Did sexism cost Tseng Golf Magazine's Player of the Year award, Whan asks
by Emily Kay on Dec 16, 2011 1:38 PM EST
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PrintMike Whan wants the answer to a question we posed back in November: Why was Yani Tseng not Golf Magazine’s Player of the Year?
In an undated letter to the editor of the golf publication that tabbed reigning U.S. Open winner Rory McIlroy as its 2011 cover boy, the LPGA Tour commissioner wrote that Tseng’s season for the ages made her "the best player on the planet" by an "overwhelming" margin.
"Yani has emerged as a global superstar and become an ambassador for golf around the world," said Whan, who recounted for the magazine’s editors, who were apparently otherwise occupied during Tseng's world domination tour, the 22-year-old’s achievement of becoming "the youngest player in history -- male or female -- to win five major championships."
Whan acknowledged that McIlroy was "a fantastic global ambassador of golf," but he wondered whether sexism played a role in the editors’ choice.
"You have to ask yourself one question," Whan said. "If Yani’s 2011 season had been achieved by a man, would you have come to the same conclusion on the 2011 Golf Magazine Player of the Year?
"I think we all know the answer," Whan stated.
LPGA Tour commissioner Mike Whan believes sexism may have cost Yani Tseng Golf Magazine's Player of the Year honors (Photo: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
Whan noted that Tseng -- with "total wins [she ended up with 12 worldwide victories in 2011], total majors [she posted two of her five this year], records that transcend sport, and leadership in nearly every statistical category" -- did not require validation from him, "or anyone else."
Apparently, Golf Magazine did not get the memo, as Whan stated that her 2011 resume "should have been more than enough for Golf Magazine to reach a very obvious conclusion."
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Is it sexism or a failure to gain traction in the marketplace and develop a devoted audience.
I read recently that the English Premiere League’s soccer ratings in the US are higher than the LPGA’s. That’s an overseas league in a sport that is not supposed to matter to Americans. Except it does, more than LPGA golf anyway.
No doubt, both reasons, Charles. But safe to say that one leads to the other?
Emily Kay
Boston Golf Examiner
mlek@comcast.net
Is it, though?
Looking at the demographics of the country, according to Gallup, 63% of Americans of the 313 million in our population identify as sports fans. Fifty-six percent of all Americans have cable television, and of identified sports fans, numbers range from 94-97% of self-identified sports fans watch sports on television. Therefore a reasonable argument can be made that there is a potential audience of at 150 million in the US.
They skew male (53 percent), leaving 47% of sports fans female. Therefore you have roughly 70 million female sports fans.
So, the numbers are there for women to support women’s golf on their own and render the sexism moot.
Except that they aren’t.
The real question is…why?
You just have to go straight back to the LPGA and how it has been marketed historically and how it is marketed today.
by Charles Boyer on Dec 16, 2011 6:35 PM EST up reply actions
I’m not entirely sure how golf can be marketed differently to the female demographic, though. While there may roughly be 70 million female sports fans, I would suspect an extreme minority are interested in professional golf, let alone the LPGA.
In an article for Forbes.com, Tom Van Riper named the most watched sports by females as American football, NBA basketball, Major League Baseball, and – shockingly enough – NASCAR. The Super Bowl is the most watched sporting event for women of the year, with some 50 million women tuning in.
The only top-10 female-viewed sport that actually has an overwhelmingly female audience is figure skating: about 70 percent of the 3.9 million viewers drawn to the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in January. So for the most part, while women aren’t the ones driving sports viewership (not even women’s soccer or tennis), they represent a sizable chunk of the core audience for sports that enjoy overall popularity.
www.ChicagoDuffer.com
by Adam Fonseca on Dec 16, 2011 7:07 PM EST up reply actions
That’s just it: someone is going to have to be innovative and find a way to increase its core audience.
How they accomplish it will make someone pretty rich.
by Charles Boyer on Dec 16, 2011 7:55 PM EST up reply actions
If, in the US, there are 70 million women sports fans
and 50 million watch the Super Bowl ( a few may have no choice with the man in the house :) ) they seem to take sports seriously. But when the LPGA markets itself with glamour photo shoots by some players that don’t even win, one wouldn’t take them too seriously, would they ? Concentrate on the winners in the sport, not the best looking all the time. That means Yani. Didn’t they do the same with Tiger ?
Golf Magazine should be ashamed of themselves....
Hence the name GOLF MAGAZINE, not Golf Mens magazine.
Yani deserves a lot better treatment than this.
Conversely , I would say, had this been Michelle Wie or Paula Creamer things might have been different as well.
I hope Yani kicks everyone on the LPGA’s tail next season and if Golf Magazine offers her an interview and cover story, I hope she tells them to “pound sand” and gives the interview to Golf Digest.
"pain is only weakness leaving the body" jumpn
Yo! Wendy lol
“Happy Holidays” to you and your family.
"pain is only weakness leaving the body" jumpn
Yes, because Golf Digest has had so many female cover stories devoted to women
I’m still waiting for the ’You’re twice her size; she drives it past you’ instructional series from GD featuring Tseng. I guess when she dyes her hair blonde, it will happen.
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