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PGA Tour Begins To Pay Price

Diane

Diane

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There was a very interesting article in today's WSJ about Tiger's absence from the tour and what it means. We've all read a lot about this and discussed it, but a point was made in the article that I find even more interesting. During Tiger's reign over the past few years, more people tuned into to watch the major championships, but overall viewership went down and fewer rounds of golf were being played. The question is raised whether Tiger's popularity masked declining interest in golf. Are low ticket sales for San Diego the result of Tiger not playing, a last minute sponsorship deal, the economy or everything combined? What do you think this will mean for the future of the PGA Tour - if anything at all?

PGA Tour Begins To Pay Price
 
I read that same article. Not only does it tell a story about the great one not playing, but also what the rest of the tour player can't bring to the table. These are world class players, but with TW gone, they can't generate much sponsor interest, or viewership on their own.

They claim to be independent contractors. So am I for that matter. Difference is, I invest my own money to make more money. Not only do pro golfers not invest their own money in their own golf tournaments, some want to be paid just to show up before they even tee it up. That in itself alienates, and leaves a bad taste in the regular working man's mouth. We had a discussion on another board about a PGA tournament where the top 120 players would put up $100k of their own money giving them a $12 million dollar tournament. Not going to happen was the consensus.

Of course the poor economy has some negative effect, but even when it was thriving, the ratings would dip when TW was not around. Again, showing little interest to rest of the tour players.

Golf is an expensive sport, and combine that with being one of the tougher sports to play well, younger, soon to be athletes are going to migrate to the easier sports. As green fees and equipment prices go up, fewer people will take up the sport.

Golf (imho) is boring sport to watch on TV. I would much rather watch a tournament in person, walking the grounds with the players. I did watch a lot of the Champions telecast, but only because of Watson, and Couples.:clapp:
 
We should all hope that Tiger is able to overcome his addictions for the health of the PGA Tour. He has tremendous abilities to focus that has made him a great champion on the golf course and now he must bring this same focus to the therapy he has committed to.
 
Tiger's current situation is certainly going to hurt the tour. I think it will translate into reduced revenues in terms of sponsorship, both tournament and individual player contracts, as well as reduced TV revenue.

I don't think the decline over the past few years in viewership and rounds played by amateurs can be laid at Tiger's door. Tiger is still exciting to watch, but without any major challengers, it is a one horse race and that is just not going to continue to attract viewers. A lot of the reason amateur rounds are down is economic. I would say that most of golfers have curtailed their number of rounds or have gone to down market courses just to save money. Even those, like me, who haven't lost their jobs must still be looking at their golf costs.
 
provisional said:
Golf is an expensive sport, and combine that with being one of the tougher sports to play well, younger, soon to be athletes are going to migrate to the easier sports. As green fees and equipment prices go up, fewer people will take up the sport.
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Hell yes it's an expensive sport, I would love to play the so called nicer courses all the time but there is no way I could ever afford it. So instead I look for deals, discount cards, play the local goat track 9 hole course, etc. I also don't buy new clubs as for myself it's a waste of $$$, especially when I can get like new clubs for 1/3rd of the cost.

As far as attending events, it seems like the better ones will run you $75-125+ per day & that's just to get in.
 
tiger

tiger

if tiger gets his act together all of golf will benefit...however golf was here before him and will be here after him..
 
maddog said:
if tiger gets his act together all of golf will benefit...however golf was here before him and will be here after him..
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Right now I don't think Tiger will make a difference one way or the other. What's happened to him has altered the PGA forever & there is no going back.
 
the game will continue...

the game will continue...

It will be nice when all of this Tiger talk in the news and such dies down. Yes he has taken a break from golf but so what. The PGA tour is not going to fold tomorrow because he is gone. There might be an immediate impact in the revenue at the gates on the events he normally plays in but in the long run the game is going to keep on moving forward.
Maybe golfers should just look at this as their market correction time. Lets be honest, the price of a round of golf has gone up...way up in some casess...and so has the equipment, clothing, and accessories. Maybe the industry as a whole needs this correction to see that the everyday golfer just cannot keep up with their financial demands and to alienate them is going to be worse for the game of golf than losing Tiger Woods.
 
So far it is only the San Diego Tournament that he has missed with this "indefinite" leave from the game. How could it be hurting the tour so far?

There is little doubt in my mind he will play in the majors this year. Maybe....Maybe he won't play at Augusta, but for sure Pebble and St. Andrews. He owns those courses, he would be foolish to miss them.

I think he will play at Arnie's tournament then the Masters and resume his usually scheduled programming.

Now the game as a whole certainly is declining. I blame the short attention spans we have developed. Golf takes 4 hours (and that is fast) plus driving time, warm up, a meal, that could be 6-8 hours of a given day playing golf. I think most people feel they don't have that kind of time.
 
Tiger should come back to the tour with a sponsorship from either Cialis or Viagra. That......would....be....awesome!
 
mchepp said:
So far it is only the San Diego Tournament that he has missed with this "indefinite" leave from the game. How could it be hurting the tour so far?
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That was the point - it's usually the first tournament he plays and without him - ticket sales are down. I think it's the uncertainty at this point that has some people worried.
 
Ever since Tiger joined the Tour, viewership has been up in tournaments he plays in, moreso when he's in contention. How will attendance and viewership compare to the years before Tiger? He's the reason for the big jump, it only makes sense he'll be the main reason for the decline. The economy is playing a pretty big part in it too though.
 
maybe if he quits for long enough,

maybe then enough golfers in my area will lose interest that I'd be able to get a sub 5 hour round in on the weekends!!!! heck maybe even sub 4 on the weekdays!

A guy can dream!
 
lefty said:
maybe if he quits for long enough,

maybe then enough golfers in my area will lose interest that I'd be able to get a sub 5 hour round in on the weekends!!!! heck maybe even sub 4 on the weekdays!

A guy can dream!
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The economic effect is raising my average round time. Seems all the snowbirds that would come down and play the high end courses still came down. But they moved down to the middle price range courses to save money and that landed them in my lap. On the bright side, the high end courses are offering some pretty good specials to attract customers. I have taken advantage of some of that.

IRI Group runs a few local upscale semi-private courses and they must be hurting, I have gotten e-mails practically giving away the membership if I will pay them now. I heard they are on the verge of collapse, so I might just lose my initiation fee. No thanks.
 
Maybe just me, but I think what is really lacking now is a great rivalry. Its been Woods vs. (whoever is hot this weekend) for so long with that other spot being pretty much interchangable.

There is no Watson/Nickolas, Price/Norman, Faldo/Norman- or at least there doesn't seem to be. I thought Ernie Els might be a good rival for Woods, or Mickleson, but no one has really touched Woods consistantly.

Maybe they need more of the Skins games like they used to do in the 90s- those were fun to watch. Or more team compitition- I always like the Ryder Cup.

Seems like a bit of a dead phase right now. I know there are great players out there- I am not saying there aren't- there just isnt the feeling of any great rivialrys right now. At least to me.

Maybe Woods being out for a while will spark something and get some players to step up.
 
The PGA is a business, and like many other businesses right now, they're struggling. It's time to start thinking outside of the box a little bit. There's still plenty of money out there and plenty of viewers out there, they just need to figure out how to get out there and get it. When times are good, economically, every thing is just easier, making money is easier, making brash business decisions are easier. Golf has hurt itself in the last decade, increasing expenditures in all most every facet of the game, well, it's caught up to you. The same guys who boost ratings are the same guys who are selling their equipment on ebay & craigslist b/c they need the extra cash. Green fees have always continued to increase and quited frankly, sometimes one can't afford them.

I don't know what any of the answers are, but i'm sure dipping into someone's ridiculous salary or affecting someone's ridiculous profit margin is involved so the PGA will continue to struggle until our economy begins to seriously strengthen. Tiger Woods can't even fix that.
 
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