With the sport enjoying a high profile through the success of Annika Sorenstam, commissioner Ty Votaw said attendances were up 8 percent and TV ratings up as much as 33 percent on some networks.
Said Votaw at the LPGA State of the Tour address: “A couple of things I want to point out to you today that reflect our fan growth and the increased attention that the LPGA has generated, has created greater fan growth, is the fact that attendance in 2003 is up 8 percent in total, an average 15 percent week-to-week.
"Our network viewership up 13 percent over 2002. Our cable viewership is up one percent if you take into consideration without war impacting coverage earlier in the year, we’re up about one percent in cable.
“One of the things that’s a very interesting trend as far as we’re concerned and I think golf generally is concerned, is that our ratings are up 27 percent on cable and 33 percent on broadcast network in the 25 to 54 age group which is an increasingly attractive age demographic for our advertisers.
“One of the most exciting trends in our fan growth is on LPGA.com where we have experienced 50 percent increases in page views and 60-percent increases in unique visitors on a month-to-month basis over 2002. In July alone, we had 10 million page views and 500,000 unique visitors, the highest single month in our history.”
The LPGA unveiled its calendar of events for 2004 with prize money exceeding $42million over the 33 tournaments.
Added Votaw: "We are extremely pleased with the strength of the 2004 schedule. All official money events from 2003 will return in 2004, many with significant purse increases, and with a new event in Nashville, we are poised for an very successful tournament season. We look forward to continuing to showcase the very best in women’s golf in markets worldwide."
The television schedule for 2004 will be released at the turn of the year, and coverage is expected to remain consistent with past years.
