Masters Ticket Scalpers

[Wafflecam]

Yahoo Sports posted an article talking about the secondary market imploding: https://sports.yahoo.com/article/masters-badges-hit-record-prices-222900078.html

 

The summary version is this:

- RFID tracking was setup around Augusta roads to track the location of badges off-property. Should a bunch of badges be together in one location, those got flagged and potentially rejected at the gate. 
 

- the rejections then put pressure on the resellers and market as a whole. Supply is now lowered, prices go up, badges need to be replaced but prices are higher almost like a stock market short squeeze. In fact here on Sat night there are ZERO badges available for Sunday. Probably because they aren’t even able to fulfill previous customers. 
 

Rumor on the street appears to be On Location will be a partner to revamp the badges moving forward but obviously not sure how at this point. 
 

Big turning point in this year-long thread moving forward. Hope you’re enjoying your trip dmbolp!

[StoutKing]

1 hour ago, Wafflecam said:

Yahoo Sports posted an article talking about the secondary market imploding: https://sports.yahoo.com/article/masters-badges-hit-record-prices-222900078.html

 

The summary version is this:

- RFID tracking was setup around Augusta roads to track the location of badges off-property. Should a bunch of badges be together in one location, those got flagged and potentially rejected at the gate. 
 

- the rejections then put pressure on the resellers and market as a whole. Supply is now lowered, prices go up, badges need to be replaced but prices are higher almost like a stock market short squeeze. In fact here on Sat night there are ZERO badges available for Sunday. Probably because they aren’t even able to fulfill previous customers. 
 

Rumor on the street appears to be On Location will be a partner to revamp the badges moving forward but obviously not sure how at this point. 
 

Big turning point in this year-long thread moving forward. Hope you’re enjoying your trip dmbolp!

Crazy how ridiculous it's gotten.  I'd rather play golf that watch someone.

[dmbolp]

14 hours ago, Wafflecam said:

Big turning point in this year-long thread moving forward. Hope you’re enjoying your trip dmbolp!

 

Trip has been amazing!  Muirfield, Old Course, Kingsbarns, and then Elie today.  Weather has been amazing!  Crail tomorrow, then probably Castle on TUE.

 

Cheers from The Dunvegan!

 

[dcmidnight]

16 hours ago, dmbolp said:

 

Trip has been amazing!  Muirfield, Old Course, Kingsbarns, and then Elie today.  Weather has been amazing!  Crail tomorrow, then probably Castle on TUE.

 

Cheers from The Dunvegan!

 

Man thats a sick lineup! We wanted to play Crail/Elie on our trip but ended up camping out for the Old Course instead, heard they were amazing. Have fun!

[dcmidnight]

On 4/12/2025 at 11:12 PM, Wafflecam said:

 RFID tracking was setup around Augusta roads to track the location of badges off-property. Should a bunch of badges be together in one location, those got flagged and potentially rejected at the gate.

 

I know a little about passive/active RFID readers and the passive readers are very very limited in their range. They arent like EZPass toll readers. My guess is that most of them are just on the boundaries of the property, maybe on the major light poles that people walk past or congregate around.

 

But its not like it would be hard for them to find the address of the StubHub house.

Edited April 14 by dcmidnight

[weems]

Regarding merchandise.

 

I was there Saturday & Sunday with Map & Flag tickets.  

 

Map & Flag merchandise area was pretty limited with no exclusive merch, but they had essentials like chairs, towels, masters tech shirts, some trinkets.  We decided to only buy chairs and a pull over because it was cooler than expected (we arrived at 7am).

 

We walked through the gates on Saturday at 730 am and the merchandise line was 1.5 hours long and we saw people flooding out of the gates with bags and bags of merch.  We decided not to wait as we were just shopping for ourselves (I cant bring myself to buy just to resell online, not that I look down on people that do, just not something I am personally comfortable with).  We setup our chairs on no. 1 green and watched all players come through and then went back to the north gate merch.  We walked right in with no wait, and like we expected, they were sold out of a lot of things and lot of sizes in the polos and all of the good hats.  We got a decent haul and then watched a lot of the rest of the tournament. 

 

We decided to try the south gate merch around 630pm and while they were still out of a lot of sizes, in my opinion they had a better selection of stuff still left.

 

 

Sunday we came in the gates around 930am and the line was 1.5 hours long at the north again.  We went straight to the south gate and we waited about 15 minutes to get in.  Selection was even more limited than Saturday, so much so that I just told them to give me a large in every masters tech or masters by peter milar shirt they had (wound up with 6).  My wife wanted a straw hat and couldn't find one anywhere.  We got some more odds and ends (towels, trinkets, key chains, ect) a bookbag to carry everything in and called it quits.  People were LOADING up gear and heading straight out the gates by 1030.  

 

It seems like in the past I haven't seen so many obvious non golf fan resellers.  Was a little aggravating as a customer who just wants a few items for personal use but that's just the name of the game.  People were walking around with HUGE lists of items, and splitting the transaction multiple ways at checkout.  Still the checkout process was always easy and fast.

 

If I could do it again, I would have spent more time in M&F and actually tried to find things I want instead of grabbing chairs and heading straight for the course.

 

My wife wound up a little bummed because we forgot to get her an umbrella and couldn't find her a straw hat on Sunday and I can't bring myself to pay $250 for one online.

[Marki89]

Does anyone know what diameter the round ball markers from the Masters have? And if they fit in the pitchfork from Pitchfix? Thanks. 

 

The ball markers I use have a diameter of 22mm (0,866 inch) and 25mm (0,98 inch).

 

 

[dcmidnight]

6 minutes ago, Marki89 said:

Does anyone know what diameter the round ball markers from the Masters have? And if they fit in the pitchfork from Pitchfix? Thanks. 

 

The ball markers I use have a diameter of 22mm (0,866 inch) and 25mm (0,98 inch).

 

The boxes I have are 25mm - actually 24.8 on my calipers. Dont know about pitchfix but they fit a couple of the tools that I bought off Amazon.

[dmbolp]

Yikes, bad experiences at the Stubhub house:

 

 

[dmbolp]

One post:

 

"I work in the ticketing industry and this years masters was a NIGHTMARE for almost everyone involved. Hundreds of patrons badges were taken inside the gates if they weren’t able to provide the first & last name associated with the badge they had. Ticket brokers and marketplaces are down big time. When a badge is pulled on Thursday, there’s a trickle down effect for every person who bought that badge for each other day. Hundreds of thousands of dollars being taken away from people who paid their fair share to experience Augusta."

[Ghost of Snead]

11 minutes ago, dmbolp said:

One post:

 

"I work in the ticketing industry and this years masters was a NIGHTMARE for almost everyone involved. Hundreds of patrons badges were taken inside the gates if they weren’t able to provide the first & last name associated with the badge they had. Ticket brokers and marketplaces are down big time. When a badge is pulled on Thursday, there’s a trickle down effect for every person who bought that badge for each other day. Hundreds of thousands of dollars being taken away from people who paid their fair share to experience Augusta."

 

Sounds like a few series badge holders may have their badges revoked ? 

[StoutKing]

56 minutes ago, dmbolp said:

One post:

 

"I work in the ticketing industry and this years masters was a NIGHTMARE for almost everyone involved. Hundreds of patrons badges were taken inside the gates if they weren’t able to provide the first & last name associated with the badge they had. Ticket brokers and marketplaces are down big time. When a badge is pulled on Thursday, there’s a trickle down effect for every person who bought that badge for each other day. Hundreds of thousands of dollars being taken away from people who paid their fair share to experience Augusta."

Honestly how are you supposed to attend if you don't win the lottery?

[dcmidnight]

46 minutes ago, Ghost of Snead said:

 

Sounds like a few series badge holders may have their badges revoked ? 

 

My guess is that this has more to do with members trying to weed out the series badge holders who are no longer going themselves - and less about Augusta taking some sort of stranglehold over third party reselling of the day to day tickets by creating their own avenue.

[dmbolp]

3 minutes ago, StoutKing said:

Honestly how are you supposed to attend if you don't win the lottery?

if the On Location rumor is true, and I bet it is, that’s gonna be the official secondary market.  We used them for the PGA at the Ocean Course a couple years ago, worked great, instantly, electronic tickets.  Like buying resale on Ticketmaster Verified Resale.  You’re buying from the official legit ticketing site.  We waited until the last minute on SUN to get as cheap as possible.

[dmbolp]

6 minutes ago, dcmidnight said:

 

My guess is that this has more to do with members trying to weed out the series badge holders who are no longer going themselves - and less about Augusta taking some sort of stranglehold over third party reselling of the day to day tickets by creating their own avenue.

Or, maybe this opens up the Series Badge list for a few spots/people? 😜

[Harmon25]

2 hours ago, dmbolp said:

if the On Location rumor is true, and I bet it is, that’s gonna be the official secondary market.  We used them for the PGA at the Ocean Course a couple years ago, worked great, instantly, electronic tickets.  Like buying resale on Ticketmaster Verified Resale.  You’re buying from the official legit ticketing site.  We waited until the last minute on SUN to get as cheap as possible.

Do you think that drives up ticket prices for the Masters? Maybe I am wrong but feels to me like an “official” secondary market just means higher floor prices, and thus higher overall prices, and less fluctuations and price drops at the times we typically look for: when lottery tix are mailed, 1-2 weeks in advance, last minute drops due to changes in weather, etc…..Is all of that gone ?

[dmbolp]

Just now, Harmon25 said:

Do you think that drives up ticket prices for the Masters? Maybe I am wrong but feels to me like an “official” secondary market just means higher floor prices, and thus higher overall prices, and less fluctuations and price drops at the times we typically look for: when lottery tix are mailed, 1-2 weeks in advance, last minute drops due to changes in weather, etc…..Is all of that gone ?

 

The original purchasers (now the resellers) still control their individual list price, so no different than Stubhub/etc today, from a pricing perspective

[StudentGolfer4]

2 hours ago, dmbolp said:

if the On Location rumor is true, and I bet it is, that’s gonna be the official secondary market.  We used them for the PGA at the Ocean Course a couple years ago, worked great, instantly, electronic tickets.  Like buying resale on Ticketmaster Verified Resale.  You’re buying from the official legit ticketing site.  We waited until the last minute on SUN to get as cheap as possible.

I have no experience with On Location. Any thoughts on how they might incorporate with the current “badge” process for Augusta? I would be surprised if they want people walking up with printed paper tickets. 
 

Maybe they move the tech check inside the gate and go electronic? They could also just go to different tickets for each day? Honestly it seems a bit silly to use the same badge/ticket for multiple days anyway. I think they have moved electronic now but the NCAA basketball tournament always had individual tickets for each session.  

[dmbolp]

Every other large event/sport/concert/etc has moved to mobile/e-tickets 

 

But, they're on phones!!!  That's the bigger problem

 

Maybe they move to MOBILE PHONE ZONES, like where the dial/wired phone banks are now.  Otherwise they must always be in your pocket/purse, and no pictures!

 

Edited April 18 by dmbolp

[Harmon25]

28 minutes ago, dmbolp said:

 

The original purchasers (now the resellers) still control their individual list price, so no different than Stubhub/etc today, from a pricing perspective

Got it. Maybe I am looking in the wrong place but just looked at PGA Championship packages on their website, just looked like a few packages you could pick vs an actual ticket exchange.

[dmbolp]

3 minutes ago, Harmon25 said:

Got it. Maybe I am looking in the wrong place but just looked at PGA Championship packages on their website, just looked like a few packages you could pick vs an actual ticket exchange.

 

Resale market may not start until closer to the event; that's how they've handled other events.  Or at least until the initial face-value inventory sells out

 

https://onlocationexp.com/golf/pga-championship-tickets

Edited April 18 by dmbolp

[dmbolp]

Just checked my account and see I used them for the 2021 Ryder Cup Sunday (Whistling Straits) as well

 

 

[dmbolp]

[dmbolp]

Just noticed this too; they look to be tied to Ticketmaster for ticket delivery (maybe that's how I ultimately got the tickets?)

 

 

[dcmidnight]

1 hour ago, dmbolp said:

Maybe they move to MOBILE PHONE ZONES, like where the dial/wired phone banks are now.  Otherwise they must always be in your pocket/purse, and no pictures!

 

Less than zero chance this happens. 

[BMF2004]

Going to be interesting watching this thread going from StubHub pricing to On Location pricing next year. Or will you do both @dmbolp?

[PedronNiall]

We'll see how it all shakes out but not unhappy about them trying to do something. Resellers grab up everything they can with bots, scripts, and straw purchasers and make it a PITA for actual fans to get tickets at a fair price. No doubt the permabans on resellers who are caught helps, but that's a lot of work to get them all. 

 

I'd rather be out of luck on selling passes for a day I can't make it than have a system where those who really want to go are paying a grand to enjoy the experience.

[dmbolp]

A 7-day golf trip to Scotland including all the below was cheaper than a single day Masters ticket from Stubhub:

 

• Roundtrip airfare Orlando-Edinburgh in Premium Class
• 1 week rental car and gas
• 1 week Airbnb steps from the Old Course
• Rounds of Golf on: Muirfield, Old Course, Kingsbarns, Elie, Castle Course
• All meals and drinks
• Masters Final round viewing party at the St Andrews Links Clubhouse

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1013605060716257

 

My final spreadsheet ever in this thread! 😉

 

 

[exit47]

On 4/14/2025 at 9:33 AM, weems said:

Regarding merchandise.

 

I was there Saturday & Sunday with Map & Flag tickets.  

 

Map & Flag merchandise area was pretty limited with no exclusive merch, but they had essentials like chairs, towels, masters tech shirts, some trinkets.  We decided to only buy chairs and a pull over because it was cooler than expected (we arrived at 7am).

 

We walked through the gates on Saturday at 730 am and the merchandise line was 1.5 hours long and we saw people flooding out of the gates with bags and bags of merch.  We decided not to wait as we were just shopping for ourselves (I cant bring myself to buy just to resell online, not that I look down on people that do, just not something I am personally comfortable with).  We setup our chairs on no. 1 green and watched all players come through and then went back to the north gate merch.  We walked right in with no wait, and like we expected, they were sold out of a lot of things and lot of sizes in the polos and all of the good hats.  We got a decent haul and then watched a lot of the rest of the tournament. 

 

We decided to try the south gate merch around 630pm and while they were still out of a lot of sizes, in my opinion they had a better selection of stuff still left.

 

 

Sunday we came in the gates around 930am and the line was 1.5 hours long at the north again.  We went straight to the south gate and we waited about 15 minutes to get in.  Selection was even more limited than Saturday, so much so that I just told them to give me a large in every masters tech or masters by peter milar shirt they had (wound up with 6).  My wife wanted a straw hat and couldn't find one anywhere.  We got some more odds and ends (towels, trinkets, key chains, ect) a bookbag to carry everything in and called it quits.  People were LOADING up gear and heading straight out the gates by 1030.  

 

It seems like in the past I haven't seen so many obvious non golf fan resellers.  Was a little aggravating as a customer who just wants a few items for personal use but that's just the name of the game.  People were walking around with HUGE lists of items, and splitting the transaction multiple ways at checkout.  Still the checkout process was always easy and fast.

 

If I could do it again, I would have spent more time in M&F and actually tried to find things I want instead of grabbing chairs and heading straight for the course.

 

My wife wound up a little bummed because we forgot to get her an umbrella and couldn't find her a straw hat on Sunday and I can't bring myself to pay $250 for one online.

They sell way more practice rounds than they use to and as a result, the merch building is wiped out by Thursday/Friday.   s***, Billy Payne was next to me on Friday loading up kids clothes in the kids area on Friday in the main merch building😂.  Just standing there in his green jacket, in line, like everyone else 

[Big Cat 3]

On 4/18/2025 at 11:47 AM, Ghost of Snead said:

 

Sounds like a few series badge holders may have their badges revoked ? 

We received our 12 badges in 2024 and 2023 ... courtesy of the wife of a past champion selling them to a 3rd party. Word is she had 12 per day, Mon-Sun, rolled up every morning, rolled down the window just a tad, and made the transaction. Not sure what 3rd party paid for them but it was certainly north of $1,500 per badge. So for simple math, say $1,000 per badge, 12 per day for 7 days ..... cool $84,000 or more!