Which Men's Major Is The Most Profitable?
For all of the four organising bodies, their Major is by far its largest revenue earner. But how do the figures stack up?
As to which of the four men’s Majors makes the most profit, the simple, technical answer is The Masters. Each Major is operated by a different body, and Augusta National, a private members club, is the only one of the four that is a business. The other three are not-for-profit organisations.
The Open Championship is run by the R&A; the US Open by the United States Golf Association and the PGA Championship by the PGA of America. These bodies all spend any excess money they accrue from hosting their Majors – in effect the difference between expenditure and revenue – for the good of the game.
The PGA of America is registered as a non-profit trade association, with the purpose of promoting the common business interests of its members. In its case, more than 30,000 golf club professionals, directors of golf and golf coaches.
Mission statement
The USGA is a mission-based non-profit organisation and all the excess money it may accrue is fed back into its stated mission. This mission has four main strands: unifying golf, through such initiatives as the World Handicapping System; conducting championships; governing the game alongside the R&A and to advance issues for the future of the sport, such as environmental sustainability.
The R&A states that its mission is to ‘open golf to the world’. It does this by governing the game, putting on championships and increasing and promoting golf participation worldwide.
Exclusivity costs
Augusta National, however, does not aim to maximise profits from The Masters. Instead its business model is based around exclusivity and prestige, and a large element of this is through retaining control.
It does not charge for the domestic broadcasting rights, for example. This allows it to dictate the extent of the coverage – for many years only the back nine holes were shown – including the number of ad breaks.
It also regulates the tone of the broadcast, decreeing that commentators cannot refer to spectators, but to patrons; and that there is no rough at Augusta National, but ‘first cut’.
In comparison, the USGA earns an estimated $93million annually from domestic broadcasting rights, and £117m overall from media and broadcast rights.
But it is estimated that Augusta National brings in around $25m annually from international broadcasting rights. It has to be an estimate as the famously secretive Augusta National is a private for-profit corporation, so does not have to disclose information on its income or assets. So it does not.
The club also limits its merchandise sales to those who attend the event. This again drives up exclusivity and it works – those who purchase merchandise spend on average a staggering $1,000.
The club famously does not charge top-dollar for its tickets nor for the food provided at the concession stands. Estimates of total revenues from the Masters include $40m from ticket sales and $80m for merchandise.
The Masters has half a dozen sponsors, but the sponsorship money is used to cover the expenses of the broadcaster CBS, which invoices the club for its expenses incurred in broadcasting the tournament.
Keeping down costs
As The Masters is uniquely held at the same course each year, it costs far less to put on that the other Majors, due to having permanent infrastructure in place. As it owns the course, unlike the organisers of the other Majors, it does not have to pay rental fees or enter into revenue-sharing agreements with the host.
It is estimated that the club has an income of around $150m from each Masters Tournament, with profits of between $30 and $40 million.
Augusta National has used these profits to fund the redevelopment of the course and buy real estate bordering the course, for extra parking and hospitality facilities and a new media centre.
The club also diverts the money to various amateur tournaments and golf development programmes through the Masters Tournament Foundation, and also supports various local initiatives and charities.
No stand alone figures
The Masters does not state its surplus from its Major, but then neither do the other three Majors.
The USGA has declared that its income for 2025 was $333m, the highest it has been. Historically, about three-quarters of its revenue was generated by the US Open, the only one of its tournaments that brings in more money than it costs to stage.
But in 2020, the USGA had provided a breakdown of expenses for the US Open. The US Open was less of a revenue earner then – with a revenue of about $165m – and the event brought in $70m more than it cost to put on. Since then, revenue has increased; but so too have costs and prize money, the latter by $9m.
The 2025 USGA financial report states that it spent $184m staging Opens (the USGA runs five of them: US Open; US Senior Open, US Women’s Open, US Senior Women’s Open and the Adaptive Open) and put up a further $38.5m in purses.
The Open Championship brings in around 80% of the R&A’s annual income of, in 2024, £156m, and generates an estimated surplus of between £30m and £40m ($40 to $55m). This is roughly the same surplus as the PGA Championship is believed to have.
So although The Masters is the only Major to make technical profits, the one which is understood to have the largest surplus, or gap between expenditure and profits, is the US Open.
