The Masters went viral well before its first tee time on Thursday, as patrons — aka spectators — arrived at the Georgia golf tournament to concession prices seemingly straight out of the days of yore.
It's not that the prices have suddenly dropped. It's that they've managed to stay low for decades, even as inflation and war in Iran send the price of many other goods skyrocketing.
The Augusta National Golf Club's hallmark pimento cheese sandwiches cost just $1.50 this year, as they have since 2002. They've been on the menu since the first tournament in 1934, when they cost 30 cents each, the equivalent of over $7 today — meaning the price has actually gotten better since yore.
"From the items offered to the price paid, Masters morsels are a mode of concessions consistency," the tournament said on Instagram Tuesday.
This year's various meat sandwiches, breakfast items and desserts — like the Georgia Peach Ice Cream Sandwich — cost no more than $3.00 each. The priciest offerings, cans of beer and wine, will run you a whopping $6.00.
In fact, a particularly indecisive or snacky attendee could buy one of each of the 27 menu items for a grand total of $78.75.
"After paying elevated prices at other sporting events, this is actually a real pleasant surprise to actually pay these prices," spectator Monica Johnson told NPR last year. "I don't even remember these prices in childhood."
NPR has reached out to tournament organizers for more information. Many have spoken publicly over the years about the importance of keeping their menu simple and affordable.
"We take certain things very, very seriously. Like the cost of a pimento cheese sandwich is just as important as how high the second cut (of grass) is going to be," Augusta National Chairman Billy Payne said in 2007.
The Masters' website explains that in its early days, most patrons came to town only on a day trip due to a "dearth of hotel rooms in Augusta." The purposefully no-frills menu "allowed for the low prices and also provided a means to prepare the food in resident Augustans' kitchens," it says. (The sandwiches were made by a series of local caterers before the tournament moved all concessions on-site in 2013.)
The menu has evolved slightly over the decades. The chicken salad wrap became a brioche sandwich in 2021; a savory tomato pie made its debut in 2025. This year, the new Masters Candy Bar ($2.25) is replacing peanuts, while the price of blueberry muffins and cheese straws has gone up 50 cents since last year.
How the Masters makes its money
The concession deals stand in sharp contrast to the price of tickets, which is steep and climbing higher.
Getting tickets is notoriously difficult. The Masters holds a lottery nearly a year in advance, which is the only way to buy official tickets. There's also a wait list for a "patron badge" — but there's only a limited number in circulation, and the list is so long it hasn't taken new applications since a brief window in 2000.
This year, practice-round tickets went for $125 and $150, individual tournament rounds cost $160 and four-day tournament badges were $525. That's up from $450 in the last three years.
Resale tickets are strictly prohibited by the golf club, but do tend to circulate on secondary platforms, not infrequently with five-digit price tags. As of Thursday, for example, single-round tickets for the final three days of competition were available on StubHub starting at over $6,000, while a last-minute four-day grounds badge cost over $20,000.
And for those who do snag a ticket, taking home a souvenir can be pricey too.
The hottest piece of merchandise this year is a khaki-clad, umbrella-holding lawn gnome that costs $59.50 — up $10 from last year.
The price hike hasn't stopped spectators from lining up to buy one (which is the limit per customer) of the roughly 1,000 believed to be made available each day, as sports business publication Front Office Sports reports.
This is the 10th anniversary of the first Masters gnome souvenir. They're dressed differently each year — alternately wearing a Christmas sweater or clutching a Georgia peach ice cream sandwich — and officials haven't confirmed or denied rumors this might be their last year on the shelves.
While official revenue data is scarce, Forbes put that number at $141 million in 2022. Most of that — $69 million — came from merchandise, followed by badges, international TV rights and just $8 million in concessions. That's a lot of cheese sandwiches.
How much other classic concessions will cost you
The Masters isn't the only U.S.-based sporting event with a signature snack.
The U.S. Open, the tennis tournament held annually in New York City, is known for its "Honey Deuce," a vodka-raspberry lemonade that sold (in a commemorative cup) for $23 last year. The Kentucky Derby's hallmark mint julep, in a souvenir cup, went for $22 — after climbing steadily from 75 cents in 1940.
And ballparks around the country recently unveiled increasingly-zany concessions options for the new baseball season.
For an extra $8, you can get your tenders or nachos served in a ferry boat (Seattle Mariners). There's also a $39 "Lobstah poutine" (Boston Red Sox), a $26 two-foot-long quesadilla in a custom carrying case (Miami Marlins) and a 9th-inning rally wearable nacho sombrero (Texas Rangers) for $40.
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