Part of the USGA’s strategy in rebranding the U.S. Open is being more transparent about how the men’s championship funds the overall growth of golf. More specifically: women’s golf.
During its annual meeting at Pinehurst, the USGA revealed that of the $165 million in revenue that’s generated by the U.S. Open, the organization takes in $70 million in profits. All of that money goes directly back into the game, officials said, with $22 million of it going toward women’s championships and participation.
To help understand the U.S. Women’s Open purse of $5.5 million, the USGA broke it down even further for Golfweek. The USWO purse is the highest among the LPGA’s five majors but is still $7 million behind the men. While there’s a national conversation around equal pay for women, some in golf have also questioned the wide gap.
According to the USGA, it costs $19 million to conduct the U.S. Women’s Open (including qualifiers), which most consider to be the crown jewel of women’s golf. The USGA sees about $9 million comes back by way of ticket sales, corporate hospitality and partner support.
The bottom line: The USGA loses about $10.4 million on the Women’s Open.
“Truthfully, they spend more on the Women’s Open than I thought they did,” said former No. 1 Stacy Lewis.
Every championship the USGA runs outside of the U.S. Open loses money. The USGA spends $4.7 million on the U.S. Senior Women’s Open. The other women’s championships cost around $6.3 million.
The total cost for men’s and women’s amateur events: $14 million.
The USGA’s total revenue for the year was $211 million, including the U.S. Open. Media rights, which includes the 12-year multimedia deal signed with Fox that began in 2015, represented 54 percent of the total revenue at $114 million.
Growing golf’s footprint
To help develop the U.S. Open’s new brand platform, which was unveiled Saturday, the USGA surveyed stakeholders from across the game. One of the themes that kept coming up was that the organization needed to do a better job of informing people how the U.S. Open impacts the overall health of the game, including women’s golf.
“In the end, this is really about our commitment,” said Craig Annis, the USGA’s chief brand officer. “Yes, these are numbers, but as I hope everyone has seen, we are committed to continue to grow the women’s game through inspiration of the U.S. Women’s Open, things like purse, things like broadcast hours, things like international qualifiers. All those things are worth the investment.”
Meg Mallon, a two-time U.S. Women’s Open champion, said the Women’s Open has been the benchmark event for the LPGA since the tour’s inception in 1950. The championship, which celebrates 75 years this year at Champions Golf Club in Houston, has not only changed the lives of individuals, Mallon noted, but also changed golf among the nations, pointing to winners like Liselotte Neumann, Laura Davies and Se Ri Pak. The USGA’s transparency in where the numbers fall can only help drive the championship forward, Mallon said.
“Because then you can kind of attack the problem,” said Mallon, “and see where you can do better in promoting the Women’s Open.”
Angela Stanford looks at the USGA’s $6.3 million investment in women’s amateur championships and thinks back to her experience on the 2000 Curtis Cup team.
“One of my greatest golf memories was playing in England on a Curtis Cup team,” said Stanford. “I don’t remember spending a dime. I couldn’t have spent a dime. I was a senior college and didn’t have a dollar to my name. … Somebody had to pay for that because I certainly didn’t.”
Breaking through at $1 million
Last year the USGA announced a $500,000 increase to the U.S. Women’s Open purse and a $1 million first-place check to the winner, the largest prize in women’s major championship history.
The USGA has long been a leader in pushing purses to new heights in women’s golf. Given the substantial loss the championship takes each year, one has to wonder if there will come a time when the organization would consider adding a title sponsor to the event. Every other major on the women’s schedule has one, including the AIG Women’s British Open.
“I think it would be weird to have a sponsor in the U.S. Women’s Open, but I bet it won’t be too long before they have one,” said Lewis. “How do you say no?”
Mallon said she’s still struggling with the fact that the tour did away with the “LPGA Championship” name entirely when it went to the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. She believes strongly that organizations should protect their own brand.
Amy Olson, the 2009 U.S. Girls’ Junior champion and a former Curtis Cup player, knows as well as anyone how steeped the USGA is in tradition. She said a title sponsor wouldn’t change the way she views the championship.
“As a player, and maybe I’m more short-sided,” said Olson, “but if that’s what needs to happen to continue to grow the game and give opportunities for women to play on big stages, I think that’s ultimately the way it needs to go. That’s obviously the USGA’s decision and I’m just a player.”
When asked if the USGA would ever consider adding title sponsor, a move that could cut the USGA’s losses by at least half (or double the purse), Annis said: “Our view is that we would be willing to consider things that both align with our mission as well as the opportunity to grow the women’s game, in particular the Women’s Open. I wouldn’t suggest that there are things that we would never consider, but certainly anything that we would do would need to meet those two parameters.”
Lewis hopes that the USGA’s transparent approach will help people better understand what the organization does to grow the game, even beyond championships. The USGA, for example, invests $500,000 in LPGA-USGA Girls Golf. Lewis also appreciates that in recent years, USGA officials have been proactive in asking players how the Women’s Open can improve.
“A fundamental priority for us,” said Annis, “as the association who puts these championships on, is to make sure the players have the most memorable experience that they’ll ever have in their competitive life. That’s our goal each and every time. That takes an investment. We’re not going to cut corners on that.”