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Insights by Repucom
WORLD
GOLF
FROM
TEE TO GREEN
The state
of play in golf
today.WORLD GOLF
Paul Smith
Founder and CEO,
Repucom
Golf today is a sport that transcends entertainment, lifestyle, health and
community. It is a multi-billion dollar industry that is experiencing some of its
most tumultuous times.
A beacon in these diffcult times, professional golf is arguably at its zenith;
a new generation of players with diverse personalities are congregating at the
top of leaderboards around the world, providing an enticing new dynamic for
fans, broadcasters and sponsors.
Golf fans are now able to watch these rivalries develop in new ways, as the
major tours and broadcasters deploy new technologies and platforms to meet
the demands of a social and digital age. Tournaments, sponsors and players,
meanwhile, are increasingly building a platform in social media as a way to
engage with fans and promote themselves.
Geographically, too, changes are afoot. The traditional heartlands of golf,
North America and Europe, remain at the top of the rankings in terms of view-
ers, interest and, at mass participation level, even number of golf courses, but
other markets, primarily Asia, are joining the party. The growth of the game in the
emerging markets highlights the global context of golf, particularly the profes-
sional game. For a long time, The European Tour has pioneered these regions
and has built a global framework that has delivered new fans and revenues.
Despite all these positives the underlying challenges for golf, declining play
and associated consumption, remain. The 2016 Olympics will put golf back
into a very historical sporting context, but it is no quick fx. The traditional con-
fnes of golf will need to be challenged from within to create an openness to
change; a concerted effort to engage former and future players in an innovative
way is the pathway to growth.
2015
CONTENTS
04IFANS
Interest by market and
what golf fans are buying.
10I SPONSORSHIP
The major brands and
how they activate.
14I EVENTS
A multitude of options
for brands and fans.
18I PLAYERS
The impact of winning and
the relationship with brands.
In collaboration with IMG and the HSBC Golf Business Forum, Repucom
carried out a survey of the global golf community – the golf industry and who
subscribe to the Golf Business Community – during August and September to
gain an insight into the current state of the game, its tournaments, the sponsor-
ship landscape, the spectator experience and how the sport’s future is shaping
up. Respondents were predominantly male – 84 per cent
versus 16 per cent female – and nearly a quarter each
came from the United States and United Kingdom, where
the golf industry is most established and mature. 39 per
cent of respondents said they play golf themselves.
WORLD GOLF INDUSTRY SURVEY 2015 – WHO TOOK PART
Golf sport
Journals Print
< 2925%
304949%
50+61%
Social Media
(e.g. Facebook,
Twitter,
YouTube)
< 2978%
304976%
50+39%
Specific
TV Broadcasts
(live, replay)50+88%
304984%
< 2969%
THE STATE OF THE GAME
Asked to use one word to describe
the current state of golf, signifcant
differences in sentiment emerged
amongst age groups.
The younger respondents tend to be
hold a more positive view of golf; im-
portantly, fewer under-29s believe
the sport is declining than the older
age groups. The use of words such
as ‘stagnant’, ‘stale’ and ‘steady’,
particularly from the older two age
categories, point to a perception of a
lack of progress. Some of the most-
used words included:
Up to 29 years
Changing, Competitive,
Crossroads, Declining,
Democratisation, Depleting,
Elitist, Expansion,
Expensive, Fragile, Good,
Growing, Healthy, Hopeful,
Improving, Old, Optimistic,
Rebounding, Slow,
Stagnant, Struggling,
Technical, Underachieving,
Underplayed, Youthful.
30-49 years
Challenging, Changing,
Declining, Exciting, Fun, Global,
Rising, Stagnant, Stale,
Steady, Struggling.
50+
Challenging, Declining,
Elitist, Exclusive, Good,
Pressure, Rising, Stable,
Stagnant, Struggling.
Multiple responses
WHAT DOES THE INDUSTRY THINK ABOUT ITSELF
SPONSORS
Underlining that the respondents were
largely members of the golf industry,
the unprompted brands awareness
scores were high. BMW, Nike, Titleist,
Rolex and HSBC achieved the higher
scores in this survey, suggesting that
these sponsors are achieving a high
level of cut-through amongst the
keenest followers of the game.
CONSUMPTION
Clear differences emerged amongst the three age
groups when the industry was asked about how
they consume media, particularly around use of
social media and television.
72%
of respondents say new
media platforms would have a positive
impact on golf, while
79%
would like to see improvements
in broadcast coverage using
technology, such as better replay
systems and other innovations
such as those demonstrated by Fox,
CBS and Sky Sports during
golf coverage in 2015.
SPECTATOR EXPERIENCE
Asked what would improve the spectator experi-
ence at tournaments, there was a strong response,
regardless of age group or gender, for more player
interaction – it is a unifying theme. Those under 29
also want more hype and social interaction; those
aged 30 – 49 are keen for stadium course designs,
more seating and better viewing opportunities; those
over 50 expressed a desire for cheaper tickets.
Higher importance
over
80%
Athletics
Swimming/Aquatics
Cycling
Triathlon
medium importance
over
50%
Basketball
Boxing
Golf
Shooting
Equestrian
less importance
below
50%
Badminton
Taekwondo
Rugby
HOW IMPORTANT IS THE
OLYMPICS TO THE PROFILE
OF DIFFERENT SPORTFansFans
Source: Sports DNA (May 2015)
FANS
In markets where golf is emerging, there is
an opportunity to promote golf as a more gender-
neutral sport to a younger group of fans.
GOLF FANS IN 2015
The average age of the golf fan differs signifcantly by market, as the se-
lected list below shows. While established golf markets such as Canada, the
UK and the USA each have a fan average age of above 40, the other end of
the spectrum features a cluster of growing and developing golf markets – the
average age of the golf fan in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, two grow-
ing markets is below 35. This demonstrates that in new
golf markets, the sport is attracting a younger audience
and, as the second table on this page shows, often posi-
tioning itself as a more gender-neutral sport, as opposed
to some of the more traditional golfng nations.
Average age of golf fans by market
Male/Female interest in golf by %
Despite being a sport traditionally dominated by male interest, the gender gap
has dropped to around 60:40 in many major markets around the world. In a
market like South Korea, a country which has enjoyed much success in the
women’s game thanks to the likes of Se Ri Pak and now Inbee Park, female in-
terest has reached 40 per cent. Although the gender gap is wider in some mar-
kets such as France and particularly Australia, where men make up over 70 per
cent of the golf fanbase, the picture is different in some of the developing golf
nations. There is nearly an even gender split in interest in Turkey, for example,
while the gender split in Italy is particularly striking for a country in one of golf’s
traditional heartlands, Europe.
So
ut
h K
or
ea
45.7
ca
na
da
44.8
Jap
an
43.6
UK
41.7
US
A
40.5
Au
str
al
ia
39.9
Au
str
ia
39.4
spa
in
39.4
Ita
ly
38.9
Sin
ga
po
re
38.3
Th
ail
an
d
38.2
Fr
an
ce
37.8
Ge
rm
an
y
37.8
Me
xic
o
35.7
Ma
lay
sia
35.5
UA
E
34.3
Tu
rk
ey
33.2
29.1
Au
str
al
ia
70.9
Au
str
ia
34.6
65.4
Ita
ly
50.549.5
Ca
na
da
65.5
34.5
Fr
an
ce
61
39
Ge
rm
an
y
64.6
35.4
Jap
an
39.6
60.4
Ma
lay
sia
63.8
36.2
Me
xic
o
57.2
42.8
Sin
ga
po
re
39.3
60.7
So
ut
h k
or
ea
40.1
59.9
Spa
in
41.1
58.9
Th
ail
an
d
44.4
55.6
Tu
rk
ey
47.952.1
UA
E
14.5
85.5
UK
33.6
66.4
US
A
34.4
65.6
Source: Sports DNA (May 2015)
Pho
to: G
etty
Ima
ges
SportsDNA is the world’s larg-
est multi-client study in sports,
based on more than 30,000
interviews in over 30 countries.
Research is conducted twice
yearly amongst 16 – 69 year
olds and a nationally repre-
sentative sample.
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