Golf Business Monitor

How Groupon can increase golf course sales?

Among many of our everyday activities like buying is becoming social. In the 2011 Social Commerce study of the National Retail Federation turned out every 5th US customer is using Groupon. Groupon says golf courses are one of the active users of their services:

Some golf courses are already using Groupon to boost green fee sales, like Trent Golf Park Golf or Quail Chase Golf Course (you will not find on Quail Chase Golf Course's website the opportunity of Groupon offer).

Those who have already utilized Groupon's solution realized that people who are buying via Groupon they have a quite a good purchasing power and capability. Here are some highlights of Groupon's survey:

Beside selling green fees, I would use Groupon to promote:

• golf course membership registration and renewal
• pro shop (e.g. it pays off to you to buy your new Titleist golf club)
• event organizing (e.g. hold your conference in our golf course and get x%)
• hotel of the golf course
• golf training etc.

However you still have to figure out whether still beneficial to give 50% discount to those who are interested in your offer. You will have to calculate how many people can you attract and how many of those people will turn to be a loyal customer. In theory if your golf course and service is outstanding you can expect loyalty and more sales. Amen. :-)

Golf rocks tennis' TV audience in US

I was surprised to read in the latest edition of The Economist (June 11th 2011) that in US people prefer to watch golf over tennis. I started to check worldwide ranking of US tennis players where I had to realize that there is no US tennis player in the TOP5 in the ATP ranking (men). Although Rafael Nadal, Wiliams sisters and Roger Federer are playing very well it will not attract sufficent size of audience in the US. It is no brainer to say no advertiser will consider to sponsor such tournament where his brand cannot get sufficient exposure.

But why golf is getting bigger viewership in televisions? Why beneficial to sponsor a golf tournament in the US? Especially when we know golf is more expensive to broadcast than other sports (networks need an army of cameras covering an immense outdoor space) If we check from taxation point of view then it is easier to understand the situation (I still have not found on www.irs.com the right answer). Since Deane Beman (headed PGA Tour between 1974 and 1994) corporates can account for golf tournaments as charities. I cannot believe that the US Tax Authority can be fooled so easily. Such PGA Tour event sponsorship is arround 7-8 million USD, but at the end the exposure will worth up to 55 million USD. Thus the cost of 1 GRP is even cheaper (+ add quantity, agency and other special discounts that advertisers get)

Still why Americans prefer to watch golf? I have couple of answers:

1. More successful American players: Tiger Wood, Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, Jim Furyk etc.
   
2. Winning Ryder Cups
3. Our society is still chasing such nobel values of honesty, integrity, respect, confidence, responsibility, courtesy, preseverance etc what golf is standing for. Well, some of these values have not seen in the last to years from Tiger Woods, but these values that we really esteem.

The current business environment is/was not in favour of PGA Tour's business model thus total direct revenues fell from 486 million USD to 461 million USD between 2008 and 2010.