What's next for the lpga???

[b-man777]

hey all: Even though annika is now retired from the lpga tour they do have a bunch of young stars to build on,but they still look to be in trouble. Yes they signed a new 10 year deal to have all events or at least all non-majors on the golf channel,but with the economy in the tank they keep loosing tour events. The bell micro classic is the latest in a line of events gone at least for '09 from the lpga tour schedule and i think it's the economy much more so than annika retiring that's the BIG factor here. Your thoughts thanks :mellow:

[Ace In The Hole]

I would rather watch at least 10 players that are currently on the tour over Annika, IMO.

[juke]

i'd settle with watching Natalie Gulbis, Paula Creamer and Michelle Wie playing a threesome... all day long.

 

on a serious note... they need some excitement in the tournaments... given that Paula has been great, it was fun watching her play even if she did lose it in the last few holes. more golf like that would be interesting. she's easy on the eyes and has a great game.

[InTheHole]

The LPGA has a great product. But to be honest, the last few tournaments, well, were they on TV? I hear about the 10 year deal with the Golf Channel, but every time I flip the TV on- no LPGA!

 

Checking the schedule on the LPGA web site, it looks like this week's event will be televised on the Golf Channel.

 

As far as sponsors go, it seems that golf some how got heavily involved in car companies, banks, investment firms, and real estate companies. All of which tanked in the current economy.

 

Last week, the PGA sponsor was Transitions- they make high performance perscription eyewear and their company is doing very well. Both PGA and LPGA need to find more companies like this and pitch the young, athletic image everyone loves. Sticking with the traditional wealthy investment company is going down the road of "loser."

 

Heck, now that I know that Transitions sponsors the PGA, I'll give them a look (pun intended) next time I need my perscription sun glasses updated. Why not at least check out a sponsor of the game I love?

[imsocrabby]

the LPGA's problem is lack of coverage....plain and simple.

 

 

the media controls what gets airtime and women's golf isn't it. the sheep like nascar and tiger woods and nightly news....so that's what the media gives. the advertisers make a killing on it. it's never going to change. women's golf has never been mainstream and it doesn't have a chance of ever getting there....in my lifetime anyway.

[longballjs]

I personally just don't enjoy womens golf - maybe its the sexist in me but i don't find it as exciting or entertaining as the PGA

 

Given the option I'd watch:

1. PGA Tour

2. Senior Tour

3. Nationwide tour

4. Magnum PI on DVD

[DavePelz4]

One of the easiest ways to improve viewership of their events would be to move to a Wednesday to Saturday format. By Wednesday I'm ready to watch any kind of golf and having a championship on Saturday gives them something to market. An example is how the Mid American Football Conference moves the last few weeks of their schedule to Tuesday/Wednesday night. People who are hungry for football will be happy to watch Buffalo vs Akron. Any other day of the week there isn't a chance they'd watch that game but absent any other football, it something to fill a viewing need.

[imsocrabby]

pelz4......that's actually a pretty good idea.

[Awsi Dooger]

Saturday finish would be an excellent idea, although that wouldn't always equate to starting on Wednesday. Maybe 1/4 of the events, including last week, are 3 rounds, not 4.

 

They need to fortify the early months of the schedule. Right now the LPGA is almost like a golfer in the northern climates, barely making an appearance until April. I don't know how they expect to forfeit the early months without many tournaments or story lines, then pretend the fans will swarm their way in the summer and fall.

 

The way it's going, fairly soon half the LPGA schedule will be outside the United States.

[3put]

I have to agree 100% with imsocrabby and I like pelz4's idea. As far as I'm concerned I prefer the LPGA. I had to list it in order of preference, I'd have to say;

 

LPGA

Champions

PGA

 

To be perfectly honest, I think I've enjoyed myself at the LPGA and Champions tournament 10x's more then I ever have at a PGA event, including practice rounds. Don't get me wrong the Tiger's and Phl's are way cool, but the others are much more approachable. At least if you're adult/tasteful about it, you can mingle and get genuine responses from the girls and older fellas.

 

The PGA guys are just to stuffed-shirted and flat-out snobbish! Not to mention that alot of the girls are babes.

[mhk5000]

IF the LPGA played Wednesday to Saturday i bet they would lose out on weekend Ticket Sales. Even for PGA tour events, there are very few people out there during the week.

 

I really think they need more TV coverage and the deal with the Golf Channel will make things worse. Not everyone watches or has the golf channel. Perhaps they should strike a deal with PBS!

[SoCalTitleist]

They need better marketing, they have the players with a lot of international flavor.

[ZBigStick]

I too am with Pelz4, to going with a Saturday finish. Also if they could have smaller fields and start earlier in the day they could start the weekend coverage before the men's coverage. Kind of a lead in, much as the Euro Tour is broadcast over here.

[InTheHole]

IF the LPGA played Wednesday to Saturday i bet they would lose out on weekend Ticket Sales. Even for PGA tour events, there are very few people out there during the week.

 

I really think they need more TV coverage and the deal with the Golf Channel will make things worse. Not everyone watches or has the golf channel. Perhaps they should strike a deal with PBS!

 

I agree that the no-Sunday tournament would hurt ticket sales, but I don't agree about the TV deal.

 

For many people, the Golf Channel is the place to go for golf. Just like most people go to the Weather Channel for weather. Yeah, you can get weather info anywhere, but on TV, TWC is the "authority."

 

True, not everyone watches or has the Golf Channel, but you can say that about any cable network. Your only alternative to what everyone has are the broadcast networks- NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox. Fox has zero love for golf, and the others devote a maximum of 6 hours per weekend when they decide they will grace golf with their presence. (We certainly wouldn't want to interrupt their stellar programming with one of the most popular games in America.)

 

Golf Channel is the best they're gonna do for TV coverage.

[lsu_justin]

I'd watch more LPGA if they followed Erica Blasberg the entire round. ;)

[Guillotine007]

I personally just don't enjoy womens golf - maybe its the sexist in me but i don't find it as exciting or entertaining as the PGA

 

Given the option I'd watch:

1. PGA Tour

2. Senior Tour

3. Nationwide tour

4. Magnum PI on DVD

 

 

How was I not surprised at all to see that someone who says this plays ALL Titleist equipment

[mantan]

Midas is dead-on about the strange catch-22 with the LPGA and the Korean players.

 

At some point, it probably makes more sense for the LPGA to be marketed and executed more an international tour than an American sport. Merging some women’s tours is probably a good idea. In a booming economy, the LPGA is going always going to lag behind with limited casual appeal. That’s not a knock on the players or their abilities, it’s just a proven fact that American fans generally don’t follow women sports (with the exception of special ‘event’ type sports like during the Olympics.) And with only a small segment of overall sports fans following men’s golf, the market for women’s golf will always be VERY small, no matter how the great the play, their physical appearance or their personality/approachability.

 

The landscape shift is that now the LPGA has to find the right model that can broaden their worldwide appeal as a matter of survival, not just to maximize their profit. It’s a similar situation to the NHL. Once the NHL realized their dreams of being a Big 4 sport with the same revenues, TV exposure and money as the other sports was impossible, they retrenched and built a financial model on being a niche sport.

 

The LPGA can still be viable, but they can’t use their old dreams or recent purses as an expectation.

[InTheHole]

As long as they keep marketing the "macho" aspects of golf, the LPGA will never gain market share.

 

90% of all golf commercials are for a new driver or new golf ball... and 100% of those commercials promote the fierce anger of hitting a ball a long way.

 

Look at the (admittedly horrible) Slazenger ball commericials- or the new Diablo driver commercials (with Rocco hitting is way out of a trailer), etc. Everything is power, toughness, and might.

 

The girls on the LPGA tour could probably outdrive 90% of the guys on this board- but most guys don't see it that way. They just see T and A and that is their only reason for wanting to watch the LPGA at all...

 

I watch golf for the competition, not for who has more power. So who cares if the ladies drive it 50 yards less than the guys (or whatever the average is)- I'm watching for the decisive putt on 18, not for the big drive on 3.

 

Those who ignore the LPGA, Champions, and Nationwide tours are doing yourself a big injustice- becuase you're missing a lot of great golf.

[imsocrabby]

90% is a little strong....you can't tell me that Cialis holds ONLY 10%.....

 

 

I'd say it's more like 50/50.

[longballjs]

They just see T and A and that is their only reason for wanting to watch the LPGA at all...

 

I realize that by saying this I am somewhat proving your point, but

 

There is not enough "T and A" on the LPGA tour to make me watch it. Honestly, if there was some more - such as in womens tennis (which I will watch) - I'd think about it -

 

For me, Patti Hurst just doesn't do it.

[imsocrabby]

There is no T&A on the PGA Tour....do why do you watch it ?

[longballjs]

There is no T&A on the PGA Tour....do why do you watch it ?

 

I like the long hitting, I like their fiery agression, their quality of golf, and I can imagine myself among them - when a woman on the lpga does a fist pump, its just not the same - when she crushes one 280 im not impressed - its a sexist thing - I oppenly admit it, but I cant watch the lpga for the same reason I cant watch the WNBA - its just not the same, something is missing - some quality T and A would definitely attract more men to watching the lpga

[imsocrabby]

fair enough. as much as i want to get into it...i won't ;)

[ac130nav]

There is the Marketing problem that's not going away for the LPGA, that issue is the high amount of gay women on the tour. Am I the only one thinking this? One thing is for sure, you will never hear anyone say it or write it in the press. But it's out there like a dark cloud before the storm. I dated a girl that was a teaching pro who had played on the Futures Tour and she told me more than 50% were gay, that doesn't sell in mass America. It is easy for Corporate America to throw money at the conservative PGA Tour verse LPGA Tour, there is no image problem to contend with. Granted there are a lot of fresh new faces making up the LPGA but that image of several years ago is not going to die over night. Also, Midas has it right when he talks about the "Korean" LPGA Tour, most Americans are not going to tune into watch a bunch of women that they can't even pronounce their names.

[DavePelz4]

There are a lot of great posts here but please indulge me with a couple of comments on the comments.

 

You need to start with the changing demographics of the US. The population growth is coming from Hispanic Americans, African American's and Asian American's. And if you want to know why the Asians women are dominating the tour in number there's two reasons...first...this is the best competition available and second, this is where the most money is to be won.

 

Before you scoff at that consider the following. Isn't this the exact same scenario that initially brought the European Tour players to the states? Didn't they come here because it was a better life...more money...it was easier to make a living for your family...oh yeah...Florida or AZ weather vs the UK? That was then extended to South Africa...South America, Australia, Asia and the Far East.

 

Now consider why guys like AK, Brant Snedeker, Boo and others applied to get conditional status on the Euro tour. They want to play in the Race to Dubai...they want to chase the money. Can you blame them? They want to make things better for their families.

 

Add to this the companies that sponsor the PGA events. Honda, Barclay's, Mercedes Benz, Sony, RBC, etc. They are all international/global companies that understand where the market opportunities are and they are investing their dollars in the long term belief of what they can ultimately sell in the US.

 

So...back to the OP...and how to fix the LPGA tour. It's pretty simple and it's been suggested here already. Make this the premier WORLD women's tour. Hold a small percentage of the events in Asia, Mexico, Canada, Europe, Australia and a majority in the US. Start to recruit brands that are more global brands and oriented to golfers, both male and female. Not too sure that the thought of the "Jimmy Choo Open" is the event that is going to draw my attention based upon the sponsorship alone but I'll watch good golf regardless.

 

To the comments surrounding "sex sells." You're right and it crosses both the PGA and the LPGA. Why is Natalie Gulbis being pushed on the Celebrity Apprentice? Why is Tiger the most popular golfer amongst women? They both are attractive people. With no disrespect to Craig Stadler...if he was the #1 male golfer in the world would women rate him as #1? No way...sorry Craig...I'll throw an extra $50 to the waiter at Smith and Wollensky in your name. It'd be Tiger, Ian Poulter, Adam Scott, whoever. That's how we're wired.

 

And to the folks that have questioned the "preferences/orientation" of LPGA members consider that there were NFL players like Esra Tuaolo, Dave Pupay, Roy Simmons and John Amiaci in the NBA that had different preferences than you. Did you really stop watching football in Sundays because one guy slapped another's arse? Has there been a better shot ever in competition than Karrie Webb holing a wedge on the 18th hole of a major to force a playoff?

 

Let the criticism fly...this should be an interesting discussion.

[longballjs]

And to the folks that have questioned the "preferences/orientation" of LPGA members consider that there were NFL players like Esra Tuaolo, Dave Pupay, Roy Simmons and John Amiaci in the NBA that had different preferences than you. Did you really stop watching football in Sundays because one guy slapped another's arse? Has there been a better shot ever in competition than Karrie Webb holing a wedge on the 18th hole of a major to force a playoff?

 

 

While I really dont care all that much, and dont know how valid of an argument the lesbian tendency of the lpga is - one poster saying close to 50% on the tour and then arguing by naming 4 players from 2 leagues of hundreds of players - where at least 1 and probably more of the 4, came out or knowledge of their sexuality became known after they retired - is like comparing apples to oranges bowling balls

[InTheHole]

90% is a little strong....you can't tell me that Cialis holds ONLY 10%.....

 

 

I'd say it's more like 50/50.

 

 

I was referring to the commercials that advertise golf products. Sorry if I phrased that in a confusing way. Maybe 90% is a little high- there are also some commercials for FootJoy shoes- but for the most part, drivers and long flying golf balls are what golf manufacturers advertise. Even commercials for golf grips go the route of "grip it and rip it."

[Awsi Dooger]

An estimate of more than 50% lesbians is a flawed application of probability. A block of a couple hundred simply will not deviate to that extreme from the societal norm.

 

In Las Vegas I'm undefeated in man-to-man bets, something like 12 for 12, and it's always been a case like that, an extreme overstatement. Like when a home run hitter gets traded to a friendly ball park and suddenly the conventional wisdom is his tally will jump 50% or more. That's what the Jim Rome types thrill to spew, playing to the bar stool crowd. Just give me the under and I'll take my chances on normalcy prevailing. Same thing in this case, although obviously there is no way to establish actual percentage.

[imsocrabby]

women's tennis isn't any more poplular today than it was when martin(a) navratalova played. so the clothes are smaller.....but clothing has changed in both sports.

 

 

hasn't it?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

you've already admitted that you don't like women's golf. but saying you don't care and then keeping the posting up is sort of....well you know.

 

 

 

none of us know the numbers of gay/straight/bisexuals in any given sport.....and it doesn't really matter. this thread is about the LPGA and how it can market itself better. Sexual Orientation is the least of it's problems. We're all out of the stone age...you should try it too.

 

 

 

 

*hey guys....you're welcome for the paste job. I AM NOT A LESBIAN NOR DO I PLAY ONE ON TV. Now where did I leave that pink shaft?

[imsocrabby]

90% is a little strong....you can't tell me that Cialis holds ONLY 10%.....

 

 

I'd say it's more like 50/50.

 

 

I was referring to the commercials that advertise golf products. Sorry if I phrased that in a confusing way. Maybe 90% is a little high- there are also some commercials for FootJoy shoes- but for the most part, drivers and long flying golf balls are what golf manufacturers advertise. Even commercials for golf grips go the route of "grip it and rip it."

 

 

 

i was poking fun at the bathtub commercials. LOL.