This is the second article of the ‘Role of Sports Logo Design’ series starting with basketball logo design. In our previous article, you are promised a series of articles on sports teams, clubs and tournaments and the way different sports play a crucial role in promoting the Brand names and Sports Logos of businesses all over the world, and so here you are with the sport of Golf in this article.
Golf is a ball and club (bat/stick) sport in which a golfer tries to hit the ball into as many holes dug in the ground as possible in the shortest time on an open area called green, course, and links. Like every other fine art or sport, golf sport also needs sponsors, and sponsors need some interesting activity – be it an entertainment program or sports event – to promote their brand name! This sport of golf is a decent and mostly silent sport. Some people who have not had enough understanding or knowledge of this sport may think it a passive or lazy sport, or an expensive sport which is not within the reach of an average sport-enthusiast. Though this notion might be true some years ago when only certain high profile clubs maintained golf courses and the entry into those clubs or those golf teams was a status symbol, and for the common people getting membership into those clubs or teams was only a dream, it is certainly everybody’s game now.
There are numerous clubs which accept an average person who can fulfill the clubs’ requirements and who can afford a nominal fee. In addition, there are many ex-players who couch the new entrants, without demanding high fees. And most importantly, there are several open places which are called golf courses, greens, links, made fit to play golf games.
And again there may be some us who think the sport of golf is not very lucrative in terms of money. And here again the sceptics are wrong. The money some of the top players make in a season is as high as that of the players of the other more popular sports make! For instance, Tiger Woods earned 110 million dollars from winnings and endorsements, $ 7.7 from the winnings and $ 92 million from endorsements, in 2008; Vijay Singh got $ 6,601,094 and Tiger Woods $ 5,775,000 in one match season in 2008.
A business establishment may be apprehensive whether to be a golf tournament sponsor and to spend a large amount on golf sport where the golf courses seem to be without crowds screaming from merely being there. But here again those sceptics are proven wrong. A quick look at the statics show us that golf is not a game without the thrills of its own.
Here we are given some figures for those who question the popularity of this up-coming sport: From somewhere about 8,000 to 200,000 spectators attend any high profile golf tournament. Around 123,000 spectators made the trip to Turnberry to watch and enjoy a tournament. A golf tournament organiser confidently said: “Next year at St Andrews we’ll have close to 200,000, while Muirfield in 2011 will have about 160, 000. It just reflects the location. Nearly 80,000 more will come to St Andrews in 2010 just to watch some of the top players ‘putting’ holes!”
And if you’re still pessimistic here are some figures that might make you realise whether this sport has potential or not, and whether there is enough scope for your brand and product to get the 1: 10 ratio returns!
Some of the top golf sponsors include financial institutions, large car companies, as well as some of the old regular sponsors such as watch companies, white goods companies etc. Let’s take a look at who is fighting whom for sponsorship results from a well-thought of, expensive and perhaps, effective marketing initiative.
Golf is becoming so popular these days that several industrial giants make their brand name appear on the list of sponsors:
Brittany Ferries Logo Design
Canterbury Logo Design
Carrick Neill Insurance Logo Design
E-Z-GO Golf Cars Logo Design
Fairway Credit Logo Design
FootJoy Logo Design
John Deere Golf and Turf Equipment Logo Design
Level 4 Logo Design
Fuller’s London Pride Logo Design
Oscar Jacobson Logo Design
PING Logo Design
SkyCaddie Logo Design
Titleist Logo Design
Wilson Staff Logo Design
These giant industries are not sponsoring this sport for nothing – there is definitely 1:10 ratio returns. When such great industries are in the race, it is quite obvious that there is a lot of opportunity for any business establishment to get their business promoted in this arena.
The next question any pessimist may come up with is: where can we ‘display’ our brand and products? The answer is simple: there are numerous vintage points all over the golf course – from the entrance to the greens; in and at the club building; on the premises; and on the equipment the players carry with them – golf bags, golf carts, balls, golf clubs (bats/sticks), etc!
And finally, no article on golf is complete without the mention of the most popular of all players Tiger Woods, the American professional golfer! Though there have been several charismatic golfers, Eldrick Tont ‘Tiger’ Woods, currently the World No.1, has made an ever-lasting mark in the history of golf!
Tiger Woods wears Nike clothes and Nike golf clubs, except his putter, a kind of golf club (bat/stick).
Here we have some businesses that have endorsements/association/partnership with this legend:
Electronic Arts (EA) Logo Design
Gatorade Tiger Logo Design
Nike Golf Logo Design
Gillette Logo Design
Golf Digest Logo Design
NetJets Logo Design
Tatweer Logo Design
TLC Laser Eye Centers Logo Design
Upper Deck Logo Design
PGA TOUR Logo Design
