Tour News

Report: USGA to lose $10 million on U.S. Open

Published

13 years ago

Jun 12, 2013

It wasn’t an easy decision for the USGA to host a U.S. Open at Merion, a golf course that has about half the land as last year’s U.S. Open venue, the Olympic Club in San Francisco. And according to a Bloomberg report, it won’t be easy on the USGA’s finances either.

Bloomberg’s Michael Buteau is reporting that the USGA is expecting a loss of $10 million this week on the U.S. Open at Merion Golf Course. The report cites a source with knowledge of the USGA’s finances, who was granted anonymity because of the private nature of the finances.

Ticket sales for Merion were limited to 25,000 a day, which according to Bloomberg is down about 45 percent from the typical 40,000 to 45,000 tickets that are usually sold for U.S. Opens. That not only decreases ticket revenue, but sales of concessions and memorabilia as well.

“I don’t think we’ll make up for the loss,” Sarah Hirshland, senior managing director of Business Affairs for the USGA, told Bloomberg in a telephone interview. “Clearly these line items will look different this year.”

Merion has one of the richest histories of any USGA venue, which was the determining factor for it to host the tournament. The course hosted the U.S. Amateur where Bobby Jones capped golf’s “Grand Slam” in 1930, as well the 1951 U.S. Open won by Ben Hogan, who was involved in a life-threatening car accident just 16 months earlier. In 1971, Lee Trevino defeated Jack Nicklaus in an 18-hole playoff for his first second major championship title.

If the $10 million expected loss is accurate, expect for it to grow larger because of the cancelation of most of Monday’s practice round, as well as the thunderstorms predicted for Thursday, Friday and Monday, should there be a playoff.

Weather forecast from Yahoo! Weather

Related Topics:USGA

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9 Comments

John B

Jun 13, 2013 at 9:46 am

Private nature of their finances? Isn’t the USGA a not-for-profit and therefore have to disclose everything?

Reply Report comment
- Todd
  
  Jun 13, 2013 at 12:01 pm
  
  @John B. Totally agree. The USGA is a non-profit, or at least they are supposed to. Therefore, they are supposed to be tax exempt. So, why would their finances be private? But, they do not have to disclose them to journalists or whoever.
  
  Not only that, but the USGA needs to stop having US Opens in the Northeast for the forseeable future if they are worried about weather.
  
  The Northeast is the rainiest part of the US outside of South Florida and Western Washington. Even Seattle gets less rain per year than the Northeast. (That’s a fact, look it up). There are plenty of good courses in other regions of the country where weather is not a huge factor.
  
  All I’m saying is that people need to stop being surprised and/or disappointed when it rains during the US Open in the Northeast. That is their standard weather. And we know the USGA won’t move the date of the US Open, so, if they won’t do that, then they cannot complain about bad weather if they continue to have US Open in places where the weather is awful.
  
  The last time the US Open was in the northeast, weather was a huge factor. (Bethpage 09). There weren’t too many weather issues at Torrey Pines in 08 or at Olympic Club last year, were there? I don’t remember seeing a cloud on Sunday last year.
  
  Also agree with what you said, Cyd. Just because they are making $10 million less this year does not mean they are necessarily losing money. Totally liberal spin.
  
  Reply Report comment
LK

Jun 12, 2013 at 11:44 pm

I think they are actually losing money at Merion, meaning there will be zero profits for the USGA after this event is done. There’s no standard of how much profit a US Open is supposed to bring in so there’s no point in saying they take a loss because it doesn’t meet the standard. Reports are saying this is a rare and deliberate loss. Why would the USGA put on something that will cost them money? Maybe they love golf more than money.

Reply Report comment
Jack

Jun 12, 2013 at 9:59 pm

Well it is opportunity cost. What they are not saying is how much less they are paying Merion to host the tournament, and if that’s any less than other venues.

Reply Report comment
Cyd

Jun 12, 2013 at 8:50 pm

They are not really losing, they are not making as much of a profit.

Liberal spin.

Reply Report comment
kloyd0306

Jun 12, 2013 at 5:00 pm

The USGA’s perceived loss is based on a big IF. If they had held the event elsewhere, the profits would have been greater. They haven’t lost anything and the event will still be in the black. Misleading info at best.

Also, the piece incorrectly lists Hogan’s Merion win, which was in 1950 (not 51) and his head-on bus-car crash was in 1949.

Reply Report comment
t

Jun 12, 2013 at 2:46 pm

so they’re just counting ticket sales…? ok. pretty sure the tv contract makes up for the lack of tickets.

Reply Report comment
- Thain
  
  Jun 12, 2013 at 3:43 pm
  
  TV contracts come every year. They’re losing 45% on food, merch, et al.
  
  Reply Report comment
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