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LPGA vs. PGA Tour prize money

For crowd comparison....the LPGA events I have been to had similar crowds to the Champions tour event I attended.
 
I've been to one LPGA event that was played at Colonial here in Ft. Worth. I really enjoyed it and I would go again if they had another event close by.

I thought the Solheim Cup was great, saw some great golf and I can relate my game, at least distance wise to their game.

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bobgeorge said:
I agree. Most women's sports don't compare in viewership or interest to the regular sports fan in the U.S.

LPGA vs PGA is almost like two different sports. LPGA players are great....but they lack the power to hit shots out of the rough the way the men can. Plus there is no Phil or Tiger that can pull off the dramatic shot. When Tiger or Phil are in the hunt it is "must see" TV.

Watching the women hit fairways and greens is great golf...but can get boring to watch on TV.
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I agree with the first part, there is no Phil vs. Tiger or players whom generate the atmosphere those two do, but I've seen plenty of clutch shots, they just don't get the attention because of who they are as icons in the sport or lack there of.
 
tahoebum said:
I just looked up the 2012 LPGA final money list and was surprised that only 78 ladies made over $100,000 - after paying their caddy, taxes, and travel expenses, that's barely a living. I doubt if the 78th ranked female golfer has much opportunity for other golf sponsorship income either. The 100th ranked player made only $48k, less than the average California school teacher!

The 78th ranked guy on the PGA tour made $1,200,000 last year and #100 was DL III at $989,000, and he probably makes more than $1,000,000 from sponsors.

The women have it tough on the LPGA tour!!

Is anyone else surprised by this 20x pay difference?
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Unless you're attractive, I'm guessing nowhere-near-the-tour Blair O'Neal and BB winner Taylor is/will be making solid bank. Then there's #82 ranked Michelle Wie. I wouldn't be surprised if Wie outearned DL3 in total money.

I'm not surprised at the earnings difference when factoring in the Kraft Nabisco and the Women's British attendance. 2 majors with barely a spectator between them. Obviously, there is interest. Solheim Cup had great energy and more than solid attendance. Besides soccer, it's hard to see any other women sport that garners any kind of attention as a pro circuit. I don't really know how they can translate that interest to attendance and sponsors, but I at least think they have a shot unlike softball.
 
If there's a choice between LPGA and say football, baseball there's no question LPGA won't be on the TV. It doesn't excite me in the least. The PGA keeps talking about slow play. Look at the LPGA, most of the ladies have serious problems pulling the trigger within the time limits. Many of the players have to have their caddies line them up on all their shots.
 
manlai said:
Unless you're attractive, I'm guessing nowhere-near-the-tour Blair O'Neal and BB winner Taylor is/will be making solid bank. Then there's #82 ranked Michelle Wie. I wouldn't be surprised if Wie outearned DL3 in total money.
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She did. And by a huge margin.
 
Here is the thing, I don't doubt for one second that those that compete on the LPGA are not skilled. Im pretty sure that the 100th rank player can beat me even with strokes in my favor and I am sure the masses here would agree you too would fall to them. I am not knocking there skills, these girls can play.

I do watch the LPGA here and there, its not something I make a point to watch. That doesn't make me sexiest, its just what it is. Unless its a major I don't get all gung ho about it.

With that said, you have to understand that not a lot of people watch the LPGA, plain and simple. Is it 100% because people don't want the product, maybe. Look at this way, if you watch a normal LPGA event, not a major, all three rounds are on the Golf Channel. I don't know how it is in other states but here in Connecticut, GC is not part of basic cable, i have to pay on top of a normal cable for a package that includes the GC. Why is that important? 95% of PGA events have there 3rd and 4th round on basic cable, ie NBC, CBS etc. You can't have people view your product if you already cut your numbers due to the fact you have no coverage outside of the GC. And yes I know the GC is paying to televise the events I get that.

I just feel the numbers are not in there favor, when it comes to an audience. Do I think they deserve more money? Let's be honest we ALL do, but in there case if the money is not there, then how can you increase the pay?
 
Cjgolf25 said:
Here is the thing, I don't doubt for one second that those that compete on the LPGA are not skilled. Im pretty sure that the 100th rank player can beat me even with strokes in my favor and I am sure the masses here would agree you too would fall to them. I am not knocking there skills, these girls can play.

I do watch the LPGA here and there, its not something I make a point to watch. That doesn't make me sexiest, its just what it is. Unless its a major I don't get all gung ho about it.

With that said, you have to understand that not a lot of people watch the LPGA, plain and simple. Is it 100% because people don't want the product, maybe. Look at this way, if you watch a normal LPGA event, not a major, all three rounds are on the Golf Channel. I don't know how it is in other states but here in Connecticut, GC is not part of basic cable, i have to pay on top of a normal cable for a package that includes the GC. Why is that important? 95% of PGA events have there 3rd and 4th round on basic cable, ie NBC, CBS etc. You can't have people view your product if you already cut your numbers due to the fact you have no coverage outside of the GC. And yes I know the GC is paying to televise the events I get that.

I just feel the numbers are not in there favor, when it comes to an audience. Do I think they deserve more money? Let's be honest we ALL do, but in there case if the money is not there, then how can you increase the pay?
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I agree with the statement about the LPGA being on the GC. I was talking to Verizon about my package. The customer rep asked me if I would be willing to go down to a lower package. I asked what channels are dropped. She said the main one is the GC. I said I can't drop down then. But to a lot of people, they would drop & never have an opportunity to watch much LPGA.
 
manlai said:
Unless you're attractive, I'm guessing nowhere-near-the-tour Blair O'Neal and BB winner Taylor is/will be making solid bank. Then there's #82 ranked Michelle Wie. I wouldn't be surprised if Wie outearned DL3 in total money.

I'm not surprised at the earnings difference when factoring in the Kraft Nabisco and the Women's British attendance. 2 majors with barely a spectator between them. Obviously, there is interest. Solheim Cup had great energy and more than solid attendance. Besides soccer, it's hard to see any other women sport that garners any kind of attention as a pro circuit. I don't really know how they can translate that interest to attendance and sponsors, but I at least think they have a shot unlike softball.
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I would compare the interest/attendance in the Solheim Cup to the Women's World Cup. The World Cup sells out & gets big ratings on TV, but I believe there has been numerous attempts at a women's pro leage in the U.S., but they have either went under or failed to draw much interest.
 
bobgeorge said:
I agree with the statement about the LPGA being on the GC. I was talking to Verizon about my package. The customer rep asked me if I would be willing to go down to a lower package. I asked what channels are dropped. She said the main one is the GC. I said I can't drop down then. But to a lot of people, they would drop & never have an opportunity to watch much LPGA.
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Love the bold part lol
 
bobgeorge said:
I would compare the interest/attendance in the Solheim Cup to the Women's World Cup. The World Cup sells out & gets big ratings on TV, but I believe there has been numerous attempts at a women's pro leage in the U.S., but they have either went under or failed to draw much interest.
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Soccer in the US is a failing enterprise, but there are successful women pro soccer leagues elsewhere. I understand your point and I don't disagree. The biggest venues will always get the most attention sure, but it can still mean there's enough meat left on the bone for more regular events. Even at the biggest events like say the Olympics, there are plenty of empty seats to many women sports even if the male counterpart is popular. There were certainly a lot of empty seats at women's basketball in London. If even the Olympics can't draw, you know you're in trouble. Solheim Cup at least tells me there's hope.
 
We need the American players to step up their game! I could care less about bumblebee park! If it weren't for Natalie gulbis and Christie Kerr I probably wouldn't even watch!

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manlai said:
Unless you're attractive, I'm guessing nowhere-near-the-tour Blair O'Neal and BB winner Taylor is/will be making solid bank. Then there's #82 ranked Michelle Wie. I wouldn't be surprised if Wie outearned DL3 in total money.

I'm not surprised at the earnings difference when factoring in the Kraft Nabisco and the Women's British attendance. 2 majors with barely a spectator between them. Obviously, there is interest. Solheim Cup had great energy and more than solid attendance. Besides soccer, it's hard to see any other women sport that garners any kind of attention as a pro circuit. I don't really know how they can translate that interest to attendance and sponsors, but I at least think they have a shot unlike softball.
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Women's tennis. They are paid the same, if not more than, the men.
 
tgtt said:
Women's tennis. They are paid the same, if not more than, the men.
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I think it would be interesting if golf held their mens and women's majors at the same time/place like tennis.

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While the LPGA and PGA are interesting comparisons. The LPGA is probably more comparable to the web.com tour. If you really want to see some scary earnings look at the Symetra tour money list for this year; these girls live at poverty level:

http://www.symetratour.com/stats/stats-detail.aspx?q=official%20money

I went to the Eagle Classic in Richmond this past weekend and they play pretty decent golf for basically no money. A few had caddies, but most carried their own bags or used a walking cart.
 
That doesn't surprise me at all. Look at WNBA. And I would gladly quit my job today to play golf year around for $48k!!!
 
You can't compare LPGA and PGA tour money. The men have 1) Major network support in CBS, NBC and ESPN, 2) Significant sponsors like Exxon, IBM, Rolex, Mercedes, Coca Cola etc. 3) significantly higher attendance, 4) heavy marketing of majors 5) and personalities like Phil and Tiger. I do agree it is more comparable to the web.com tour.
 
It's the same with any sport - even men's golf. It took several evolutions before it was considered more than a gentleman's sport and captured enough attention to start drawing sponsors and media coverage. Women's golf is no different - it needs more women wanting to participate and more importantly to compete to make watching it interesting.

Watching Annika and Annika and Lorena compete captured notice. I'm embarrassed to admit it but I haven't really been interested in the LPGA since Annika retired. The public's attention has waned because there aren't any strong competitors among the US or European players to keep or even increase viewers attention.

I think it starts at the HS school level - at least in the US. We need more strong female competitors coming up through the ranks. The only way to get that is to increase the numbers of females competing at the amateur level. Case in point - My son had a mandatory meeting of all HS golf teams in our county today. There were several hundred team members there but I would say 1 in 15-20 players were female. Percentage-wise, It's a pretty dismal outlook if the percentage of female golfers that continue on through college is the same as males when 5 in 100 HS players are female.

The scales won't tip until that HS ratio improves and competitive women golfers are as common place as men. Look at Tennis - most people know who Serena Williams is and quite a few could probably name several famous female players in Tennis history even if they don't follow the sport. Can the same be said of LPGA golfers? Except for Annika of course. :LOL
 
cnosil said:
While the LPGA and PGA are interesting comparisons. The LPGA is probably more comparable to the web.com tour. If you really want to see some scary earnings look at the Symetra tour money list for this year; these girls live at poverty level:

http://www.symetratour.com/stats/stats-detail.aspx?q=official%20money

I went to the Eagle Classic in Richmond this past weekend and they play pretty decent golf for basically no money. A few had caddies, but most carried their own bags or used a walking cart.
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Most of the women on the Symetra tour are either funded by someone, or are working another job and playing golf after work and on the weekends. Their caddies are typically friends of theirs and unpaid.
 
I watch darn near every LPGA event that's televised
 
wadesworld said:
Most of the women on the Symetra tour are either funded by someone, or are working another job and playing golf after work and on the weekends. Their caddies are typically friends of theirs and unpaid.
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Realize they are funded to play like most players just getting into the professional ranks, some have sponsors, and may have other jobs. But the Symetra tour is not just a after work and weekend thing. They like the other tours get to the event on Mon/Tues, play practice rounds and pro-ams, play 3 rounds and then drive to the next tournament.

It really is no different than any of the other tours including the PGA and LPGA. The bottom tier players that are struggling for any status are funded by others, have minimal sponsors, travel/room together, and try to Monday qualify a lot.
 
tgtt said:
Women's tennis. They are paid the same, if not more than, the men.
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That is just for the majors because they play it as one event for both and for some reason the women tour think they deserved to be paid the same amount.
 
I think the LPGA recognizes that they're lacking viewership. Didn't they acknowledge that fact when talking about why they're basically selling "majors"?
 
I think it sucks for ladies. All the big bucks goes to the mens tour and the amounts they are paid wayyyy toooo much if you ask me.
 
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