Former PGA of America President Ted Bishop was involved in selecting Bethpage Black for the upcoming Ryder Cup and is keenly aware of the significance of the competition heading to the New York area.

And he is well aware of the criticism of ticket priceswhich will cost $750 per person for the competition days.

“If you’re going to a major sporting event, I don’t care where it’s held, that’s kind of what the ticket market is,” Bishop said. Sports Illustrated in a long interview 10 years after his ouster from his position at the PGA. “My daughter lives in New York and wants to go to the World Series and it costs $1,100 on the upper deck.

“Along with the Masters, it’s probably one of the most coveted tickets in golf. It’s once every four years (in the United States). I’m not going to criticize the PGA of America in any way. This is a very crucial part of the operating budget. When we made the decision in 2013 to play the Ryder Cup and the PGA Championship there (in 2019), the Ryder Cup was truly the crown jewel. We knew it would be this kind of Ryder Cup.

As for its importance in terms of results, Bishop says that a decade ago, the PGA of America typically earned about $10 million for an international Ryder Cup and about $25 million for a domestic event, not including income from television rights.

“What we would do is take that $35 million and spread it over a four-year period. And when you analyze that, the PGA of America, when I was president, had an annual budget of $156 million,” Bishop says. “So that represented $8.75 million per year and a significant driver for our association. »

How much of that goes to PGA of America pros across the country? None of this directly. But Bishop said each of the 41 chapters receives an annual payment that has increased from $90,000 to $180,000, plus an annual percentage increase as a result of the $440 million television deal over 15 years (until ‘in 2030) which was negotiated during his mandate.

What about the players who compete? They, too, receive no direct compensation, other than $200,000 in charitable donations that they can direct wherever they wish.

But Bishop pointed out that the PGA Tour receives 20 percent of the PGA of America’s television revenue for the Ryder Cup, or about $88 million over the life of the contract. That’s just under $6 million a year.

“I don’t know if at the time the players really understood that the money was going to the Tour, but Tim Finchem (then commissioner) did a good job explaining it,” Bishop said. “Those 12 guys aren’t paid directly, but the Tour as a whole has been paid pretty well.”

The Tour has previously said that the money it receives from the PGA of America is used for compensation for the entire Tour, including the pension plan.