Tiger Woods is killing professional golf!
No, this is not a Tiger Woods bashing column. I have written more than my share of sports columns over the years, but this remains a sales and marketing blog. But there is, or at least should be some concern as it relates to the future of professional golf and Tiger Woods.
"The Tiger effect" is directly related to the ratings of major golf championships on TV, comparing the ratings of a match with Tiger in contention vs. when he is not. This past weekend was the first Masters Tournament that did not have Woods as a participant since 1996. The results for the ratings were less than encouraging for CBS, The Masters and professional golf in general.
Yahoo Sports has the details on the tournament, and ratings information for Saturday and Sunday's telecast: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/golf-devil-ball-golf/masters-ratings-down-from-2013-154433616.html
Like him or hate him, people watch him. I do believe the lack of Tiger for the entire tournament, and Phil Mickelson not making the cut had an impact on the TV ratings. As exciting as Bubba Watson is for professional golf, he doesn't bring the mystique of Tiger Woods from back about 10 years ago.
Professional golf is very star driven. Even if Woods doesn't reach the championship totals of Jack Nicklaus, he is still the biggest star the sport has ever seen. The PGA needs to either develop the next megastar, or prepare a diminished TV audience, which means less marketing and advertising dollars for their broadcasts.
TV audience measurements can be deceiving however. Yes, a rating in 2014 of 7.8 is a 23.5% drop in audience from last year. But how does this all play out historically?
The match ups and the drama on the last day obviously play an impact on the ratings. For instance, when Tiger Woods won his first green jacket at the Masters in 1997 the TV rating was 15.8. That is by far the highest ratings ever for the event. How about 1996, which was the last year without Tiger Woods? That broadcast drew an audience rating of 10.2. That was the same rating as the year before, 1995.
Growing audience is a key to growing advertising revenue. The PGA does face an uphill battle of replacing the star power of Tiger Woods, and the draw he has on TV, merchandise, event attendance and participation in the sport. When I first heard the ratings, I was convinced the situation was worse than I think it really is.
Want to see the audience trends in TV ratings for the Masters? There is a great site, showing those details dating back to 1977 and Tom Watson's victory: http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2008/04/17/the-masters-tv-ratings-1977-2007/3216/
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