Can golf conquer football and baseball in popularity?

Have you noticed the proliferation of golf on TV lately? It’s been popular for a long time, often considered the sport of executives and the rich. There are golf tournaments year-round. There’s even a golf channel, so you can almost always find someone on the links to watch.

Viewing golf has been growing in popularity at phenomenal rates. It’s not as dangerous as football, hockey, baseball or even basketball. A long putt can be almost as exciting as a Hail Mary pass into the end zone.

And even if a big team won’t hire you, you can still play. Although the best quarterbacks need good receivers, golfers basically depend on their own performances. Trainers, coaches and caddies can be a big help, but when golfers address the tee, they’re on their own.

Professional golfers at least appear to be ladies and gentlemen. Most are cleancut, kind of like athletes used to be years ago. Has there ever been a fistfight in a golf tournament?

One thing I never liked about football was those signs telling everyone in the stands to “make noise” when the visiting team was about to make a big play. The noise was supposed to make it more difficult for the visitors to hear their quarterback’s signals and mess up the play. What kind of sportsmanship is that?

Conversely in golf, everyone is silent when a golfer addresses the ball.

There are no efforts to distract, and it seems like everybody applauds when a golfer makes a good shot, regardless of whether he or she is their favorite. Real sportsmanship!

There are no end-zone dances. The applause after a great shot is often acknowledged by a tip of the hat or some other thankful gesture. The old maxim of being gracious in victory as well as in defeat seems to be there.

I recently saw the aging golfer Phil Mickelson make a great shot in a tournament. After acknowledging the abundant applause, he walked over to the spectators and gave the ball to a kid in a wheelchair, immediately winning the hearts of everyone there. He went on to win the championship.

Best of all, golfers don’t seem to bring their politics out on the course. It can be a great escape from today’s ever-pervasive back-and-forth political infighting.

You can pretty much get away from it all.

In the interest of full disclosure, I must confess I’m really not a golfer. I played golf years ago when I flew airplanes. My flying buddies were golfers, and we would fly to Mount Snow, New Seabury or some other course, play 18 holes and fly home. I went for the flying because I needed the time, and they let me fly. I was a lousy golfer.

Interestingly, I’m running into more and more people who started watching golf when there was no football or baseball. Now they seem to only watch those other sports, when there’s no golf on TV, and they’re not golfers either. Why would that be?

Admittedly, football and baseball are not in any immediate danger of losing their followings, but shouldn’t they be learning what not to do from GM when we began importing Toyotas? Our Big 3 automakers were completely unconcerned about these cute little imports.

That lack of concern evaporated very quickly.

Of course, golf isn’t perfect. Players are becoming walking billboards as they display sponsor logos on hats and shirts. While they don’t have as many commercials as an NFL game, they have plenty.

The networks also advertise within the program with split screens. What is frustrating is the advertisements get the larger screens. Golf balls are small. Do we want viewers to use binoculars to watch the action during commercials?

We know advertising pays for the programming, but viewership is king. It determines advertising rates. Have fewer ads and charge more for them to get the largest audiences. That’s where the money really is.

Clearly, the golfing world is doing somethings right, and if they keep it up, they should keep growing and growing.

Ronald J. Bourque, a consultant and speaker from Salem, has had engagements throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. He can be reached at 603-898-1871 or RonBourque3@gmail.com.