The World’s Most Exclusive Sporting Events

There are good games. There are great games. And then there are the events people build their entire calendar around, the ones where winning a ticket is its own kind of victory, and where the occasion has grown bigger than the sport itself.

These are those events. With waiting lists longer than most people's memberships. Withballots where the odds are worse than one in ten. Where tradition runs so deep that missing out feels like missing a piece of history and where getting in is genuinely harder than qualifying to compete.

Here's everything you need to know to actually get there: ticket prices, how the ballots and lotteries work, and how to get there from Australia.

Wanting to go and actually going are two very different things, and the difference is usually just knowing where to start!

The Masters: Augusta, Georgia, USA

The Masters is the hardest ticket in sport to honestly get and the most rewarding to hold.
Held every April at Augusta National, a course so meticulously manicured it barely looks real, the Masters is golf's most tradition-bound major.
The green jacket, the azaleas blooming on cue along Amen Corner, the hush that falls over the gallery as a putt rolls toward the cup.
Patron Badges, lifetime tickets that grant access every year, have a waiting list that's been closed for decades, which makes the annual public application the only realistic way in for almost everyone.

What makes it different from every other major sporting event is the atmosphere Augusta enforces: no mobile phones on course, no running, no signs, and a gallery so respectful you can hear the ball land.

It's less a golf tournament than a pilgrimage, and once you've walked the course in person, every broadcast afterward feels like watching a memory.

The Details

Location: Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia, USA

Dates: Tournament rounds run Thursday 8 to Sunday 11 April 2027, with practice rounds and the Par 3 Contest from Monday 5 April.

Ticket Price: Daily tournament tickets from USD $160 (approx. AUD $245). Practice round tickets from USD $125 Monday/Tuesday, USD $150 Wednesday (approx. AUD $190–$230).

When Tickets Go On Sale: The public application window is the only authorised way to buy tickets, it opens 1–20 June the year before via masters.com. Successful applicants are notified by email, with payment due in late July. Resale of any Masters ticket is strictly prohibited and can result in you being refused entry.

Buy Tickets: masters.com

Getting There from Australia

Fly into Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson (ATL), the most common entry point, with connections from Los Angeles or San Francisco out of Sydney and Melbourne. From Atlanta, it's around a 2.5-hour drive to Augusta, or a short connecting flight into Augusta Regional Airport (AGS). Book accommodation as early as possible, Augusta's hotels sell out up to a year ahead and prices multiply several times over during Masters week.

2. Wimbledon: London, England

Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam still played on grass, and the only one that still insists players wear all white, a rule as old as the tournament's sense of ceremony.
Held at the All England Lawn Tennis Club since 1877, it's the one tennis event where strawberries and cream, Pimm's on the lawn, and a polite ripple of applause feel as essential as the tennis itself.

Centre Court, with its retractable roof and near-total hush between points, is one of the most atmospheric arenas in world sport.

Getting in isn't as simple as buying a ticket. Most seats are allocated through a free public ballot with roughly a one-in-ten success rate, though a limited number of grounds passes and returned tickets are sold each morning to fans prepared to queue. The Queue is practically a Wimbledon institution in its own right, complete with its own code of conduct booklet.

The Details

Location: All England Lawn Tennis Club, Church Road, Wimbledon, London, England

Dates: Expected to run from late June through the second Sunday of July 2027 (exact dates confirmed closer to the tournament).

Ticket Price: Show court tickets range from around £75 in early rounds up to £240–£315 for the finals (approx. AUD $145 to AUD $470–$615). Grounds passes (no show court access) are considerably cheaper.

When Tickets Go On Sale: The public ballot for 2027 is expected to open around September 2026 via a free myWimbledon account, one application per household, and you can't choose your day or court. Alternatively, join The Queue on the day for grounds passes and any returned show-court tickets.

Buy Tickets: wimbledon.com

Getting There from Australia

Fly into London Heathrow (LHR), direct from Perth, or one-stop from the east coast via Asia or the Middle East. From central London, take the District line to Southfields or Wimbledon Park station, then it's a short walk or shuttle bus to the grounds. Book accommodation in southwest London well ahead, as the area books out fast during Championship fortnight.

3. Monaco Grand Prix: Monte Carlo, Monaco

No circuit in Formula 1 rewards a lap like Monaco. The cars thread between the harbourside barriers, up through Casino Square, and down into the tunnel at speeds that look genuinely impossible for a street built for regular traffic the rest of the year.
It's the slowest track on the calendar in terms of average speed and by wide agreement among drivers and fans alike, still the one every team wants to win most.
The yachts stacked in the harbour, the balconies rented out for the weekend, and the sheer proximity of the crowd to the action make it unlike any other race on the calendar.

Monaco is also the hardest Grand Prix to actually attend without paying serious money, the principality is tiny, capacity is limited, and the best vantage points have been passed down through generations of ticket holders.
However even a general admission spot on the hill above the harbour, with a giant screen and the sound of engines bouncing off the buildings, is an experience most F1 fans spend years trying to tick off.

The Details

Location: Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monaco

Dates: Friday 4 to Sunday 6 June 2027

Ticket Price: General admission from around €30–€50 a day (approx. AUD $50–$85). Three-day grandstand seats range from around €280 up to €1,000+ for the best grandstands on race day (approx. AUD $470 to $1,670+). VIP Paddock Club packages run significantly higher again.

When Tickets Go On Sale: Official sales typically open in the second half of the year before the race (around October–December) via the official ticketing site and authorised partners. The best grandstands and hospitality packages sell out fastest, booking 9–18 months ahead is recommended.

Buy Tickets: tickets.formula1.com

Getting There from Australia

Fly into Nice Côte d'Azur Airport (NCE), the closest major airport, typically reached via a stop in Dubai, Singapore or a European hub. From Nice, it's a short helicopter transfer (around 7 minutes) or a train/taxi along the coast (around 30–45 minutes) into Monaco. Book accommodation early. Monaco, Nice and Cannes all book out and prices surge well ahead of race week.


4. Kentucky Derby: Louisville, Kentucky, USA

They call it 'the most exciting two minutes in sport,' and for once the tagline undersells it.
The Kentucky Derby has run every year since 1875, making it the longest continuously held sporting event in the United States, and the atmosphere at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May is unlike anything else in horse racing, mint juleps, oversized hats, 150,000-odd people packed into the stands and infield, and the entire crowd singing 'My Old Kentucky Home' as the horses are loaded into the gate.

It's a two-day event in practice: the Kentucky Oaks on the Friday (a Derby-calibre race in its own right, run by three-year-old fillies) sets the tone before Derby Day itself.
Tickets are sold as a package covering both days, and while the infield general admission crowd brings the party atmosphere, the reserved seating in Millionaires Row is where the serious racing crowd watches the finish.

The Details

Location: Churchill Downs, Louisville, Kentucky, USA

Dates: Kentucky Oaks: Friday 30 April 2027. Kentucky Derby: Saturday 1 May 2027 (sold as a two-day package).

Ticket Price: General admission/infield from around USD $80–$90 at face value (approx. AUD $125–$140). Reserved seating and suites run into the thousands. On the resale market, tickets start around USD $138 with an average resale price closer to USD $2,850 (approx. AUD $210 to $4,400+).

When Tickets Go On Sale: Early-release two-day packages go on sale 4 June the year before via kentuckyderby.com. The only authorised resale channel is the official Kentucky Derby Ticket Exchange, buying elsewhere risks an invalid ticket.

Buy Tickets: kentuckyderby.com

Getting There from Australia

Fly into Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF), most Australians connect via Los Angeles or Dallas/Fort Worth. Louisville's hotels book out quickly for Derby weekend, so many visitors base themselves in Louisville or nearby Lexington and arrange a rideshare or shuttle to Churchill Downs on the day.

Super Bowl LXI: Inglewood, California, USA

The Super Bowl is less a football game than a full American cultural event, the halftime show, the ad breaks that cost more per second than most people earn in a year, and a stadium crowd that's as much about being seen as being there.
Super Bowl LXI heads to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, one of the most expensive and technically ambitious stadiums ever built, with its suspended halo scoreboard and open-air, climate-controlled design.

Tickets are notoriously difficult to buy directly, there's no general public sale, and the bulk of tickets are allocated to the two competing teams, league sponsors and a small lottery pool.

For most international visitors, official hospitality packages are the realistic route in, bundling verified tickets with accommodation, pre-game events and the kind of access you can't buy on the secondary market alone.

The Details

Location: SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California, USA

Dates: Sunday 14 February 2027 (kickoff 3:30pm PT, which is 10:30am AEDT the same day).

Ticket Price: No face-value public price has been released. On the resale market, prices have historically ranged from around USD $4,000–$6,000 for upper-level seats to USD $10,000–$20,000+ for lower bowl and club level (approx. AUD $6,200–$9,200 up to $15,000–$31,000+).

When Tickets Go On Sale: There's no general public sale. Most fans access tickets via the NFL Ticket Exchange, official hospitality packages, or verified resale marketplaces, with hospitality packages typically opening 6–12 months out.

Buy Tickets: nflticketexchange.com

Getting There from Australia

Fly into Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), direct flights run from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. SoFi Stadium is around 20 minutes from LAX by car or rideshare. Book accommodation as early as possible. LA hotel prices spike significantly during Super Bowl week.

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