592x3728+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F96%2F81%2Fab383126491d81849e46dfa1c426%2Fgettyimages-2270046221.jpg" class="img" alt="One coveted lawn gnome costs $59.50, almost as much as the entire food menu." loading="lazy"/> One coveted garden gnome prices $59.50, nearly as a lot as your entire meals menu added collectively. Andrew Redington/Getty Pictures conceal caption

toggle caption

Andrew Redington/Getty Pictures The concession offers stand in sharp distinction to the value of tickets, which is steep and climbing increased.

Getting tickets is notoriously tough. The Masters holds a lottery practically a 12 months upfront, which is the one means to purchase official tickets. There's additionally a wait checklist for a "patron badge" — however there's solely a restricted quantity in circulation, and the checklist is so lengthy it hasn't taken new purposes since a quick window in 2000.

This 12 months, practice-round tickets went for $125 and $150, particular person event rounds value $160 and four-day event badges had been $525. That is up from $450 within the final three years.

Resale tickets are strictly prohibited by the golf membership, however do are likely to flow into on secondary platforms, not sometimes with five-digit worth tags. As of Thursday, for instance, single-round tickets for the ultimate three days of competitors had been accessible on StubHub beginning at over $6,000, whereas a last-minute four-day grounds badge value over $20,000.

And for individuals who do snag a ticket, taking dwelling a memento may be expensive too.

The most well liked piece of merchandise this 12 months is a khaki-clad, umbrella-holding garden gnome that prices $59.50 — up $10 from final 12 months.

The value hike hasn't stopped spectators from lining as much as purchase one (which is the restrict per buyer) of the roughly 1,000 believed to be made accessible every day, as sports activities enterprise publication Entrance Workplace Sports activities studies.

That is the tenth anniversary of the primary Masters gnome memento. They're dressed in another way every year — alternately sporting a Christmas sweater or clutching a Georgia peach ice cream sandwich — and officers have not confirmed or denied rumors this is perhaps their final 12 months on the cabinets.

Whereas official income knowledge is scarce, Forbes put that quantity at $141 million in 2022. Most of that — $69 million — got here from merchandise, adopted by badges, worldwide TV rights and simply $8 million in concessions. That is plenty of cheese sandwiches.

How a lot different traditional concessions will value you <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F8a%2F76%2Fdae1bf024646b643568a19d35ed6%2Fgettyimages-1171859594.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F8a%2F76%2Fdae1bf024646b643568a19d35ed6%2Fgettyimages-1171859594.jpg" class="img" alt="Honey Deuce cocktails, a staple at the U.S. Open, cost $23 (souvenir cup included" loading="lazy"/> Honey Deuce cocktails, a staple on the U.S. Open, value $23 (memento cup included) in 2025. Monica Schipper/Getty Pictures conceal caption

toggle caption

Monica Schipper/Getty Pictures The Masters is not the one U.S.-based sporting occasion with a signature snack.

The U.S. Open, the tennis event held yearly in New York Metropolis, is thought for its "Honey Deuce," a vodka-raspberry lemonade that bought (in a commemorative cup) for $23 final 12 months. The Kentucky Derby's hallmark mint julep, in a memento cup, went for $22 — after climbing steadily from 75 cents in 1940.

And ballparks across the nation just lately unveiled increasingly-zany concessions choices for the brand new baseball season.

For an additional $8, you may get your tenders or nachos served in a ferry boat (Seattle Mariners). There's additionally a $39 "Lobstah poutine" (Boston Pink Sox), a $26 two-foot-long quesadilla in a customized carrying case (Miami Marlins) and a Ninth-inning rally wearable nacho sombrero (Texas Rangers) for $40.