GolfNow continues its relentless pursuit of “world domination” in the internet tee-time reservations service provider universe with the latest acquisition of Active Networks’ Golf operations. The addition of Active’s roughly 1,100 clients is a significant milestone following the FORE acquisition last year (that was roughly 2,000 points of distribution purchased) and it begs the question we pose in the headline. Stuart Lindsay of Edgehill Golf Advisors, who has been an ardent and astute observer of this space for years, weighs in on how the GolfNow acquisition strategy looks an awful lot like when MasterCard and Visa essentially ruined the party for American Express and Diner’s Club and how the boys in Orlando might have TicketMaster business model dreams dancing through their heads about now (at least Comcast hopes they do). Associate Editor Harvey Silverman also canvassed several of the competitors in the space and got their comments and perspectives on what operators ought to consider in this world of increasing GolfNow “muscle.” In addition to those insights the October issue of The Pellucid Perspective will also cover the following topics:
• Editor-in-Chief Jim Dunlap documents the quiet but steady trends of new equity players emerging to put liquidity back in the golf financing market. Related to that, he also addresses the Chinese taking their turn, following the Japanese and Korean forays, in the cycle of golf industry foreign investors in the facility owner/operator space.
• Jim Koppenhaver asks the intentionally provocative question of, “Are any of the Top US Golf Markets Healthy?” He outlines that none are in the absolute, some are relative to their peers (they just “suck less”) and some are in dire straits when it comes to rounds, revenue and profit potential as measured by Pellucid.
• Plus the monthly Industry Scorecard (the only integrated scorecard of weather, rounds, utilization, revenue, RevpAR and equipment sales in one place) and San Diego, CA as this month’s Market Focus which we recently crowned the “healthiest” of the Top 25 US Golf Markets in our annual ranking update.
If you’re one of the roughly 31,000+ industry stakeholders and observers already plugged into Pellucid, it will be in your Inbox automatically come Thursday morning. If you’re not yet receiving it or you know someone who would benefit by being “in” on any of the above conversations, there are two options to check in:
– Try it, you’ll like it! Go here to read the current issue, we won’t even make you register for this free preview: http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pellucid/perspective_201409/
– Or, if you’re more adventurous and would like it to just show up automatically in your Inbox every month, you can register at Pellucid’s website (http://www.pellucidcorp.com/news/elist). As always, if the publication doesn’t live up to its hype, you can opt out at any time (Pellucid does not share, rent or sell its database to any 3rd parties). Best of all, it’s free supported by our industry thought-leading sponsors Troon Golf, KemperSports, Bayer CropScience and EZLinks.
So, the only thing left holding you back is that we might upset your sensibilities with our unique take on some particular long-held industry beliefs. We think, in today’s golf economy, that’s a reasonable risk to take.
For more information or to order any of Pellucid’s products, please contact Jim Koppenhaver at 847.808.7651 or jimk@pellucidcorp.com or visit our website at www.pellucidcorp.com.
Contact:
Jim Koppenhaver, President, Pellucid Corp.
jimk@pellucidcorp.com
www.pellucidcorp.com
Covering the business of golf!
