Davidson Sports Marketing
Davidson Sports Marketing
The original website of my ideas on the business of sport.
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The PGA Tour, professional golf’s most prestigious tour in the world, is continuing to grow in talent, change perceptions amongst viewers and become a more marketable sport.
Defining
the Tiger Woods Era
Golf has always struggled to be viewed as a sport as opposed to a just a game or a hobby amongst the majority of people. Before the Tiger Woods, golf was merely viewed as a hobby that could be played professionally. There were no notable professional golfers who had the athleticism of athletes in other sports. Then Tiger Woods made his professional debut in 1996. Tiger Woods worked out and had a very athletic physique and golf swing. He hit the ball further than most fans have ever seen and began to win tournaments regularly as the number 1 player in the world. Tiger Woods’ dominance between the years 1997-2009, was the main factor for changing the perception of golf from a hobby to a sport. Tiger Woods sparked the business world as well, as he became one of the most marketable athletes in the world. Tiger Woods had major sponsors such as Nike and Gatorade, which vastly enhanced Tiger Woods’ image as well as the perception of golf as a sport. These sponsorships acted as a catalyst for changing perceptions of golf. Nike and Gatorade sponsor athletes in every other major sport, which began to open up more opportunities for golf to be considered as much as a sport as basketball, football, tennis, track & field, etc.
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The PGA Tour Today
Fast forward to today, the golf swings of today’s professionals are more athletic and faster. Virtually every golfer treats golf as a sport as they have workout routines to help better their game. Tiger Woods paved the way for these new athletes on tour, he made it cool to play golf. Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka, Rickie Fowler, Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, Tony Finau, Jordan Spieth and Cameron Champ today headline a core group of athletic and very marketable athletes on the PGA Tour. The new generation of professional golfers are fostering better competition and are being marketed like professional athletes of other sports. When Tiger Woods was at his peak between the years of 1997 and 2009, he treated the game like a sport in order to succeed, which spoke for his very impressive win record. In today’s game, whether the golfer has an athletic physique or not, they treat golf as a sport. The right mentality, training regimen and practice all go towards succeeding in one’s sport. Tiger Woods was the model for this lifestyle, as we see virtually every professional golfer treat golf like this all with varying degrees. This contributes to greater competition and greater levels of talent on tour. This change then helps boost TV ratings, generate new fans, and drive the bottom line profits of the PGA Tour.
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Consumer Excitement from the Modern PGA Tour
When Tiger
Woods was first sponsored by Nike, the sports world was merely exposed to one
dominant athlete in golf sporting this brand, symbolizing that this was an
athlete. Now on today’s PGA Tour, many athletes sport Nike and Adidas apparel.
This has also paved the way for new specialty apparel companies to enter the
market, appealing to new consumer groups such as Travis Mathew, Footjoy and
Peter Millar just to name a few, which contributes growth and revenue to the
golf industry.
Even with today’s modern, athletic PGA Tour, the golf club brands are marketed similar to sporting equipment in other sports. Golf clubs have a much more aesthetically pleasing design and are more engineered for distance and forgiveness compared to 2-3 decades ago. Not only do consumers get excited about the latest releases of new golf clubs, but the tour professionals do as well. For example, when TaylorMade released their new line of clubs, the M3/M4 drivers, 3 woods and 5 woods last year, TaylorMade professional Dustin Johnson won the following week and raved about the new technology and how it makes a difference in his game. This type of marketing would not have happened before the Tiger Woods era. The new technology in golf clubs also changes many perceptions people had about golf not being considered a sport. Golf clubs are technologically advanced now. The effort and level of engineering that goes into developing clubs today is very similar to racing skis, hockey sticks, hockey skates or soccer cleats. This similarity is making golf viewed more as a sport, where athletes are looking to gain every edge possible on their competition.
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The effect that Tiger Woods had on the game of golf was that he turned it into a very marketable sport. It is up to the current athletes now to build on that legacy. Next time you see an athletic young star emerge on tour and get his first win, look into how much Tiger's effect had on him.
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