More sponsorship deals for the LPGA

The GIST: The LPGA keeps sinking sponsorship birdies. According to a report released by SponsorUnited yesterday, the LPGA has exponentially grown its brand investments in recent years, while offering major ROI to sponsors. This success translates to big wins like larger prize pools — including this weekend’s US Open’s record $11M purse.

The numbers: For the first time ever, the LPGA counts over 1K brands investing in the association and its athletes, with companies seeing up to a 400% ROI as women’s golf continues to grow. And the golf tour isn’t compromising quality for quantity — 83% of sponsors bought assets in the last year that promote diversity and inclusion.

• Individual LPGA golfers averaged 15% follower growth YoY on social media, while also boasting a 4.6% average engagement rate. English golfer Charley Hull, Kiwi Lydia Ko, and American Nelly Korda led the way for total branded engagement. They know about popular.

The trend: The LPGA is mirroring the rapid sponsorship growth seen across women’s sports in recent years, including 100% growth for its brand investments since 2019. Comparably, the WNBA saw 90% growth from 2019 to 2022, while the 2022 NWSL Championship broke records, largely due to Ally sponsoring the game’s move to primetime.

Zooming out: As athlete endorsements and sponsorship deals grow, leagues are able to offer more to players and fans. The upcoming US Open’s record purse and its historic use of ShotLink technology would likely not be possible without the influx of investment in the tour. A true hole-in-one.