Ian Mallon: The Hidden rewards as Ryder Cup players set for $50m in bonus fees
HIDDEN REWARDS: Rory McIlroy gearing up for the Ryder Cup. Photo credit: Zac Goodwin/PA Wire.
AT NEXT week’s Ryder Cup you will hear many times during coverage how players don’t get paid to play in golf’s greatest team competition.
The financial reality is that the Europe v USA match-up has grown to one of the highest returning events in the sport, all through a lucrative system of bonus payments and additional fees covering selection and match-winning success.
While there is no prize money for the winners, The Pitch analyses the hidden rewards which await those participating in a competition more valuable than any of the majors as a combined fee-paying event.
So let’s take a look at the financial side of the Ryder Cup and those taking part in one of sport’s greatest match-ups, where a week out, the markets are calling the USA at 5/4 and Europe at Evens.
With little separating the sportsbook valuations, the difference in overall wealth is significant.
Assessing the value of a golfer’s wealth through ‘prize money earned’ can be slightly complex in that most players will play the vast majority of a season on a designated tour, but with some playing on both the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour.
Brooks Koepka’s two years on the LIV Tour have seen his earnings shoot from $50m to close to $70m, but we’ll stick to the two main tours for now.
Last year, Rory McIlroy won both the FedEx Cup and the DP World Tour Championship – an incredible double championship on both sides of the Atlantic, securing $18m in the US and $2.5m in Europe.
While there is some crossover between the tours, both organisations only reveal the money won by a player on its roster and not the other side, as well as in the four Major championships and a number of linked events.
Under career earnings, the PGA Tour reports McIlroy having earned $80m, while the DP World Tour has declared $50m.
The model we’re using is similar to the earnings index compiled by Sportrac which combines the two, allowing for crossover events including the majors and other exceptional non-designated championships, as well as the PGA’s Player Impact Programme – a marketing, end-of-year reward scheme.
By this assessment, McIlroy has made $140m in total prize money.
Using a modelling system of analysis including Spotrac, Sportskeeda, PGA Tour and DP World Tour, The Pitch has assessed the value of both teams as follows:
EUROPE: $460.2m – AV PER PLAYER: $38.3m
USA: $645.4m – AV PER PLAYER: $53.7m
On paper, the player differential doesn’t look that extraordinary – what’s $15.4m between friends – but you’ve got to factor in one important element into any financial comparison.
Rory McIlroy’s financial power within Europe is extraordinary. He earns almost one-third of prize money made across the entire team – pulling in close to Jon Rahm ($77m) and Justin Rose ($65m) combined.
At the bottom is the raw talent of Ludwig Aberg, with just $683k – $458k of which was won at the European Masters – a first win, in a rookie season on tour.
Shane Lowry’s $21m ranks below English trio of Tyrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood (both on $23m) and Matt Fitzpatrick ($29m), with other notables include rising superstar Viktor Hovland, who surged to $53.5m, following his recent $18m FedEx Cup first prize.
On the US side, Rickie Fowler, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth have all earned more than $50m, with Justin Thomas winning $81.3m.
If you take McIlroy’s earnings out of the equation, the average amount earned per player on the European team would drop from $38m to $29m against the US average of $53m.
While we’re not attaching any speculative value to Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), its importance in monetary terms is attached through endorsements – more of that to follow.
What it does show is a huge disparity in the ranking position between both teams, mainly through the low position of Nicolai Hojgaard (81), Aberg (80) and Robert MacIntyre (54), the three lowest-ranked players across both teams.
At the top end there is little to separate the sides, where Europe have three of the world’s top five, with Rory (2), Jon Rahm (3) and Viktor Hovland (4), sandwiched between Scottie Scheffler at one and Patrick Cantlay in fifth place.
But to demonstrate the sheer standard of the Americans, you need to consider that from the USA’s team of 12, 10 players are inside the OWGR Top 20, while Europe boasts six players, half of its team.
EUROPE: 29
USA: 12
IT’S always challenging to assess the hidden value of the world’s top golfers through sponsorship and endorsement exchanges, outside of the transparent and available prize money assessments.
Unquestionably the biggest payments in golf, whether at the top or for those just breaking through, comes from each player’s suite of commercial partners.
Forbes has analysed that Rory McIlroy is paid $34m per year through his endorsements of Nike, TaylorMade, NBC Sports/Golf Pass, Omega, Optum and Workday.
Jordan Speith is the next most valuable ‘playing product’, receiving $30m per year – the bulk of which comes from Under Armour, where he likely receives a hefty dividend each financial year.
Justin Rose earns more than $10m per year from his sponsors, including Mastercard, while Shane Lowry can expect $3.5m from Wayflyer, Bank of Ireland and others, meaning his late selection by Luke Donald could be worth up to $1m in fees directly related to the Ryder Cup.
Ross Garvey of Airton Risk, which offers financial security for sponsors with exposure related to on-field sporting performance, says the Ryder Cup offers a lucrative opportunity for players.
“Some players will have bonuses in their contracts with their sponsors, to make the team and also to win the Ryder Cup,” explained the firm’s managing director.
“For the bigger names that are all but locked in for selection, this is essentially part of their base payment from the sponsor.
“However for players that are on the fringes every two years, sponsors will often take cover on the potential payouts which could be up to the mid-six figures.”
EUROPE: $6.8m
USA: $14.8m
To calculate how much players will receive in bonus payments for the Ryder Cup - for selection and in winning payments, per match and overall - we will take each value per team x 12, and combine – reaching a total of $258m in annual endorsement fees.
If we assume a conservative bonus payment of 20% overall – to cover non-payment of match-winning bonuses for 12 losing players – we come up with $51m in additional fees for all.
Now, does anyone still want to say that Ryder Cup players don’t get paid?
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DESPITE opposition from Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tánaiste Micheal Martin, the Department of Sport and Media says RTÉ must be free to decide how it sells its GAA content.
In a statement to The Pitch – after the issue was raised, again, at a Joint Oireachtas hearing last week – the Department said any commercial decisions around sport’s coverage are exclusively for RTÉ’s Board.
However, both RTÉ and the GAA - joint shareholders in the streaming service – must still await a decision from an ongoing probe by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) into potential breaches and expansions of its sale of GAA rights.
When asked about the status of the investigation by the CCPC’s Competition Enforcement and Mergers team, the watchdog body said additional information was “recently requested, and received” and “is still being assessed”.
A decision is expected imminently, but given the Department of Sport and Media’s apparent approval of the service, the future for GAAGO looks positive.
A spokesperson for the Department said: “RTÉ have an obligation to provide a broad range of public service content, including sport.
“RTÉ are also required to maximise their commercial revenues, however, given their independence, any commercial decisions are for the Board and not for the Minister or Department.
“RTÉ have previously stated that surplus revenues generated through GAAGo are used to broadcast more GAA matches for free.”
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THE most talented boxing writer of his generation, Eamon Carr, is set to release a significant account of Irish boxing’s years of triumph and desolation, through a long-awaited account.
Carr, the drummer and lyricist with Horslips and writer of the classic Dearg Doom, has penned Showbusiness with Blood: A Golden Age of Irish Boxing.
The writer has covered some of the most important fighters in the history - from Mike Tyson, Steve Collins, Katie Taylor and Tyson Fury - and writes of the hustle and occasional brutality of the sport, bring readers on a journey behind some of the greatest fights.
by Eamon Carr, is out now and published by The Lilliput Press.
