Sponsor Free Agency

[ctfuzz21]

10 hours ago, me05501 said:

In the age of social media I think a lot of us are kind of lost when it comes to gauging the marketing value of certain players. 

 

Adam Scott is a great example. We middle-aged guys all know and respect him and have mostly positive vibes around him, which clouds our view of his relative value. I think we generously overrate him. 

 

In terms of moving the marketing needle, he's way closer to Fred Couples than Colin Morikawa. 

 

I was thinking the same thing while reading the thread about Jimmie Walker. He had some really good seasons but it's been a while. He never had a really dominant streak when he was the one to beat. When we saw his best golf he was playing out of his mind and it was inevitable that he'd come back to earth. From a marketing standpoint he probably rates the same as Tommy Two Gloves. 

 

The people putting out contract offers have incredible metrics, again thanks to social media. They know who the public is interested in. 

 

 

While your point is well-made, I do think a brand like Titleist has done exceptionally well targeting the middle aged, private golfer with disposable income. A brand ambassador like Adam Scott seemingly would connect with that demographic very well, for a number of reasons. 
 

Again, their teams have access to better metrics than my own personal projections of the brand, however, I have to believe he was a net positive for the reputation of Titleist in those key demographics. 

[Creedo77]

Seems like Reed will only be playing the driver for PXG

 

jon wall tweeted just awhile ago that more info should be coming out about it

Edited January 6, 2022 by Creedo77

[me05501]

14 hours ago, ctfuzz21 said:

While your point is well-made, I do think a brand like Titleist has done exceptionally well targeting the middle aged, private golfer with disposable income. A brand ambassador like Adam Scott seemingly would connect with that demographic very well, for a number of reasons. 
 

Again, their teams have access to better metrics than my own personal projections of the brand, however, I have to believe he was a net positive for the reputation of Titleist in those key demographics. 

 

Sure.

 

It likely depends on the cost of the contract too. It's easy to imagine they could have offered him less than in past years and he decided to take his chances elsewhere. We'll never know. The main point is that his perceived worth and his actual worth are probably quite different.

 

From Titleist's perspective, they are looking at who else they might spend the same money on for a better return. 

 

From a player's perspective, being on staff comes with a lot of responsibilities that may or may not appeal to someone in Scott's position. Media days, pro-ams, etc. are probably pretty tiresome at this point. 

[ctfuzz21]

46 minutes ago, me05501 said:

 

Sure.

 

It likely depends on the cost of the contract too. It's easy to imagine they could have offered him less than in past years and he decided to take his chances elsewhere. We'll never know. The main point is that his perceived worth and his actual worth are probably quite different.

 

From Titleist's perspective, they are looking at who else they might spend the same money on for a better return. 

 

From a player's perspective, being on staff comes with a lot of responsibilities that may or may not appeal to someone in Scott's position. Media days, pro-ams, etc. are probably pretty tiresome at this point. 

All very true and agree completely! My point was more in regards to Adam Scott moving/ not moving the marketing needle.
 

Everything you stated, especially from a player’s perspective, could very easily have been part of this, as well. They could have offered less or decided to put the money in another marketing bucket (ie different player, campaigns, etc). However, I believe with the aspirational quality Scott brings to the table (good looking, great swing, world traveler, etc) he’d be a very desirable ambassador for a brand like Titleist. 
 

Again, I don’t disagree with a single point you bring up.   
 

 

[me05501]

2 hours ago, ctfuzz21 said:

All very true and agree completely! My point was more in regards to Adam Scott moving/ not moving the marketing needle.
 

Everything you stated, especially from a player’s perspective, could very easily have been part of this, as well. They could have offered less or decided to put the money in another marketing bucket (ie different player, campaigns, etc). However, I believe with the aspirational quality Scott brings to the table (good looking, great swing, world traveler, etc) he’d be a very desirable ambassador for a brand like Titleist. 
 

Again, I don’t disagree with a single point you bring up.   
 

 

 

He's done quite well for himself hasn't he? 

 

It's a little surprising he hasn't had more sponsorship interest from blue chip companies from the white collar world, like Phil has with KPMG or other players have with Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley. It could be that he just doesn't want it, or maybe his off-course personality doesn't fit what they're looking for. 

I've only spent time with one multi-win PGA Tour pro. He wasn't what I expected. This guy was very low-key and introverted and didn't go out of his way to keep the conversation happening.

 

There've gotta be plenty of guys on Tour like that who just aren't cut out for the schmooze. Maybe that's Adam Scott too, who knows.  

[BCULAW]

Looks like David Duval may be carrying a Callaway Golf/Travis Mathew sponsorship onto his Champions Tour debut this week. 

[Holy Moses]

On 1/6/2022 at 10:03 AM, Creedo77 said:

Seems like Reed will only be playing the driver for PXG

 

jon wall tweeted just awhile ago that more info should be coming out about it

Interesting that in a world where PXG players play everything but the driver, Reed plays only the driver

[hm59]

On 1/18/2022 at 5:40 PM, BCULAW said:

Looks like David Duval may be carrying a Callaway Golf/Travis Mathew sponsorship onto his Champions Tour debut this week. 

Yup. His Callaway WITB: https://worldofwunder.callawaygolf.com/welcome-to-teamcallaway-david-duval-witb/

[Creedo77]

The biggest free agent out there just signed a deal with Taylormade 

https://golf.com/gear/scottie-scheffler-taylormade-equipment-deal/

 

[DON SVO]

21 minutes ago, Creedo77 said:

The biggest free agent out there just signed a deal with Taylormade 

https://golf.com/gear/scottie-scheffler-taylormade-equipment-deal/

 

 

He'll lose the 3 wood and utility soon enough, the wedges at some point, my concern (if I was to have one) would be the switch to the TP5 ball from a career using ProV.

[Holy Moses]

1 hour ago, DON SVO said:

 

He'll lose the 3 wood and utility soon enough, the wedges at some point, my concern (if I was to have one) would be the switch to the TP5 ball from a career using ProV.

You think he’s ditching the 3W?

[DON SVO]

17 minutes ago, Holy Moses said:

You think he’s ditching the 3W?

 

TM typically wants full bag deals (less wedges and putter sometimes) + ball, so unless someone corrects me I bet it goes away in due time. That being said... He's already testing a Stealth 3w.

Edited March 9, 2022 by DON SVO

[subrew]

21 minutes ago, Holy Moses said:

You think he’s ditching the 3W?

 

It's literally the second paragraph of the article.

 

"The agreement also states Scheffler will play TaylorMade Stealth fairway woods, which means the days are numbered for his Nike VR Pro Limited 3-wood."

[Holy Moses]

2 hours ago, subrew said:

 

It's literally the second paragraph of the article.

 

"The agreement also states Scheffler will play TaylorMade Stealth fairway woods, which means the days are numbered for his Nike VR Pro Limited 3-wood."

Oops. I guess it’s time had come.

[TiScape]

On 1/5/2022 at 6:05 PM, ctfuzz21 said:

While your point is well-made, I do think a brand like Titleist has done exceptionally well targeting the middle aged, private golfer with disposable income. A brand ambassador like Adam Scott seemingly would connect with that demographic very well, for a number of reasons. 
 

Again, their teams have access to better metrics than my own personal projections of the brand, however, I have to believe he was a net positive for the reputation of Titleist in those key demographics. 

At this point in time, Adam would be an ideal ambassador for XXIO. 

[TiScape]

4 hours ago, Creedo77 said:

The biggest free agent out there just signed a deal with Taylormade 

https://golf.com/gear/scottie-scheffler-taylormade-equipment-deal/

 

Good for him. The bag will barely change and he gets paid! 

 

2 hours ago, subrew said:

 

It's literally the second paragraph of the article.

 

"The agreement also states Scheffler will play TaylorMade Stealth fairway woods, which means the days are numbered for his Nike VR Pro Limited 3-wood."

So that’s a ‘yes’??? 😂 

[subrew]

I think this would be a great opportunity for a Trottie video with Scotty.  Specifically fitting a fairway wood for a guy that has kept a long trusted no-longer-produced brand in the bag for so long.  For these guys, fairway woods are about hitting very specific parameters, not just bombing it out there.  It would be interesting to see what specs on a modern Stealth would end up being to match up with that Nike. 

[Creedo77]

11 hours ago, DON SVO said:

 

He'll lose the 3 wood and utility soon enough, the wedges at some point, my concern (if I was to have one) would be the switch to the TP5 ball from a career using ProV.

He’s still using the prov 

[DON SVO]

Just now, Creedo77 said:

He’s still using the prov 

Yeah I saw an update on it, apparently wedges aren’t part of it either. That’s a damn good deal. TP5 seems to be quite a polarizing golf ball similar to Chrome Soft was, you either get along with it or have fits cough cough Rickie WTF man geez cough cough. 

[bladehunter]

11 hours ago, DON SVO said:

Yeah I saw an update on it, apparently wedges aren’t part of it either. That’s a damn good deal. TP5 seems to be quite a polarizing golf ball similar to Chrome Soft was, you either get along with it or have fits cough cough Rickie WTF man geez cough cough. 

Agree. Great deal for both.  Tm gets the next big thing locked down , and he doesn’t have to swap balls .  Swapping to a TM ball would be worrisome.  The current prov1 is a bit of a Goldilocks ball for a high spin player. But to me the tp5 spins too much And the tp5x spins not at all.  It’s not that they’re bad. It’s just that they are different.  I can’t help but point out Bubba watsons struggle with a ball change and the fact that Rickie Fowler hasn’t played well at all with the tm ball.  Guys learn the game on a titleist ball. It’s hard to go away from.  

[DON SVO]

On 1/5/2022 at 8:17 AM, DON SVO said:

 

 

Jimmy is trying it... watch Scott bag a Stealth driver at some point. Heads will explode.

 

... just a random self back-patting, nothing to see here...

[stinger_gc]

Seems like the only guys that don't have a full bag deal are either the Mizuno guys or Srixon staffers. I know Brooks and Shane both have Taylormade Woods and I'm pretty sure Keith Mitchell has titleist woods