The 2013 US Masters delivered its regular diet of great sport, wonderful imagery and lessons in sports marketing.
Below we take a subjective look at five lessons that can be taken from one of the great events in world sport.
1. Sporting integrity is a phrase that is used a lot but often with less meaning and less feeling than was the case around Tiger Woods at the 2013 US Masters. An inadvertent rule infraction was punished with a penalty in the same way as would be the case with a knock on in rugby or an offside in soccer. Without the two shot penalty Woods may well have won the tournament but while others might have been considered to have been punished enough, the Woods case polarised opinion. A strong majority felt he should have withdrawn from the tournament, and to have done so would have restored his reputation as a great sportsman as well as a great player. Golf is a sport which is intricate in its rules and ‘old fashioned’ with regard to sportsmanship. Was Woods though judged in public opinion by different rules to others? Or was it the case that the officials judged him differently because of the impact on TV ratings.
2. Consistency of appearance is a vital part of the enduring appeal of the Masters. It is said that enormous tinkering goes on with greens, fairways and the set up of the course but rarely is that apparent in the public view through the TV lens. Historic shots of Nicklaus, Palmer and Faldo could be seamlessly laid over the shots of Scott and Cabrera in 2013 and little difference in the environment would be noted. It is important in a world of distraction that fixed points of collective memory are protected. When they are promoted effectively as at Augusta or Wimbledon, they form something more than an event and are therefore able to charge a very high premium for commercial attachment that is less obvious but more effective than at almost any other event.
3. If you plan you will be lucky. That’s a broad generalisation but when the rains came throughout the final days of the tournament the course was transformed into a sea of Masters Green and white branding through thousands of $35 dollar umbrella’s. Merchandising is normally an important but understated part of a major sporting experience. At Augusta it was done to perfection. But just as well the stockists had the foresight to produce enough. Then again, looking at point two above, the consistent approach means they will still be able to sell the same product as new in ten years time.
4. Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden. For some that is the origin, at least in spirit, of the word golf. It remains one of the few sports where there is overt discrimination based on gender and much was made this year of the fact that two women were there as green jacketed members for the first time. Every journey begins with small steps but this is a trip that has taken a shameful length of time to get started and must accelerate quickly. Women’s golf is played at a very high level. The Irish Ladies Golf Union is professionally run and effectively managed but there remains an undertow that women play on certain days and remain restricted in certain clubs from attaining full membership. That is wrong. Women’s Golf and commercial sport for women’s sport in general will feature as part of ‘A New Approach to Women’s Sport, a major Sport for Business conference taking place on May 23rd in partnership with UCD Smurfit Business School in Dublin.
5. Youth will have its day. Angel Cabrera would have been the second oldest winner of the tournament but was beaten in the playoff by Australia’s first Champion of the Masters. Of more jaw dropping import though was the presence through all four days of a 14 year old Chinese player, Guan Tianlang. In recent years the focus of golf has edged closer to Asia with big money events and high profile players making it an important commercial point on their schedule. This is going to increase now even faster.
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Five Lessons from the US Masters
