Getty Image / David Cannon
Every golf fan dreams of attending The Masters at Augusta National GC each April. For many, buying some merch from the event on the internet is the closest they’ll ever get to the event.
Like everything else involved with The Masters, the merchandise is also hard to get, as it’s not sold online through any official channels and can only be purchased onsite. The resell market is pretty strong every year, meaning patrons are buying things on property and reselling them on EBay or wherever.
But, as it turns out, some of those items have been illegally procured, according to charges filed in Federal Court on Tuesday.
Here’s the Chicago Tribune with more.
Robert Globensky, 39, of Augusta, Georgia, was charged with in a one-page criminal information filed Tuesday with transporting stolen goods across state lines. An arraignment was not immediately scheduled.
Defendants charged by way of information instead of a grand jury indictment typically plan to plead guilty. Globensky’s Atlanta-based attorney, Thomas Church, could not immediately be reached.
The charges allege that between 2009 and 2022, Globensky moved “millions of dollars’ worth of Masters golf tournament merchandise and historical memorabilia” taken from Augusta National “and transported to Tampa, Florida, knowing the same had been stolen, converted and taken by fraud.”
As I said above, Masters merch is a big deal! The Pro Shop makes around $70 million during Masters Week, with the average patron spending hundreds on Masters gear!
This is the line for merchandise at The Masters.
They'll do about $70 million in merch sales this week.
That's $10 million a day, $1 million an hour, $16,000 a minute, and $277 every second.
Absolutely insane.
(📷: u/seamus_MC) pic.twitter.com/IBkVgRfpQA
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) April 6, 2023
So, it’s not hard to see what Globensky was trying to do here. If he could steal some merch and memorabilia and get it to market somehow, people would absolutely pay good money for it.
It’s not like anyone can just buy a ticket and attend The Masters, unlike the other major championships. Patron badges for the tournament rounds are not for sale and are distributed to members and others that Augusta wants to have them. They can be bought on the secondary market for big prices, often four-figures, even though they’re not supposed to be sold. The only legitimate way for a member of the public to get on the course during Masters week is to win the ticket lottery for one of the three practice rounds day
This all adds to the value of Masters merch. Globensky, allegedly, couldn’t resist the profit potential here.
The 2024 Masters Tournament wrapped up on Sunday, with world number-one Scottie Scheffler taking home a four-shot victory.