When Golf Digest's Ron Sirak reported in February that Annika Sorenstam would test her skills against the men at this week's Bank of America Colonial, he fired the first shot in what has become an all-out battle for visibility among the golf media.
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| Golf’s Sorenstam cover scored headlines. |
The competition reached new levels last week when rival Golf Magazine made Sorenstam the first woman to grace its cover in more than 25 years, winning the publication time on ESPN's "SportsCenter."
Eager to capitalize on the rare event that transcends the sport, those who make a living covering golf have spent recent months jockeying for status as the source of record. Whether the buzz surrounding Sorenstam has directly affected publications' bottom lines is yet to be determined.
The June issue of Golf Magazine, whose 1.4 million circulation puts it a close second to Golf Digest, included 170 ad pages. That tied a record for golf publications held by Golf Digest's June 1999 issue.
Ads are generally sold months in advance, however, based on events already on the calendar, like the U.S. Open, which typically contributes to advertising bumps in June, said Christopher Wightman, Golf Magazine's publisher.
Still, Wightman said, advertisers (particularly Sorenstam sponsors Callaway and Mercedes-Benz, which appear on Annika's clothing on the cover) have definitely benefited from the coverage.
Golf Digest, the industry leader with a circulation of 1.55 million, sold 145 ad pages in its June issue, but the biggest benefit of the Sorenstam buzz will be apparent in the continued growth of its bimonthly publication, Golf for Women. Both magazines are owned by Advance Publications, publisher of SportsBusiness Journal.
Golf for Women, which has a circulation of 500,000, has enjoyed significant advertising growth, selling 87.6 pages in the March/April issue (nearly 50 percent more than a year ago), and 89.07 pages in the May/June issue (about 17 percent growth from a year ago). Golf for Women generated $2.44 million in ad revenue from the March/April issue, nearly double the $1.28 million from the previous year, according to the Publishers Information Bureau.
But it's still too early to quantify Sorenstam's contribution, said Golf for Women Publisher Kimberly Kelleher. She said the growth has more to do with the number of women playing golf and with the work of Susan Reed, who became editor in chief in January 2002.
While "the business effects remain unclear," said Kelleher, the focus on Sorenstam has helped the magazine forge stronger bonds with some of her sponsors, particularly Mercedes-Benz.
"It's raised the visibility of the women's game," Kelleher said. "This really expands our universe in terms of readership."
Golf Digest had to get creative to stay on top of the story it broke. That included searching the LPGA's ranks for a player with Sorenstsam's power willing to play a round from the men's tees at a PGA course.
Sirak said that as the mainstream media has descended on Sorenstam, the magazine has capitalized on his relationship with the world's top female golfer, including a story on what clubs she will carry at the Colonial.
"We tried to find some way new to advance the story," said Sirak, who first reported Sorenstam's decision in GolfWorld, Golf Digest's weekly publication.
Golf Magazine boasts Sorenstam as one of its contributing players. The June issue features an instruction story focusing on the keys to her game.
"We talked a lot about it, but we decided we can't escape it: Annika needs to be on that cover," Wightman said. "She's Tiger Woods.
Sorenstam even showed up on the May/June cover of T&L Golf, a bimonthly that rarely covers golf news. It ran a story titled "Fearless or Foolhardy? It's Showtime for Annika," by New York Daily News sports columnist Mike Lupica.
"How could you not put her on the cover?" said John Atwood, editor in chief of T&L Golf. "We're not a news magazine, but this story's too big to ignore. This is the kind of story that just takes over the game."
Sports Illustrated, whose GolfPlus section reaches 500,000 readers, has not seen a noticeable impact on advertiser participation, said Dick Raskopf, SI's executive director for business development.
Raskopf said that if Sorenstam performs well, he expects the magazine to get more in the form of congratulatory ads, typically referred to as "win buys." "But I'm not sure we're counting on it," Raskopf said.
