Wealth Weekly: What is the CSRA in store for with a patron-less Masters?

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - We are joined again by Private Wealth Advisor Will Rogers to talk about the impact of no Master’s Tournament Patrons will have on Augusta

Will, there’s some obvious impacts and not so obvious, what does it mean in terms of dollars?

Will: The Master’s tournament brings in over $120 million dollars each year – and that may be a number a little hard to imagine. Just one small piece of that was the TBonz restaurant in 2019 ordered 6,000 pounds of beef that it’s not ordering this year.

Dakota: So speaking of restaurants, how will they be impacted?

Will: They are really struggling already, and this could cause some to close their doors permanently. It’s not just the dining in experience, but so many corporate houses would have food catered to the home. That combined catering, dining in and loss of bar revenue is money that just will not be there for 2020

Dakota. Are Hotel’s facing the same situation?

Will: Pretty much – some local hotels make 25% to 30% of their annual income from that one week of the Master’s tournament. Room rates are full price instead of discounted, and the hotels also have the accompanying sales on their on premise restaurants.

Dakota. So what are some of the non-obvious areas being impacted?

Will: Imagine a warehouse full of workers making those famous Pimento Cheese and Egg Salad sandwiches every night….gone.

Mayo supplier…gone

Delivery Drivers….gone

Dakota. How about the folks who rent out their homes?

Will: This is something that can have dire impacts on people. Many homeowners would rent out their home and use the money for a vacation, well they are pretty much OK as folks aren’t going on vacation. Think about the homeowners on the other hand that rented out their home and received a year’s worth of mortgage payments and simply stayed with family that week. Those folks will be hurting – and even worse, some of those were paid in advance and may now have to come up with the money to refund the deposits of people who are no longer coming.

Dakota. What else is changing?

Will: Columbia County Schools had originally blocked off the entire November Master’s week as no-school, but they are now considering adding an additional day off here and there. That’s going to mean child care implications, not to mention the income a lot of teenagers and college children made during Master’s week.

Dakota. How about first responders?

Will: That’s another big one – deputies made a good bit working either security or guiding traffic, getting paid almost double their normal hourly rate, and the same for Firefighters, ensuring building occupancy rules were being followed.

Dakota. What other thoughts?

Will: Well I mentioned at the beginning the $120 million dollars that the tournament brings to town, but remember, not just did Augusta “clean up” with income, but we also literally cleaned up the town every year for the tournament. Painted the house, did landscaping, city workers picked up trash and made sure the grass was cut on the roads. We all just chipped in to make the town a little better. I’d like to encourage our viewers to chip in to help all of the folks having to make hard changes.

Maybe you know a family that’s having to become teachers for their kids that you could possibly teach one day a week.

Maybe you know a business hard hit that you can go buy something from.

Maybe bring a meal to a firehouse.

The point being, look for the opportunity to help out your neighbor – you might be surprised at how much it helps you out.

Dakota. Good advice - For more information, check out Will’s website at www.WRogers.info

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