Tiger, who current stands at 14 major trophies, was well underway to becoming the greatest golfer of all time. These wins brought with them a whole host of sponsors, all throwing millions of dollars at him, clambering to be a part of his success story.
And it seems McIlroy is set to follow suit.
His current $10million per year contracts with his sponsors (Jumeirah, Oakley and Titleist) pale in comparison to that of Woods who, during his peak, reportedly earned $92million per year from sponsors alone and in doing so, became sport’s first billionaire in 2009.
But following his US Open success, companies have supposedly been queuing up to offer Rory huge new endorsement deals, vying for a space on his shirt and cap.
So, is it pure coincidence that Rory’s rise to stardom has coincided with Tiger’s fall from grace? Could it be possible that all the hype been created to satisfy the golfing world’s need for a new megastar?
Let’s examine the facts.
McIlroy didn’t just win the U.S Open with 8 shots to spare; he smashed 12 records along the way.
And when two of the game’s greats, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, claim that he is already ‘well ahead of their pace’ and he could ‘conceivably be the next Grand Slam winner’, it would seem that he is in fact the real deal.
But take away all the talk of records and major victories, McIlroy remains a marketer’s dream. His youthful exuberance, infectious smile and fearless brand of golf is a shot in the arm for a sport that had been jaded by the scandals of late 2009.
What sets McIlroy apart from other players is the way he interacts and engages with his fans and media alike. How many European players would get a standing ovation after a 4th round meltdown in a major competition or have their name chanted by usually partisan US crowds?
He is as gracious in defeat as he is in victory, handles the media with the maturity of someone well beyond his years and, as I witnessed first hand at this year’s BMW Championship, will happily take the time to sign autographs and pose with fans.
With his first major under his belt, McIlroy’s already huge universal appeal to sponsors and fans alike is only going to increase. Even his usually understated manager Andrew ‘Chubby’ Chandler predicted that his endorsements could reach the levels that so far only Woods has achieved – and we’re only on the first tee…
So you think golf is a dull sport with a lack of characters? Think again – this ‘Synergy Loves’ needs little explanation beyond a watch. PGA Tour players Ben Crane, Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson, and Hunter Mahan have produced their own song with accompanying video.
The Fab Four, performing under the name ‘The Golf Boys’, have done this in support of Farmers’ sponsorship of the Farmers Insurance Open, where for every 100,000 views Farmers will donate $1,000 to charitable proceeds that will support both Farmers and Ben Crane charitable initiatives (currently just short of 1.5m views on youtube).
What we really like about it is that it delivers against our last two Synopsis articles. Obviously it’s entertaining content, while the charitable angle provides benefits that go beyond their brand.
So we challenged former world number one golfer Martin Kaymer and three time Olympic medallist Steve Backley to go head-to-head in a multisport play-off from Wentworth’s first tee. With wedge and javelin in hand, Kaymer and Backley put their accuracy to the test in an attempt to land their shot nearest the pin at the venue for the BMW PGA Championship from May 26 – 29.
Both athletes were given three attempts to hit the pin which, at 60 metres, was comfortably within their reach. Despite Kaymer’s drives averaging over 260m and Backley having a world record breaking throw of 91.46m to his name, precision rather than distance was the aim for the BMW Nearest the Pin challenge. With all shots taken, Kaymer was announced the overall winner, beating Backley with a comprehensive score of 3-0.
My mobile rang and a voice said ‘Is that Fiona?’. 'Yes...' I said. This was followed by those immortal words ‘This is Seve’. Wow I thought! But before I could gather my thoughts and reply he said ‘Where’s my driver? I am in the arrivals hall at Gatwick and there is no sign of her...’
A brief conversation followed about how drivers were not permitted in the baggage hall, but safe to say she was definitely waiting for him in arrivals...
There will only ever be one Seve. Everyone who was lucky enough to see him play or meet him will always remember that day.
The social media revolution has transformed the sports marketing toolkit and landscape. A sign of how powerful this change has been is that almost all of sport’s major rights holders have very quickly embraced social media, including some surprising names.
Take Augusta National Golf Club, the owner and organiser of The Masters. Given their world-famous adherence to tradition, you might not have expected Augusta’s rulers to have been social media early adopters. But they were – in fact, if you’ve ever had any dealings with them, you’ll know that ‘The Men Of The Masters’ may be traditionalists, but that doesn’t mean they’re not innovators: quite the reverse – especially when it comes to media.
In 2009 – well ahead of the mass adoption curve – The Masters went onto Twitter and Facebook. During the 2009 tournament, they provided regular Twitter and Facebook updates, and rapidly gained tens of thousands of followers. Best practice at the time? Absolutely.
So it was all the more surprising that a year later, during the 2010 tournament, The Masters posted only one tweet and no Facebook updates.
When I raised the subject on Twitter last night I had a reply from none other than golf’s leading Tweeter (1.2m followers and rising) Stewart Cink, who had obviously noticed the lack of engagement:
So it looks like – at least for now – The Masters has abandoned social media, presumably as part of a strategy to prioritise their website, which is amazing and as such clearly a focus.
Will you miss being able to follow The Masters on social media? And do you think their apparent decision to abandon social media is the right strategy?
During a 5-hour traffic delay on the way to the Ryder Cup, two Synergists entered into a debate about the greatest Sports Marketing Innovation of the last 50 years. What started in the back of the car, turned into our own private mission to find the answer. We invited suggestions from the public, debated the merits of each suggestion, invited guest bloggers to put their case forward and finally put the resulting short-list to a vote. And according to you, the biggest Sports Marketing Innovation of all time was Nike’s deal with Michael Jordan.
The deal went beyond mere endorsement and created a product line purely around the player, whilst defining the relationship between corporate organisations and sports stars. According to Charlie Brooks, the communications director of Nike “…It has helped define the way the Nike brand, and the industry overall, has behaved ever since in terms of sports marketing and creating athlete signature products…”
It’s staggering, if the stories are to be believed, that Jordan originally didn’t even want to meet with Nike execs to cut a deal. The company’s association with MJ created a brand in Air Jordan that generated some of the most memorable advertising creative in recent years, with ‘Wings’ still one of the most popular posters ever printed. Almost a decade since he last played, the Jordan brand has grossed over $1 billion in sales, representing around 5% of Nike’s total revenue, with the “Jumpman” adorning the shoes of kids for whom Jordan has only ever been a YouTube myth. Wouldn’t you want to be a part of that?
So, there is no doubt that we found a worthy winner…but at Synergy, that just triggered the next question. What next for superstar endorsements? Is this still a winning sponsorship strategy?
From the earliest days of advertising, the stars of the day have been employed to strengthen the promise of a brand. Whether it’s the testimonial of actress Lillie Langtry for Pears Soap, or that of US President William McKinley for his Waterman pen – both before the turn of the 20th century – we’re not talking about a new art, just one that has evolved over time.
That said, apparently, using a celebrity doesn’t guarantee success. According to research carried out by US-based firm Ace Metrix, in 2010 almost 15% of advertising in the US involved celebrities, at an estimated cost of $50 billion. And of that number, nearly 20% of commercials indexed negatively versus the advertising norm. With four out of the top five culprits from the world of sport, several UK publications suggested this as sounding the death-knell of deals for major sporting names like David Beckham.
Of course, this is partly explained by the fact that two sporting superstars for whom 2010 had hardly been a year to remember, featured heavily in this list: Lance Armstrong was accused by his former team-mate Floyd Landis of taking performance-enhancing drugs, whereas Tiger Woods, well, you don’t need me to tell you about his 2010. What this demonstrates is the height from which an icon has to fall, even if, in the case of Armstrong, the pedestal is still structurally intact.
The fact is that consumers are now a savvier bunch and it is easy to pick out where a celebrity is simply a hired hand lending stardust to a brand.
Looking at the advertising that best resonated with US consumers last year, we can see that celebrities need to bring an authenticity that is impossible to manufacture. Oprah Winfrey’s traffic safety campaign represented three out of the top four strongest performing creatives. A very ‘Oprah’ endorsement. George Clooney, another celebrity with integrity, unquestionably plays his own smooth self in Nescafe’s commercials, although it’s definitely more than just an address to camera. Turning this on its head, Kevin Bacon’s commercial for Logitech (where he brilliantly plays a Kevin Bacon-obsessed superfan) is in no way a Bacon endorsement of their specific product, but a means of connecting the brand with humour and charm often missing from the category.
This is where sponsorship begins to play a greater role for companies looking to connect with a consumer, a market or a movement. It’s about a brand in alignment with an individual. What develops is a symbiotic relationship where brands have as much to gain as they have to lose…arguably more.
Nike, of course, has since repeated the trick with Tiger Woods. Why didn’t Nike cut Tiger loose last year? Well, whilst his behaviour disappointed fans and sponsors alike, there’s no denying that he represented a longer game to the sporting giant. And his relationship with Nike is deep and authentic. Prior to Woods’ endorsement of Nike’s golf range in 2000, Nike owned approximately 1% of the global golf market. Following Woods’ signing, Nike Golf acquired approximately 4.5 million customers and in 2008 posted revenues of $648 million – a direct result of the Tiger who came to tee. Estimates suggest that even the 100,000 or so consumers that left the brand in the wake of his extensive indiscretions never actually defected to a competitor, impacting instead a net loss on the golf industry as a whole.
So, authenticity is key. In an attempt to find it, a new avenue has been explored by brands over the past couple of years: offering the celebrity more than just cold hard cash, but a job.
Arguably the most successful proponent of this is adidas with their appointment of designer Stella McCartney as its creative director in advance of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. An appropriate relationship that, suitably leveraged, will provide adidas ample reward in 2012, but, critically, one based on her skillset and day job. Need to demonstrate an ability to actively shape their employer’s brand and bottom line, whilst still connecting with the target consumers. Jamie Oliver and Sainsbury’s, Kate Moss and Topshop, Dr Dre and Monster headphones – all examples of motivated individuals working to deliver tangible value back to their paymasters.
In a slightly more worrying turn of events, the role (or rather title) of creative director provides an opportunity for companies to steal genius (or perhaps more realistically, borrow talent) from a heavily focus-grouped ‘next best thing’.
Intel has shown the world that it likes (black eyed) peas with its chips, having signed up the ubiquitous Will.i.am as their own ‘director of creative innovation’, where he plans to work with scientists and researchers to “collaborate and co-develop new ways to communicate, create, inform and entertain”. Well, if it keeps him out of the recording studio, I’m all for it.
Mr i.am’s work placement comes hot on the heels of icône du jour Lady Gaga, who in 2010 announced she had bagged a role at Polaroid as the brand’s creative director. Here she was “fairly involved” in merging the company’s two mainstays, cameras and sunglasses into (wait for it) a pair of camera sunglasses. One might suggest Ms Gaga was chosen by Polaroid as a 1980s throwback with the ability to deliver an instant reaction, but there’s a definite risk that they have instead simply secured a cheap imitation that fades after prolonged exposure.
It is clear that giving a celebrity a job is no guarantee of authenticity. In a world permeated by the insidious creep of celebrity wannabes and casually eroded by salacious A-Z list gossip, ambivalence is a perfectly understandable reaction from consumers to all-star overkill. Similarly, people believe in sports stars – they are heroes to fans young and old, and as such have a duty of responsibility that for many is beyond their reach.
Celebrity endorsement can still be a winning strategy. But the rules are very clear: without authenticity a brand will simply shed its celebrity skin.
‘Tis the month for a good debate – you only have to click here to see the ongoing and lively discussions generated on our global poll to find the greatest sports marketing innovation of modern times.
With just over a month until this year’s BBC Sports Personality Awards, it’s right about now that I, along with people up and down the land, begin to debate who should be in the BBC’s final short-list. Growing up watching the show, having attended the last two and with this year’s Birmingham ceremony on Sunday 19th December already in the diary, I can’t wait for the night itself.
One of the privileged few who actually does help to decide the final shortlist, SPORT’s editor Simon Caney, shared his own top 10 in today’s magazine which got me thinking who would make mine.
It must be said, Ryder Cup 2010 aside, with no Olympic Games and a truly feeble showing by England in this summer’s World Cup, it has not been the most historic of years. But there are two clear stand-out names for me.
Graeme McDowell checks out his Ballantine's Championship blend
1. Graeme McDowell – having worked with GMAC for Ballantine’s (have you tried Graeme’s very own Ballantine’s Championship blend? Lovely.), Graeme would get the nod for personality alone. Cracking guy. Add to that his performance in October’s Ryder Cup, helping Europe to win the trophy and most importantly, back in April, becoming Europe’s first US Champion in 40 years; he’s had an incredible year.
2. AP McCoy – Tony McCoy. The greatest jump jockey horse racing has ever seen. Finally won the Grand National this year on Don’t Push It, 15th time lucky. Ridden over 3,000 winners and been jump racing champion every year since 1995/96.
Difficult to see beyond those two for me. However, let’s not forget a few other worth contenders:
Powerade ambassador Jessica Ennis
3. Jess Ennis – Powerade ambassador, flying the flag for both Sheffield and GB (as team captain). European Heptathlon Gold medallist in Barcelona earlier this year.
4. Mo Farah – Bupa flash runner, NFL honorary captain and, more importantly, one of this year’s big sporting success stories having won both the 5,000m and 10,000m at the European Championships. Nice chap to boot.
5. Graeme Swann – standout bowler in this summer’s Ashes win, the ECB’s Cricketer of the Year and all-round great Tweeter.
6. Lee Westwood – finally crowned the world’s number 1 golfer (Tiger who?), especially excelled this year in weight losing and Ryder Cup winning, before injury forced a temporarily break from the game.
7. Tom Daley – his gold medal Commonwealth Games performance in Delhi would have secured the 16-year old Olympics gold. True fact.
8. Phil Taylor – has a darts player ever won before? No. More than enough reason for me to back ‘The Power’ and he’s certainly the greatest in the sport. Would eat my hat if he did win. Happily.
9. Lewis Hamilton – has the ability to win SPOTY based on this Sunday’s performance in Abu Dhabi alone, the last race of what has been a fascinating F1 season. Leading the British charge to stop Alonso, Webber or Vettel taking the world championship. Win the title, win the Sports Personality. Possibly.
Bupa Ambassador Mo Farah
Long shots for my final nod include Amy Williams (fearless Olympic gold medallist in the Winter Games), Stuart Broad (if he has a stonking first Ashes Test in Brisbane this month), Phillips Idowu (for services to bonkers hair colour) and Mark Cavendish (five Tour de France stage wins and one of the world’s greatest sprinters on the road).
Never easy to make the final call. If I was pushed, I think Amy Williams would get the nod for #10. And Mark Cavendish to replace Lewis Hamilton is he doesn’t win the F1 Championship on Sunday.
Yep, I’m done. Have I got it right? And who’d make your list?
I’ve just returned from a fabulous week at the Celtic Manor in Wales for golf’s most special event: the Ryder Cup. Now, I enjoy golf, but this is much more than that.
Indeed, it could be anything you want it to be; culture, sport, rivalry or mud. Or many other things for that matter. I loved it all.
Graeme McDowell dramatically seals victory in the Ryder Cup.
But there was one thing that fascinated me all week, and that’s the way we communicate. As a punter, you weren’t able to take mobile phones into the venue (to make sure we didn’t interrupt the play). No problem with that, this is world class sport, but what it highlighted to me, is how people love to share information.
Today, the world is fascinated with social media. Me included I’m afraid. But what I see as the common misjudgement here, is that ‘social media’ belongs purely to the digital world.
True, nowadays digital plays a fundamental role, and is the fastest and most efficient platform to take a message to the masses. This is how the term ‘social media’ has been defined. But I think it exists everywhere; far beyond digital alone.
Feel free to adapt the following for any film, music, sport or celeb event, as I think it can be applied just about about anywhere. I’ll give you some quick examples of what I’m referring to from the Ryder Cup, simply because it’s the latest thing on my mind:
a) The regular in the local pub
This lucky chap was there at the end. The man in Wales who will always be able to say “I was there”. On Monday night after the grand stand finish, he’s in his pub recounting tales to all that will listen about how “Poults” was throwing out team caps to the crowd, Jimenez smoking his fat cigar whilst swigging from a bottle of Marques de Rascal on the golf buggy and the caddies having such cracking banter with the fans on the players’ balcony.
We all know this man. Many of us have been him (or her). He loves to share.
b) The radio man
Giving his own unique version of the commentary he’s listening to (I’m certain in the hope Sky are listening, so he gets the gig for 2012). This man is sharing what he knows and what he hears from all around the course, all played to him from his latest prized possession: the official Ryder Cup radio. He tells you “Luke’s just gone two up” or “G-Mac has a three footer for a win at the 3rd” with his own ‘unique’ intelligent wit. He’s actually pretty useful, but for god sake don’t tell him.
I think (hope?) less of us know him.
But why do they share?
What makes them feel the need? It’s because sharing knowledge ahead of others offers something to make them feel special. We’ve been told for years knowledge is power, and both the above examples are a demonstration of exactly that. Human beings share something and then reflect in the glory that this information rewards them. And this power is granted because they’ve got this information first, or more likely, they ‘think’ they’ve got this information first.
Embarrassingly, I do it myself. I’m back to digital social media now, think about a retweet. People do this to share something that a) they think would be of interest to the people that follow them, and b) to show-off what they know. I’m convinced people think that certain celebs, journos, opinion formers etc have a direct line with them. It’s as if they’re talking directly to you and only you – that’s right, special little you. They’re not.
But this is how people feel. It’s a really special and significant form of communication when we get something first or personalised (or think we do). It’s then ours to share and we can use it to make people think we’re a bit more interesting, pretty helpful if you’re me, but even more so if you’re a brand involved in sponsorship, and for me this is a key area for brands to exploit.
So why does this matter to us?
Knowing and understanding that people want to be the first to know about their favourite sport, celeb or hobby, helps us plan sponsorship strategies that give the audience something unique. True, the route is most often through digital, but the important element being that it’s from the ‘inside’: making people feel like they’re there getting it first hand (particularly when they’re not).
Ian Poulter & Twitter
This blog has previously covered Ian Poulter and his Tweets. Now here’s a man who either understands his fans, or loves showing off. I tend to think it’s a bit of both. But what he does incredibly well, is share things you can’t get elsewhere which is truly what his fans crave. Insight from inside is so powerful, it means you want to share it to show what you know (and I can provide personal examples of this on Twitter). It’s shared down the pub too, so not just in the digital world (buy me a pint and I’m sure I can share an example of this too).
What digital does is give many people a voice. Individuals who may not have previously been the storyteller in the boozer now have their voice; and they use it. Sponsorship can, and is, grasping this to develop opportunities for brands to be at the heart of consumers passions. This area will continue to grow and will have even greater impact, particularly as we march closer to London 2012.
Social media provides unlimited opportunity.
There’s no doubt that the space is new and challenging. The skill is positioning the brand or message at the heart of the consumer trend or topic. So if you’re a brand, think how you can develop a way to be part to the conversation and play a role; but be transparent, open and honest.
Also be prepared that, just like in a bar, believe it or not, not everyone will like you. As the new poster for ‘The Social Network‘ Facebook film says “You don’t get 500 million friends without making a few enemies.”
Torrential rain all week in Manchester, followed by one glorious sunny Thursday, meant only one thing…’The Betfair Player Challenges’ were in town and heading to Carrington.
At 7.00am a combined team of Betfair and Synergy boarded the train at London Euston and headed to Carrington, Manchester United’s training ground. With the sun shining it was the perfect day to see six Manchester United players take to the field for some slightly unusual ‘training’.
With the Ryder Cup fast approaching it seemed only fitting to have the Manchester United players take on a golfing challenge. So it was decided that their first contest would be the Betfair Ryder Cup Challenge. This saw the players divided into two teams, Team Europe versus Team Americas (sound familiar?!).
Europe’s team comprised of Wes Brown, Darren Fletcher and John O’Shea, and representing the Americas we had the Da Silva twins, Rafael and Fabio, along with Anderson. The teams were taken back to the basics of golf with the ‘simple’ task of chipping a ball into a bucket.
It soon became apparent that the ‘simple’ Ryder Cup challenge was right up Team Europe’s street and perhaps a challenge that Team Americas would rather forget.
With neither of the two Da Silva twins having ever held a golf club before, it was up to John O’Shea to share his pedigree with the opposition, attempting to add a little competition to procedings. But unfortunately O’Shea’s advice fell on deaf ears as both Da Silvas and Anderson failed to make it anywhere near the bucket. Proving Europe’s strength, both Brown and Fletcher chipped close but it was John O’Shea who was victorious chipping in.
With over 200,000 views on You Tube in just five days and millions tuning in to see Graeme McDowell reflecting John O’Shea’s victory by winning the final point to bring the Ryder Cup home for Europe yesterday, it seems it’s not just the Manchester United players who have got Ryder Cup fever!
Regular visitors to this parish will know that previously I’ve written several posts about what I believe is one of the most important and most overlooked trends in modern sports marketing: NPD. The creation of new and re-invented events and formats has been a seismic force shaping the sports marketing business worldwide for years: the Premier League, Champions League, Tri-Nations, Super Rugby, Twenty20, IPL – the list goes on and on. And arguably, in terms of re-invention, the daddy of them all is the Ryder Cup.
Less than 40 years ago the Ryder Cup was an anachronism, unloved by all but the golfing cognoscenti and slowly dying. So what turned it into a sports marketing phenomenon: the biggest event in golf, and one of the biggest in world sport?
1. The Greatest Sports Marketing Idea of All Time?
Following years of overwhelming US victories over a hopelessly outmatched GB & Ireland team, by 1977 the Ryder Cup was on its last legs. But from 1979, at the suggestion – ironically – of US golf icon Jack Nicklaus, GB & Ireland became a European team to make the matches more competitive. The rest, as they say is history. Nicklaus’ suggestion must surely rank as one of the greatest, and most altruistic, sports marketing ideas of all time.
2. From Predictable to Unpredictable
Pre-1979, everyone knew the US was going to win the Ryder Cup. Today, no-one knows. And nothing draws fans, the media and sponsors like the drama of knife-edge sporting competition. With the addition of European players to the GB & Ireland team, the Ryder Cup went from being a predictable mismatch to one of the most unpredictable, finely-balanced competitions in world sport. That’s a rarity, and it’s one of the key ingredients in the Ryder Cup’s global appeal.
3. Seve
Sport needs heroes to market itself successfully. Nicklaus was particularly mindful of this, and of one European player in particular, back in 1977: Seve Ballesteros. Seve became the talisman of the new European team and inspired its first game-changing victories over the US in the 80s. Brilliant, charismatic and fiercely competitive – especially against the US players and galleries who he perceived as having slighted him early in his career – Ballesteros was, above all, the catalyst for the Ryder Cup phenomenon. Virtually single-handedly, he transformed the image and appeal of European golf in general and the Ryder Cup in particular.
4. Defining Moments
If we’re honest, sport often disappoints. We all regularly tuned into marquee events expecting hoping to see something special, only to be disappointed. But since its re-invention, the Ryder Cup has never disappointed. Every event since 1979 has produced unforgettable, defining moments that have entered the pantheon of sporting (not just golfing) legend. And to me, this isn’t about serendipity: it’s the inevitable result of the contest being re-invented to become even and unpredictable, blending perfectly with a format which is guaranteed to produce moments that win – or lose – the match. The Ryder Cup is a perfect sports marketing template.
5. Controversy
Sport thrives on controversy. Controversy creates today’s stories, history’s legends, and tomorrow’s fans. Controversy sells. And since the Ryder Cup was re-invented in 1979, and the contest became as close and as fierce as anything that sport can offer, controversy has never been far away: indeed, it’s become part of the event’s DNA (Kiawah, Brookline) and its global appeal, part of why we look forward to it, part of what we expect from it. Golf’s rulers and traditionalists might not like it, but controversy is another element that sets the Ryder Cup apart, and gives it an appeal way beyond golf’s normal fanbase and media footprint.
6. Otherness
The Ryder Cup is entirely unlike the golf that we see week-in, week-out, all year. Tournament golf is selfish: the Ryder Cup is selfless. It’s not about individuals playing for a title and million-dollar purses. It’s about teams, playing to win for their team, for pride and honour only (Ryder Cup players aren’t paid). And this works and appeals in a way that tournament golf simply doesn’t. It gives the fans a team to support: that makes it bigger and easier to buy into that tournament golf (remember, worldwide, it’s team sport that rules). It makes heroes and villains out of players who, ordinarily, we don’t passionately support or oppose in their tournament identities. And most importantly, it works because it demands of the players something different, something other, something somehow better. Take Jack Nicklaus conceding a putt to Tony Jacklin in 1969 to spare Jacklin the possibility of losing the match. And conversely, take Tiger Woods: well before his disgrace, his reputation suffered because he was widely perceived not to be a team player because of his Ryder Cup performances and attitude.
7. Less is More
One of modern sport’s biggest problems is that there’s too much of it. Football, tennis, rugby and especially cricket, for example, have all over-supplied the marketplace in different ways, leading to numerous negative on- and off-field effects. This has increasingly worked to the Ryder Cup’s advantage. It doesn’t come around very often, but when it does, we can’t wait. Less is more.
8. A Year-Long Narrative
The organisers of many major events would do well to study and emulate the way in which the Ryder Cup creates a compelling long-range narrative that extends way beyond the event’s three-day playing window. The qualification story always generates regular coverage and steadily-building momentum throughout the year leading up to the event. And as we saw again this year, the final week of qualifying and the announcement of the captains’ picks are announced initiates a massive spike of hype which – ironically – completely overshadows that week’s tournaments. It’s a PR case study par excellence.
9. Uniqueness
One could argue with justification that there is much in the above that makes the Ryder Cup unique. But I’d suggest that there’s one element of its re-invention in particular that has turned it into a sports marketing phenomenon: the creation of the European team. Nowhere else in major sport does Europe compete under one banner. At a stroke, it added hundreds of millions of fans and transformed the event as a sports marketing vehicle.
10. US Involvement
It’s easy to forget that sport in the USA is a primarily a domestic affair. At top level, the four dominant team sports – American football, baseball, basketball, and ice hockey – are contested internally. As a result, as a sporting nation, the USA rarely ventures outside its borders onto the world stage, or hosts other nations for a major sporting prize. So when it does, it’s rare, and it’s a big deal. And they don’t come any bigger than the Ryder Cup.
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