How is what GolfNow is doing legal?

OK, this is a GolfNow rant.

They just bought my favorite discount tee time site... TeeOff.com.

As a result, the available DealTime tee times on TeeOff.com now EXCACTLY match the HotDeal tee times of GolfNow. Not only that... TeeOff.com used to have much more discounted prices than GolfNow, but now... they are HIGHER than GolfNow, since GolfNow has decided to add the booking fee to TeeOff.com's prices. So TeeOff.com's big selling point was "No Booking Fee". That's still correct. EXCEPT.. the $50 + $3.50 booking fee on GolfNow... now becomes $53.50 on TeeOff with "no booking fee". What a joke. To make matters worse, TeeOff.com purchased Golf18Network a couple of months ago, so GolfNow now owns them too. Now take a WILD guess what discount golf web-site has been shut down, and no longer operational.

TeeOff.com also regularly release 10-25% off coupon codes for DealTime tee times. Those are now gone too!!!!

To my recollection, this is 4 discount tee-time sites that I can recall that GolfNow has taken over to form their monopoly.

And here is another kicker.... SupremeGolf.com used to aggregate all the discount golf tee time site data so you could go to one place to find the best deals. Guess who has now banned SupremeGolf from using their data, theirby drastically reducing their site content to something that is worthless? You can only find bottom of the barrel courses on SupremeGolf now... literally courses GolfNow doesn't associate with or care about.

Finally... have you ever gone to the App Store and looked for an alternate discount TeeTime app? There are about 5 of them. Now other than SupremeGolf.. take a WILD guess who owns/runs the other Apps? I give you ONE guess... and I will tell you it is NOT SupremeGolf.

How is this all legal. Surely this violates the Sherman Act.... which "prohibits the abuse of monopoly power."

Is there anything that can be done? If I were a lawyer too (not just a golfer), I would literally be following up on this. Is there anything I as a regular "Joe Nobody" can do? If so, what.

Thanks.

Can you book a tee time at a course in your area by not using GolfNow? if you call a course directly is it possible to book a tee time? Not just your favorite course, but if any course in your area accepts tee times using means other than GolfNow, then your case falls apart pretty much instantly.

Also, do these courses contract with GolfNow to assist with their tee time booking?

Yes, and I do do that. This is more about the monopoly issue.

As far as Golf Course contracting with GolfNow. Ask any course how they feel about GolfNow, and 99.99% will tell you how much they hate GolfNow and their business practices. It is like the mafia. If you DON'T sign on with them, you are screwed. If you own EVERY golf booking website, and the majority of people book their golf on-line... how can you attract business if you DON'T sign on with them. There used to be courses that exclusively offered tee times on Golf18Network, because they did not like GolfNow. How do you think they feel now? And I bet you GolfNow has a gun to their head right now, and demanding what they want.

Courses contract with Golfnow to have their rates displayed on the site. The club will give up a certain number of tee times (pay Golfnow for them whether booked or not) in exchange to be advertised.

Yeah I don't see the big deal here. Monopolies exist everywhere. Media companies are often owned by 1 person. Facebook owns the 3 big social media companies right now (FaceBook, Instagram, SnapChat) and one of the world's most popular messaging apps...so they effectively own 4 messaging services + 3 social media platforms. This isn't any different. Golf courses don't care. I hear this argument all the time that golf courses hate GolfNow, yet they partner with them, so who is perpetuating the "evil" here? If you don't like it, run your own discount services website through the website of the golf course...but of course that isn't going to happen because golf courses have their fingers crossed they are going to fill their tee sheets with the rack rates of $89.99 + $20 cart and each one of those people is going to get a hot dog and beer at the turn and another beer and bag of chips or a plate of nachos to split at the end of the round.

It just isn't going to happen. Sure it sucks there isn't diversity anymore but when you're talking about $3-$5 either way I don't think a lot of people are going to be that phased by it.

This also isn't a real monopoly. A true monopoly, when one exists, has the power to enact price-fixing and create real barriers to entry into the market. A company that literally just compiles data and allows reservations cannot be a monopoly because nothing it has done prevents consumers from directly contacting the courses. Also, I don't see any real barriers to entry here. What would stop you or me from creating a website and competing?

Sounds to me like it is time to start up a competing service and bide your time until Golfnow buys you out.

Always wondered why the several courses within a city or area don't join forces and design a booking site that incorporates all courses. the courses get to decide the rates, they just make it simple for users to see which courses have openings and compare rates.

i always felt the best part of golf now was simply being able to see which courses had the tee times open for a particular time. it wasnt about the cheaper rate. it just beat having to call or navigate to each courses website to view available times.

Ah, quit being such a cheapskate. Just go with it. If you are griping about the $3.49 booking fee, I think you should instead pony up the $200 and pay for the GolfPass+ membership. Not only will you be supporting the employees of GolfNow, the perks they offer you are way too good, and the membership will pay itself after you use your monthly Play credits anyway.

Welcome to capitalism.

Sure Mr "I pay retail for everything and never find the best price." Must be nice to be part of the 1%'ers and not care about price.

Yes TeeOff and Supreme were MUCH MUCH better than that garbage GN. But what’s done is done.

I'm not an anti-trust attorney, but as the general counsel to a media company that was purchased by an equity group two years ago, I know for a fact that Golf Now's purchase of teeoff.com would have gone through a rigorous anti-trust analysis during due diligence. In other words, Golf Now would not have made the purchase if they feared they would face an anti-trust action.

You can complain, but I'm pretty certain no anti-trust laws are being violated here.

i also loved teeoff and hate golfnow and think the golfpass is worthless given the limited ability to use your credits.

but i think as long as you can book a tee time by calling a golf course or using their website, and not being forced to use golfnow, there can be no case that golfnow has a "monopoly" on tee times.

I know here in the KC area, quite a few of the courses have posted on their websites that they have the best rates online. That tells me they do not want to use a service like GN...

It is what it is. Golfnow is the industry leader in the space and had first mover advantage. There are still more positives to Golfnow than negatives. By congregating a large percentage of courses in one location it makes it way easier for us as consumers and helps the market better because courses have to adjust their prices according to what similar courses in the area charge. Obviously, it doesn’t completely change the market. But imagine if you were to have to go to each individual courses website to view rates and book tee times, courses would rely on the fact that people aren’t going to take the time to research all of that information before making a tee time. Therefore courses could charge more because the consumer isn’t going to take the time to see if they are missing out on a better value elsewhere. Is Golfnow perfect, of course not. Would it be nice to have alternatives, yes. Is the alternative without Golfnow better? No way.

I seriously doubt $200 is going to make or break someone and make them a "1%'r". If you cannot afford $200 over the course of 12 months you probably shouldn't be playing golf in the first place. I'm not one to throw money around much either, I buy what I can afford when I can. I use clubs for several seasons, don't make stupid purchases about equipment, and make room for my hobby money but cutting spending elsewhere. I have literally never bought a coffee when I was out. I don't buy my lunches/dinners for work. I buy the "damaged" fruits and vegetables. I don't have an unlimited phone plans, nor full TV and internet bundles. I bought my first golf shirt, hat, and shorts this year since about 2017.

There are lots of ways to save money to make room for golf and to automatically default that they must be "rich" because they can afford $4.17 a week is a terrible argument. To say $200 makes you "elite" is a bit preposterous when you play a game that requires paying to go to a course, paying to practice, paying to lose golf balls, paying to lose tees, specific clothes and shoes at 90% of locations, paying for spikes, paying for gloves, etc., all of which are crazy expensive to begin with. I think you're just more upset that nobody here has agreed with you because there isn't anything to be mad at, other than the fact you feel like you don't have the option to choose anymore. However, several people have shown that picking up a phone and talking to someone can often yield the same or better rates than are advertised! I've done it and can vouch for it.

I hate golfnow. As a teeoff dealpass guy I'm extra salty about this. I decided to buy a couple summer passes to play specific tracks instead of using GN since I hate it with a passion.

Didn't know this happened. Bummer

Except 90% of them actually use GolfNow for their backend. Very easy to spot. If your GN username/PW is accepted for account login, they are using GN backend.

The irony of GolfNow is that it started as Golf407.com 407 being the area code for Orlando (where I live). That was a great site too. GolfNow started sucking when major investors took it over. It started sucking even more when GolfChannel took it over and then even more when NBC purchased GolfChannel. Same happened with GolfAdvisor.com. Try to post a negative course Review on GolfAdvisor. It's just not possible. They don't allow it.

I am a programmer by trade. A converted video game programmer to server engineer to be specific. I have backend tools knowledge and very proficient in SQL and Python. I have an idea for a web-site that is going to help golf clubs, be great for golfers, and hopefully bring GolfNow to it's knees. Now I just need to find the time (and an Artist for skinning the UI). Not going to happen now.... but mark my words... I am going to make this happen.

I had purchased a Deal Pass from Tee Off last fall. Essentially, they discounted an expensive tee time I made by ~$150 if I bought Deal Pass, which was $149. I ordinarily wouldn’t have bought it, but it offered some perks, like $150 in future credits plus 25% off future tee times.

I was looking forward to using it this spring. Suddenly Golf Now announces this purchase and completely changes the program, taking a way the discount and instead offering more “rewards” on bookings. If anyone has used Golf Now rewards they are severely crippled and approaching worthless. So I called them out on it on the phone. After pointing out these material changes they quickly refunded me the $149. I think they know they neutered the program and have likely empowered anyone who complains to be refunded.

that's not the issue here or reason for his annoyance...it's like the mum and pop shop disappearing because the chains took over...now you get pasta with one teaspoon of grated cheese..every time..instead of serving with soul.

let's go!!!

Golfnow is a joke with their exorbitant fees.

It's useful to be able to search their website for an organized collection of tee times in your region, that's about it. Call the courses direct and save on the BS fees.

didn't the OP specifically question the legality of what golfnow is doing? it's in the title of the thread and he even specifically cites the sherman act. seems like an appropriate legal response to the question.

golfnow is annoying as hell yeah but that's not what the OP Asked.

Given they completely changed the terms of the program I would presume anyone who has a teeoff dealpass should be able to get a refund if they do not agree to the new terms of the program.

"TeeOff.com also regularly release 10-25% off coupon codes for DealTime tee times. Those are now gone too!!!!"
I may be missing something here, but I am still receiving promo code emails at least weekly (just received one this morning) and the promo codes are also posted on their Facebook and Twitter pages regularly.
In terms of antitrust violation, I tend to agree with @GeorgeHWB that few companies move forward with an acquisition without a high level of confidence from their legal council that it will receive regulatory approval.

The thread title is, "How is what GolfNow doing legal?"

The OP asked in his post: “How is this all legal. Surely this violates the Sherman Act.... which "prohibits the abuse of monopoly power."

I answered his questions based on my personal experience with anti-trust law.

I get that the OP is mad. I would be as well. But there's a difference between a company ticking off customers and a company violating the law.

alright...no one wants to argue with a former president.