Is golf expanding too fast with the challenge of overlapping tours and balancing audiences?

The sport must attract the next generation while nurturing its loyal base, ensuring both tradition and innovation thrive together

Published: Tue 7 Jan 2025, 9:21 PM

By
Leslie Wilson Jr.

Golf fans are key to the sport. - AFP File

As professional golf continues its rapid global expansion, a crucial question emerges: is there too much of it? With overlapping tours, an overcrowded calendar, and a constant stream of events vying for attention, keeping up has become a challenge for both fans and the media alike.

Sponsors play a vital role in sustaining professional golf, providing the financial backing necessary for tournaments to thrive. They also engage audiences through programs, hospitality, and media exposure.

But as the sport diversifies its platforms—spanning TV, social media, websites, and traditional print—the messaging risks becoming fragmented, potentially diluting the very impact sponsors rely on to connect with their audiences.

Golf offers sponsors a unique opportunity: association with a credible, clean sport where honesty is at its core. However, while innovative channels are working to attract younger audiences, traditional golf fans—whose loyalty has sustained the sport for decades—may feel sidelined.

Alarmingly, the average age of a PGA Tour TV viewer is 64. Shouldn’t this loyal audience be nurtured alongside efforts to attract new fans?

Fan focus

To re-engage and energize fans, professional golf tours might consider addressing some simple but vital questions:

•What tournaments are happening this week and where?

•Who is playing?

•Where can I find comprehensive information—venues, tee times, purses, live scoring, results, and rankings?

While social media has certainly expanded the reach of golf, it’s crucial not to forget the core audience. They may be playing more golf, which is fantastic, but they must remain an integral part of the sport’s ecosystem. After all, professional tournaments are at the top of that pyramid.

Let’s ensure that golf’s traditional audience, alongside the next generation of fans, feels valued and engaged as part of the sport’s broader ecosystem.

ALSO READ