• Loading stock data...
Tuesday, April 7, 2026

From Green Jackets to Black Cards: Masters VIP Arms Race Escalates

The Masters is an experience unlike any other for patrons on-site—especially for those who can afford luxury options around Augusta National.

Apr 9, 2025; Augusta, Georgia, USA; Patrons move about the course during a practice round for the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club.
Peter Casey-Imagn Images

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Augusta National Golf Club may have fewer trees this year, but off the course, the home of The Masters Tournament has gotten even bigger in several major luxury areas.

Map & Flag, what the club describes as “the official Masters hospitality experience,” has debuted a second floor at the 26,000-square-foot venue that opened across Washington Road last year

With high-end food and beverage, tournament access, and its own merchandise shop included, around 2,500 weekly badges were sold at roughly $17,000 each—that’s more than $42 million in ticket revenue. However, several insiders speculated Map & Flag could easily have space for 4,000 ticket holders moving forward.

“The popularity of this venue inspires us to consider what else may be possible in future years,” Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley said Wednesday.

Map & Flag is a complement to Augusta National’s longtime ultra-exclusive on-course offering, Berckmans Place, which is a popular hangout spot for Green Jacket–wearing club members. Ticket prices for that VIP space, which is just off the fifth hole, are not public, but one source pegged it around $25,000 for this week.

The More, the Merrier

Speaking of add-ons, the addition of Bank of America as a fourth champion partner of The Masters meant makeovers for the hospitality buildings used by the other three top-tier tournament sponsors: AT&T, IBM, and Mercedes. 

Hidden behind the trees just off the 10th fairway sit four two-story luxury houses with top-shelf amenities reserved for those Masters sponsors and their guests. Last year, there were just three one-story buildings. It’s unclear how much those projects cost and whether the incumbent sponsor homes were simply renovated or torn down altogether and reconstructed.

Augusta National also completed construction of a private underground parking structure for its two-phase players’ services project, which will see a state-of-the-art facility for Masters invitees and their families open in 2026.

Watch Party

With more global media-rights partners than ever before, The Masters welcomed more than 50 different production trucks (running an estimated 270 miles of fiber cables) that operate behind Augusta National’s content center that sits on the edge of club property. 

Top broadcasters such as CBS, ESPN, Golf Channel, and Sky Sports don’t film from that compound—they record from TV towers, The Butler Cabin, and another house-turned-studio overlooking the practice area—but it is the hub for their TV production, as well as everything on the Masters app. Typically, the Augusta National digital team is roughly a dozen people, but around the Masters, that balloons to about 150, to pump out as much content as possible. 

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

Boston Charging $80 for World Cup Train as Fan Fest May Shrink

Boston’s World Cup organizers are being squeezed, but so are fans.
Masters

Masters Private Jet Demand Nears 4,000 Flights—and Counting

Augusta annually welcomes thousands of private jets during the Masters.
Michigan head coach Dusty May does an interview on stage as the team celebrates beating Connecticut to win the NCAA national championship at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Monday, April 6, 2026.

Michigan’s Basketball Title Follows Scandal-Ridden Football Season

Michigan fired football coach Sherrone Moore in December.

Featured Today

Mar 28, 2026; Houston, TX, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini forward David Mirkovic (0) and center Tomislav Ivisic (13) react in the second half against the Iowa Hawkeyes during an Elite Eight game of the South Regional of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Toyota Center.

Loopholes Enable Int’l College Basketball Players to Cash In

Schools have scrambled to find a way to compensate international players.
April 1, 2026

‘The Sonics Never Died’: The Long Afterlife of Seattle NBA Merch

Inside “the largest team shop for a team that doesn’t exist.” 
Mar 27, 2026; Washington, DC, USA;UConn Huskies forward Tarris Reed Jr. (5) dunks the ball against the Michigan State Spartans in the second half during a Sweet Sixteen game of the East Regional of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Capital One Arena
March 28, 2026

March Madness Coaches Debate ‘Blueblood’ in NIL Era

The term’s meaning was up for debate at men’s March Madness.
Maxime Vachier Lagrave
March 25, 2026

The Planet’s Best Chess Players Are Having Their LIV Golf Moment

Chess’s most prestigious tournament is battling a splashy Saudi event.
Apr 22, 2022; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas (right) talks with general manager Marc Eversley (left) before game three of the first round for the 2022 NBA playoffs against the Milwaukee Bucks at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

Bulls Finally Pull Plug on Karnišovas–Eversley Era

The move comes one week after the Bulls waived Jaden Ivey.
April 6, 2026

NHL Playoff Race Tightens As Coaching Shake-Ups Fuel Wild Finish

Coach firings and a muddled playoff chase mark the regular season’s end.
April 6, 2026

Vegas Tourism Drops $100K Aces Deals; No Word on Investigation

The WNBA has never announced the result of its investigation.
Sponsored

From Gold Medalist to Business Founder

Allyson Felix on investing in women’s sports and what comes next for track & LA28.
April 6, 2026

Masters Week Tees Off With Tiger Out, Media and Ticketing Shifts

Amazon is debuting as a tournament broadcaster this year. 
The PWHL regular season game between the Seattle Torrent and the New York Sirens at Madison Square Garden on April 4, 2026 in New York, New York USA.
April 4, 2026

PWHL Breaks Women’s Hockey Attendance Record With MSG Game

League cofounder Billie Jean King called it “the realization of a dream.”
Sep 6, 2025; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Connecticut Sun guard Marina Mabrey (3) looks for an opening sgasindt Phoenix Mercury guard Kahleah Copper (2) in the first half at Mohegan Sun Arena.
April 3, 2026

Quiet WNBA Expansion Draft Clears Way for Busy Free Agency

The Toronto Tempo selected Julie Allemand with their first pick.
Aug 23, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; A general view of the MLB logo before the start of a game between the Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.
April 3, 2026

MLB Sets 2026 Draft Slot Values, Could See First $10M Bonus

Bonus values in the upcoming event reach unprecedented levels.