In this short narrated video, Michael Girdley explains the Masters golf tournament’s unconventional revenue strategy. He notes that Augusta National keeps concession prices extremely low—e.g., a pimento cheese sandwich for $1.50 and a beer for $6—prices that have not changed since 2002. The low‑cost food is presented as a goodwill gesture, comparable to Costco’s $1.50 hot‑dog model. The real profit driver is exclusive, on‑site merchandise that cannot be purchased online; during the tournament week the Masters generates about $70 million in merch sales, roughly $10 million per day or $1,600 per minute. Fans buy the gear to signal status and exclusivity, effectively offsetting the cheap concessions. Girdley directs viewers to a longer‑form video for deeper details.
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The Masters is the most famous golf tournament in the world, held each year in Augusta, Georgia. But famously, while other sporting events will charge you $20 for a hamburger or $15 for a beer, a pimento cheese sandwich, one of the staples of the diet there, is only $1.50 at the Masters. Every other event at a stadium, whether it's the NFL or NBA, is charging all this money, trying to extract every dollar that they can, every second that they can from fans. Augusta National does exactly the opposite. In fact, Their concession prices for drinks and pimento cheese sandwiches haven't changed since 2002. The chairman of the whole thing says the price of those concessions is as important as the cut of the grass on the golf course. So if they're giving away food so cheap, what's the catch? Well, it turns out they do $70 million worth of merch sales in the week of the Masters. And here's the kicker: can't buy it online. You have to buy it exclusively at at the Masters itself. The money there is crazy. $10 million a day in merch. That's nearly $1,600 per minute. Patrons will buy and wear armloads of gear from the Masters because they know you can't get it anywhere else. It is a sign that you were cool enough and exclusive enough to get a ticket in to see the show. And so in the end, when they're only charging $1.50 for the pimento cheese sandwich or $6 for a beer, That's just to generate enough goodwill that those patrons will go in and drop $500 at the merchandise stand without thinking twice about it. Other companies like Costco with their $1.50 hot dog that generates a ton of goodwill, they run exactly the same play, and it's a fascinating one that helps businesses. If you want to see a full video about the crazy business that is the Masters and how it all came to be, check out the link to my long-form video in the comments below.
