DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- With the 2005 major championship season for women's golf closing out at the recent Weetabix Women's British Open, the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) enters the remaining portion of its schedule, including an already sold-out Solheim Cup in September, with significant momentum in attendance, viewership and LPGA.com visitors. The organization saw double- and triple-digit increases in those three categories compared to 2004, another indication that fan demand for the LPGA and its players is at an all-time high. Growing viewership and attendance are key objectives of the LPGA's Fans First strategic business plan, which was introduced in 2002 at the first-ever Player Summit.
Television viewership during the Kraft Nabisco Championship, McDonald's LPGA Championship Presented by Coca-Cola, U.S. Women's Open conducted by the USGA and Weetabix Women's British Open experienced double-digit increases as a whole, with weekend network telecasts of the four majors featuring 15-,
30-, 59- and 43-percent increases, respectively-an average increase of 40.6 percent on the weekends over 2004 numbers. LPGA.com set record traffic numbers during the majors when compared to the same time period in 2004, with 100-plus-increases in many instances, including record page views during the Weetabix Women's British Open. Additionally, attendance for the four major championships increased an average of 11.2 percent when compared to 2004 and featured a record attendance of 131,298 at the U.S. Women's Open.
Television
Television viewership for the Weetabix Women's British Open ranked second only to the U.S. Women's Open in total viewership. The Weetabix Women's British Open, which aired on TNT for the first two rounds and on ABC on the weekend, saw a 59-percent increase in viewership, when compared to 2004, up from just more than 2.4 million households to 3.641 million households this year. The weekend telecast scored a higher rating (1.1 on Saturday and 1.5 on Sunday) than the Senior British Open, which recorded a 1.0 and 1.3 on ABC. Additionally, the Weetabix Women's British Open outpaced the U.S. Senior Open that aired the same weekend on NBC, which recorded a 0.8 on both days.
The Tour's major championship season kicked off at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, which aired early rounds on ESPN2 and weekend coverage on ABC. The Thursday and Friday rounds combined for a nearly 50-percent increase in viewership from last season, while the Saturday (.7) and Sunday (1.1) telecasts boasted a 15-percent increase in viewership from 2004.
The McDonald's LPGA Championship Presented by Coca-Cola aired rounds one and two on The Golf Channel, where viewership for those was up 68 percent from the previous year. That strong viewership trend continued into the weekend with nearly 30-percent increases from 2004 for CBS's Saturday (1.1) and Sunday (1.1) coverage.
The third leg of the LPGA Tour's Grand Slam was the U.S. Women's Open conducted by the USGA. ESPN2 carried four hours of competition on both Thursday and Friday, and viewership for those two early rounds combined was up 42 percent from 2004 and averaged a .5 rating. NBC continued coverage into the weekend posting ratings of 2.0 on Saturday and 2.9 on Sunday; Sunday's telecast rating nearly doubled over last year's number of 1.6. The U.S. Women's Open weekend telecast outpaced telecasts of both Wimbledon (1.9 on Saturday and 1.7 on Sunday) and the PGA Tour's Barclays Classic (1.2 on Saturday and 1.3 on Sunday).
LPGA.com
LPGA.com, which set record traffic numbers during the first three major championships of the season when compared to the same time period in 2004, continued to record significant numbers during the Weetabix Women's British Open. For the event, LPGA.com had 5.8 million page views, which is a 103-percent increase, and 653,000 visits, a 104-percent increase over 2004. Traffic peaked during the second round with 1.4 million page views. In total, LPGA.com recorded more than 20 million page views during the four 2005 majors, up 83 percent over last season.
During the first major championship of the year, the Kraft Nabisco Championship, LPGA.com experienced more than 4 million page views, up 9 percent compared to 2004.
The excitement surrounding the McDonald's LPGA Championship Presented by Coca-Cola brought more than 5 million page views on LPGA.com, up 131 percent compared to 2004. Those numbers represent a 66-percent increase in visits and 76-percent increase in unique visitors. Traffic peaked during the final round with 1.2 million page views.
During last week's U.S. Women's Open, LPGA.com had more than 5.4 million page views, up 145 percent compared to the 2004 U.S. Women's Open. Traffic was up 112 percent in visits and up 89 percent in unique visitors. Traffic peaked during the final round on Sunday with 1.4 million page views.
Attendance
Attendance at the Weetabix Women's British Open remained steady at 65,500, despite poor weather conditions that plagued the first round of competition and kept many spectators from the golf course. Tournament officials view the numbers, which are consistent from 2004, as a "win" for the event, given the torrential rain, wind and cold weather on Thursday. Combined, the four major championships account for 354,298 in attendance, which is 11.2 percent higher than attendance figures for those same tournaments last season.
While attendance for the first major championship of the season, the Kraft Nabisco Championship at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif., remained steady at 60,000, Sorenstam's win in the desert and her quest to sweep all four majors peaked interest in the next major, the McDonald's LPGA Championship Presented by Coca-Cola. Attendance figures at Bulle Rock Golf Course in Havre de Grace, Md., which hosted the event for the first time, were up 30 percent over 2004, rising from 75,000 to 97,500.
And it was at the U.S. Women's Open conducted by the USGA last week where record crowds flocked to Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills Village, Colo., to witness Sorenstam's attempt to win a third major crown. Total attendance for the week, compared to 2004, increased 11 percent, from 118,000 last year to 131,298 this year. The 131,298 attendance total is believed to be a record for a women's professional golf tournament.
Event 2004 2005 Increase
Kraft Nabisco Championship
Attendance 60,000 60,000 0%
ESPN2/ rounds 1-2 191,000* 280,000* 47%
ABC/rounds 3-4 867,000* 1,000,000* 15%
LPGA.com page views 3,989,051 4,365,323 9%
LPGA.com visits 402,424 437,868 9%
LPGA.com unique visitors 127,908 155,826 22%
McDonald's LPGA Championship
Attendance 75,000 97,500 30%
The Golf Channel/rounds 1-2 85,000* 143,000* 68%
CBS/ rounds 3-4 943,000* 1,221,000* 30%
LPGA.com page views 2,207,258 5,109,775 131%
LPGA.com visits 316,629 525,316 66%
LPGA.com unique visitors 110,129 216,709 97%
U.S. Women's Open
Attendance 118,000 131,298 11%
ESPN2/rounds 1-2 411,000* 580,000* 41%
NBC/rounds 3-4 1,696,000* 2,700,000* 59%
LPGA.com page views 2,218,668 5,443,770 145%
LPGA.com visits 435,087 923,659 112%
LPGA.com unique visitors 205,579 387,968 89%
Weetabix Women's British Open Attendance 65,500 65,500 0%
TNT/rounds 1-2 411,000* 791,000* 92%
ABC 2,020,000* 2,850,000* 43%
LPGA.com page views 2,876,501 5,849,466 103%
LPGA.com visits 320,311 653,011 104%
LPGA.com unique visitors 127,813 227,472 78%
Media Contact:
Laura Neal, LPGA
386-274-6278
