New analysis suggests golf is doing all the wrong things to ‘grow the game’
My first experience with golf was when I was ten years old.
It was June 2008, and I was sitting on a plush brown leather couch, my father convinced that Tiger Woods was destined to win Sunday’s U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, and that my grandfather was not. Suddenly, the 50-inch Samsung “flat panel” in the corner (a clunky hybrid version of the ultra-thin screens that now fill our lives) flashed into light, and my grandfather screamed.
“Come on Rocco!!!”
The famous battle between Woods and Mediate at Torrey Pines is as seared in my memory as the burnt smell of a well-cooked steak. The drama of David versus Goliath on the golf course, it felt like 20 heavyweight matches. On the 72nd hole, the national championship is approaching, which is exciting. Woods prevailed with six of the best golf shots I have ever seen (and will ever see).
For a long time in my life, I considered this memory of mine to be unique, and I was lucky enough to be a golf fan, born under the lucky star of Tiger Woods’ childhood. But according to the latest analysis new york times” Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, the opposite may be true: I may just be a golf fan because My childhood overlapped with Tiger Woods’ height.
An analysis of Facebook fan data by Stephens-Davidowitz, an American data scientist and economist, shows a strong correlation between sporting success witnessed in childhood and the development of a passionate fandom later on. In fact, according to Stephens-Davidowitz’s analysis, championships witnessed by boys between the ages of 8 and 12 were associated with the greatest development of rabid fans, in some cases being two to three times more likely to produce rabid fans than championships experienced by children of other ages in their development.
Some caveats: Stephens-Davidowitz’s analysis was limited to baseball teams and did not examine changes in fan bases associated with championships in other team sports, nor in individual sports such as golf. Interestingly, Stephens-Davidowitz’s analysis return failed to find a similar correlation between young girls and the development of a rabid fan base, finding that their loyalty was less affected by the team’s success.
Overall, though, Stephens-Davidowitz’s analysis (which you can read in full here ) provides a fascinating glimpse into the behavioral psychology of sports fans and offers interesting clues for sports leagues looking to strengthen their fan bases. Perhaps the biggest takeaway for golf, which has been subject to ad nauseam talk of “growing the game” over the past decade, is that many efforts to attract a teenage and twenty-something audience may be overblown. Michael Mulvihill, president of the Insights and Analytics team at Fox Sports, summed up the takeaways:
“A huge piece of research here that aligns with similar work we’ve done on how to build MLB/NFL fans,” Mulvihill wrote. “As a sports industry, marketing to young people is grossly overestimated and underestimation of children and pre-teens. If you don’t get them by the time you’re 14, you’re probably never going to get them.”
Interestingly, golf has historically benefited from reaching fans later in life. The competitive quirks of professional golf rival the simple tribalism of team sports that may appeal to younger fans (no teams, no “home games,” a deep-rooted sense of individuality), while the participatory quirks of professional golf often far outweigh the same benefits team sports offer (health, fitness, you You can play on the same course where Tiger Woods won the 2008 U.S. Open and you’re 80 years old). Golf also has a unique social utility compared to other sports: those who are able to play at a semi-qualified level can turn their golf abilities into career opportunities, meaning golf can actually be the key to a more affluent life.
However, golf lags far behind more popular sports such as football and basketball in terms of youth participation. Even where youth golf programs are thriving, participation numbers pale in comparison to other major sports (4 million U.S. youth golfers by 2024, compared with 14.1 million youth soccer players), not to mention the disparity as measured among professional fan bases. era analyze.
The lesson for golf may be simple: It should target youth. The sport’s efforts to attract younger audiences through shows like TGL and LIV have focused on relatively older sports fans (particularly those in the coveted 18-35 demographic). While both leagues have had some success in attracting different demographics, neither has crossed the threshold of clearly “complementing” golf’s broader audience. maybe era The analysis gives us a glimpse of why: By the time TGL and LIV reached these golf fans, they were already past their most impressionable years as fans.
When it comes to golf, there may not be any easy answers. Yes, investing heavily in youth golf is a good idea, and programs like the USGA’s U.S. National Development Team have been thrust into the spotlight in recent years. Yes, from a professional golf perspective, it’s also a good idea to have as many high-leverage moments involving as many extraordinary talents as possible (of the many headaches caused by an LIV fracture, the lack of must-see events is probably the most painful).
But even with the best players in the world competing in the highest-impact events, only a limited number of golf tournaments can truly become thunderous. Every kid wants to cheer for the star athlete, just like every kid wants to see their hometown team win. The problem is, there’s a shortage of star golfers and hometown championship teams. It’s easy to say golf should produce more stars, but the truth is that stars develop themselves by winning in unusual ways or with unusual frequency. In this case, professional golf’s greatest strength may be its greatest weakness: It can’t be faked. If every event reaches the threshold of Tiger and Rocco in 2008, then nothing.
The good news, though, is that some people can. It’s not hard to see how Rory McIlroy’s mind-bending major victory at April’s Masters could usher in a new era of golf’s superfans. It’s also not hard to see how Scottie Scheffler’s style of gentle destruction might prove particularly attractive to young sports fans in the market for role models. You don’t have to spend long talking to today’s youngest professional golf stars to hear stories of their own lightning moments. Nearly all of them involve Woods or Mickelson, and nearly all of them arrived before the teenage years.
In 2008, this is what the sport was becoming: a boy, a superstar, an underdog and a gripping story.
In 2025, the story has not changed. But maybe viewers should.
