Ryder Cup licence fee for Adare Manor to cost taxpayer €22.5 million.
Adare Manor
The centenary Ryder Cup will be played at Adare Manor in 2027, and while ex-Sports Minister Shane Ross said two years ago it will cost the taxpayer €50 million, current minister Catherine Martin has detailed how that money will be spent, including the cost of the event licence fee from the European Tour.
In a written answer to Dail questions from Social Democrat TD Catherine Murphy, Minister of State Jack Chambers said the government had agreed to pay the European Tour an event licence fee of €22.5 million.
Mr Chambers said the €22.5 million payment was split into instalments and €3.2 million was paid in 2020, and €2.755m in 2021.
Payment levels similar to 2021 are envisaged for each year between 2022 and 2027 for total licence fee payments of €22.5 million, not including VAT which is paid to the Irish Exchequer.
Additional financial support of €8.5million is also being provided for the Irish Open and the Challenge Tour and Legends Tour events scheduled to take place in Ireland up and including 2027.
Marketing of the event will also form a key part of the preparations for the hosting and a budget of €8m will be provided for marketing through and with the European Tour.
“Separate to this, an operational budget will be required to support the staging of the event to cover matters such as policing, local authority support, transport provision as well as an opening ceremony and fanzone,” Mr Chambers said.
“These supports will ensure that Ireland can maximise the opportunity which this tournament affords Ireland, the Mid-West and Limerick city and county.”
Minister Catherine Martin attended the 2021 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits as part of a visit to the US promoting Ireland as a tourism destination organised by Tourism Ireland.
While there are weekly emails and calls with the owners of Adare Manor, she last met with them in December 2019, while the last in-person meeting with the European Tour was before the pandemic in London in January 2020.
The Ryder Cup is expected to generate at least €100 million in benefits to the economy.
When Ireland first hosted the Ryder Cup at The K Club in 2006, the total economic benefit was €143 million, according to a Deloitte report commissioned by Fáilte Ireland and Ryder Cup Europe - €13 million more than was envisaged.
According to the European Tour, the 2018 Ryder Cup in Paris injected approximately €236 million into the French economy, which was €120 million more than the 2014 matches at Gleneagles.
European Ryder Cup director Guy Kinnings said: “The significant increase from the 2014 economic activity in Scotland also underlines the continued growth of The Ryder Cup’s global appeal as one of the world’s biggest sporting events.”
The 2023 Ryder Cup will take place at Marco Simone Golf Club on the outskirts of Rome with the 2025 clash at Bethpage Black in New York.
