Golf’s biggest sponsor: The game has to change

The head of sponsorship for HSBC, probably the biggest sponsor of golf in the world, has said that the game is at a crossroads and must now change.

Giles Morgan’s comments come after more than a decade of falling participation in the sport, which has seen membership of clubs plummet and many golf clubs struggling financially in the UK. Surveys have shown that there is strong demand to play golf from the general public but the time it takes to play the game and perceptions surrounding unwelcoming atmospheres in golf clubs prevent them from playing.

HSBC spends millions of pounds on golf and sponsors major tournaments all over the world including the Open Championship, and provides backing to, for example, the Golf Foundation charity’s Golf Roots project which provides golfing opportunities to children in deprived areas.

All of HSBC’s golf contracts are up for renewal in 2015 and Morgan is concerned that the game is not moving with the times.

“Golf is at a crossroads moment,” Morgan said. “There are lots of positives about golf but the world, particularly with digital communications and people’s time, has changed in the last 15 years beyond anybody’s wildest dreams.

“I’m not sure that golf has kept up with that change.

“And therefore I think, because it attracts high investment, has famous superstars, its men and women, its old and young and it’s relatively healthy, there are lots of good reasons it can look at all of the ingredients and then re-bake the cake.

“I do think that those who are in charge of the game need to be brave. They need to take some risks.

“No one would have said 25 years ago that Twenty20 cricket would be the success it is and it has grown. It doesn’t mean that through Test cricket those who are the purists don’t still get their diet.

“England versus Australia is still vital to the game of cricket, but Twenty20 has embraced a whole younger generation to play broadly the same game.

“At the moment no one is making the first move to end a logjam and the first move has to come from the game of golf. The sponsor can’t move, they can invest.

“I think time and format are the sort of things that can be looked at relatively easily, that could preserve all of the greatness of the game but make it a bit more rapid for people’s consumption.

“The potential of the diversity of the game has never been fully realised; that men and women, young and old can play at any level, from professional right down to the very grass roots.

“I believe golf has an opportunity to make itself more attractive and if they do, more sponsors will come in, more television will follow, more spectators will follow and the virtuous circle will grow.”

While Morgan did not say that HSBC is set to end its sponsorship of golf in the immediate future, he did warn: “If in 10 years people are not engaging in the sport, not playing it or watching it and it’s not relevant to the people we want to do business with, it follows that it won’t be the right way to engage with them.”

Last year HSBC produced this viral video which showed that golf can attract non traditional profiles to the game:

http://www.golfclubmanagement.net/2014/11/hsbc-makes-video-golf-looks-cool-totally-works/