The insane amount of money the Masters reportedly makes off merchandise

Scoring a ticket to the Masters takes some luck, so when someone does get the opportunity to grace the hallowed grounds of Augusta National, they usually go to great lengths to share the experience — even if that means dropping a lot of money on Masters merchandise.

Since cell phones aren’t permitted at the tournament, one of the few ways patrons can prove their attendance is through merchandise. Sports and business expert Joe Pompliano recently broke some of this down in a tweet, although the initial report came from a 2022 Justin Teitelbaum story in Forbes.

Here’s the Forbes article breaking down the estimated 2022 revenue for the Masters:

— Merchandise – $69 million
— Badges – $40 million
— International TV rights – $25 million
— Concessions – $8 million
— On-course sponsors – $0
— Domestic TV rights – $0

For those wondering why (and how) sponsors and domestic TV rights generate zero dollars in estimated revenue, as Forbes referenced in its article, Augusta only has six sponsors — AT&T, Delta, IBM, Mercedes Benz, Rolex and UPS. Together, they split just four minutes of commercial time per hour of event coverage.

Further, in the TV deals with both ESPN and CBS, per Forbes, the Masters generates no domestic TV revenue because the “agreements with both media partners allow Augusta complete control of the broadcast in exchange for no compensation.” By comparison, golf’s U.S. Open gets $93 million for its domestic TV rights.

In other words, because Augusta wants to maintain its image of exclusivity, the Masters is actually leaving a lot of money on the table.

While some places would undoubtedly be irate at losing out on such revenue, in Augusta’s case, the mystique of the tournament may lend itself to the amount of Masters merchandise flying off the shelves.

Nick Dimengo

Golf.com Editor