What do Coca Cola, Walmart Macdonald’s, Macdonald’s, and GE have that the LPGA doesn’t? What can the LPGA take from big boys and gals?
Answer to your first question: These corporations recognize the potential power of global economies and set up shops in China. Asia not only provides high-quality production but also has a growing market with many white collar customers coming to the country each year.
LPGA assumes that the market it serves is only within the United States. However, the LPGA now hosts tournaments in Korea and other countries, including Canada, Brazil. More than a third of the schedule is now outside the United States.
Do not brag about having a global tour. However, you should privately lament that others are coming to your place. LPGA is too America-centric. It is time for the Tour to take a step back, and see where there are growth opportunities.
Here are a few examples. Greg Norman’s Great White Shark Enterprises is bidding for 20 projects to build golf courses in China. Why? It seems that the US market has almost dried up for new developments of golf courses. Another reason is: China has a 50% increase in players every year. By 2020, it is expected to host 26 million players. It will have more players than the USA’s current number.
Annika Sorenstam is the second, who is a young design firm that is banking its future on China and other Asian countries. This recovery will not only jumpstart the US’s ailing economy but also the opposite (Economist).
Sorenstam, the Shark and many other US-based entrepreneurs are banking on offshore recovery to secure their futures.
The inclusion of golf into the future Olympic Games would make a significant impact on the development of the sport. This would result in an immediate increase in golf tourists travel, new courses, and international competition.
The smart money is moving to Asia’s new growth regions, such as China and India, if you are in golf business. The tsunami of global growth won’t be accepted by any professional golf business. We may see US-based sponsors routinely being outbid on the LPGA market.
The largest source of television revenue for LPGA is not the USA but Korea. The trend will continue across all areas of the Tour’s market.
This is why I maintain that Korean players have been a distracting topic and at worst, an utter misapprehension as to where women’s professional golf lies.
Petty criticisms of Koreans have been made. Anybody who has been around the Tour will tell you that the Asian players are equally committed to the long-term health of the women’s tour. In July, 47 Korean LPGA players held a press conference in Ohio to express their support and willingness to assist the Tour.
Inbee Park is one of the many players who have given back. Following her US Open victory, Inbee Park donated $50,000 for the LPGA USGA Girls Golf program. A contingent of Korean golfers volunteered in Toledo at the Ronald Macdonald House during the Jamie Farr tournament and raised $13,570 that week. Habitat for Humanity was also helped by a group of 9 Korean gamers. It’s rare to see Wall Street brokerages volunteering their time to support their local communities.
From the Ohio meeting came the unmistakable message that Korean players are the future. “Want the US fans to know them better.”These are teenagers, twenty-somethings from a strange place. The US Golfing Community can surely welcome these young people to its great nation. The sport of golf and its followers has always been considered a fine one. No matter where the players were born, I believe that they will love the game and embrace them. This is what will determine the future success of the game.