The evolution of team fandom...

and what it can mean for golf

Author

Sean Melia
November 10, 2023

Hey Everyone,

Thanks for opening this email. Plenty of ways to kill time on a Friday morning on the Internet, and this is where you ended up.

I’d love your help in spreading this newsletter. Forward it along to anyone you think might enjoy my inane musings, and tell them to click on the subscribe button!

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Let’s get to it.

Fandom is changing

Over the last 20 years, it appears to me that team sports fandom has transformed quite a bit. Attend a Celtics game when the Golden State Warriors are in town, and you’ll see it firsthand. Parents in Celtics gear with their child in a Steph Curry jersey. Some of those Curry jerseys are topped off with a Celtics hat.

I have met people in the TDGarden balcony who willingly admit that they are LeBron James fans. Whatever team he plays for is the team they root for. When he retires, they’ll just pick the next guy’s bandwagon to hop on (Giannis? Jokic?Wemby? Anthony Edwards? Jayson Tatum?).

Let me openly admit that as a kid growing up in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, I purchased jerseys of players who weren’t on my favorite team. As a Boston kid living in Northern California, I had a Warriors jersey. Go find another kid who rocked a Šarūnas Marčiulionis jersey. Probably won’t find one, at least in America. I sported a Michael Jordan black with red pinstripe jersey while playing middle school hoops.

Here’s where I drew the line… I didn’t root for those players or their teams. I went to Candlestick Park dozens of times in a Boston Red Sox hat. In some crazy happenstance, I met Ted Kennedy for lunch with my dad (a story for another day…). We were on our way to a SF Giants game, but my dad was booked for lunch with Kennedy. So he brought me with him (seriously, it’s a crazy story). I wore a green Celtics sweatshirt and Red Sox hat. Needless to say, Teddy and his wife loved me.

Now, Boston kids show up at TDGarden and cheer for Steph or Ja Morant (that’ll be an interesting one to gauge this year…). In many cases, they want the hometown team to lose. In other cases, they just want to be entertained by the guy whose jersey they are wearing.

Individual stars now trump a lot of home team pride or allegiance. I’m not here to yell at the clouds about this truth. I don’t love it, but it is what it is. Young sports fans love their superstars.

This got me thinking about team golf and how the TGL and even LIV think that their formats are going to bring more people into the game or attract new viewers on TV (which is what they really want. They’re chasing those Neilsen ratings).

The PGA Tour and professional golf in general exploded when Tiger Woods came onto the scene. There’s no Tiger Woods coming down the pipeline, but there are a slew of interesting stars who, if marketed properly, could tap into how kids watch sports nowadays because they don’t sit down to watch a whole game on TV. They check out highlights of their favorite player on YouTube/Twitter/IG/TikTok .

As the TGL continues to roll out its teams, they have this window of opportunity to do two things. Drag in the people who love rooting for their city’s team (read: me and other “olds”) while also using the novel setup and technology to pull in interested younger fans who might end up gravitating toward a specific player. Then they have a player they want to watch from Thursday-Sunday.

I wrote last week about the sports bloat that exists right now. More games, more leagues, more coverage. I still believe all of that.

But believe it or not, this newsletter isn’t going to stop the TGL, so I might as well see what good might come from it.

Seeing Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott, Tyrrell Hatton, and Keegan Bradley in Fenway Park this week hit me in the feels a little bit. Imagine if they found a way to have some of these events outdoors at baseball stadiums in the future.

Wouldn’t it be cool for the players to rock TGL logos while playing on the PGA Tour? The connection to the city, which doesn’t exist in LIV, could compel me to follow what’s going on, even if I don’t sit down and watch TGL every week.

For youngsters, the team aspect could have a different effect; kids might become interested in team golf along with the wacky format and technology and eventually fall in love with a golfer or two.

I don’t need a golfer to root for, but this might help young fans find a player to root for not just in the TGL but throughout the year.

Ok, I promise that TGL is off the agenda for the foreseeable future.

Picture of the week: TPC Boston

The 11th hole with at TPC Boston

News and Notes

  • TPC Boston will host an LPGA Tour event starting in August of 2024.

    • This is excellent news for the area, especially when we have two women who are both grew up 35 miles from the course. Alexa Pano and Megan Khang get a tournament in their backyard. I love it.

  • The Handicap System has some tweaks…

  • Tiger Woods can walk a golf course.

    • The GOAT hoofed Charlie’s bag for an event in Florida this week. Walking experts gave the clip the Zapruder treatment. One dude on Twitter claimed Tiger will win at Riviera in the Genesis Open. He’s never won at Riviera; that would be quite the second third fourth comeback.

When I’m not golfing…

I’m gambling….(Every week, because it's now legal in Mass. I'm going to make five NFL picks and keep track of them here.)

  • Last Week: 2-3 (Season record: 25-20)

    • Bengals (-6.5) over Texans

    • Bucs (-1.5) over Titans

    • Seahawks (-6.5) over Commanders

    • Giants (+17.5) over Cowboys

    • Steelers (3.5) over Packers

I’m reading… still enjoying Hidden Potential by Adam Grant. Also dipping my toes into the latest translation of The Odyssey by Emily Wilson.

I’m listening to… the podcast Chasing Scratch has been in my rotation for a few years now. It’s bingable; best friends Mike and Eli decide to see if they can get to scratch handicaps. They are 43, so their pop culture references (of which there are many) are right up my alley. They’ve come a long way as golfers. They started as 11 handicaps. With their sixth season wrapped up, this is a perfect time to start at the beginning and listen to all their episodes.

Fried Egg Golf released an interview with Gil Hanse from the National Links Trust Symposium on Municipal Golf. It’s exceptional. Some great nuggets on design but also about the heart of the game. Listen here.

I’m eating… Thinking Cup’s breakfast burrito is delicious. I’m also enjoying Noosa’s Pumpkin Yogurt. The beauty of it is that it’s on sale at precisely the time I believe pumpkin is an acceptable flavor. Also a few cookie recs. First, Lotus Biscof are always delicious. Second, Last Crumb makes a hell of a cookie. A client gave one to Tiff, and she brought it home. We had never heard of the company. Based in LA. They call them luxury cookies, which is annoying, until you try one.

I’m drinking… nothing new here, BUT I did learn of a drink that I’m interested in trying: Lemonade and Bourbon. Is this something a lot of people know about?

I’m watching… Big Vape on Netflix is a very good watch. I’ve slowly clipped through the four episodes over the last couple of weeks because there is no cliffhanger. Each episode can stand alone. A good look at tech and marketing and how it impacts youth.

I was also excited to see Six Feet Under on Netflix. It’s one of my all-time favorites. Maybe the greatest series finale ever.

I'm (shamelessly) plugging...

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