How Mastercard is growing the experience economy in golf

Many golfers may not be familiar with the term “experience economy,” but chances are they have contributed to the trend in one way or another. The experience economy describes a recent shift in consumers traveling for more unique and memorable events than traditional trips—with travel to sporting events leading the charge. Between the Olympics in Paris, Open Championship at Troon and this week's AIG Women’s Open at St. Andrews, more and more people are planning vacations around events than ever before. Having a strong historical presence in sporting events, especially golf, Mastercard has long been tracking the trend and curating exclusive opportunities for cardholders during these trips—appropriately called "Priceless Experiences."

According to Mastercard Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Raja Rajamannar, Mastercard shifted its focus to experiential marketing in 2013 to give cardholders more opportunities to fuel their passions and offer experiences money can’t buy.

“Sports are by far the biggest and most universal passion,” Rajamannar said. “Golf is one of those fine games people are deeply passionate about, and it gives us fantastic opportunities to curate experiences that may or may not be available in other sports.”

Leaning on longstanding relationships with the PGA Tour and R&A, Mastercard has been able to offer opportunities at tournaments like playing in Pro-Ams, walking inside the ropes, reserved seating in grandstands and even playing the course the day after the tournament.

Recently, Mastercard’s Priceless Experiences offered participants a trip to the Open Championship that included luxury hotel accommodations, curated gourmet dinners, hospitality tickets to the tournament and a Monday tee time at Royal Troon to play the course post-tournament.

“[Our partnerships with] the R&A and PGA Tour are not just in years, we’re going into decades working together, and it has been very collaborative,” Rajamannar said. “We co-create experiences to elevate the fan experience and take it to the next level.”

Attendance for the Open Championship has been between 250,000 to 300,000 in the last three years, bringing upwards of $240 million in economic benefit to the regions, according to Mastercard data. Golf fans are prioritizing travel for golf tournaments, giving golf-connected companies like Mastercard an excellent opportunity to use its foothold in golf to expand cardholder benefits and strengthen its experiential marketing strategy.

Mastercard has also been able to leverage its golf ambassadors during events, with Tom Watson, Shane Lowry and Justin Rose all holding meet and greets at Royal Troon during the Open Championship. Including Lowry and Rose, the Mastercard team had six ambassadors in the field including Max Homa, Sam Burns, Viktor Hovland and Cameron Young.

On the women’s golf side, Annika Sorenstam has also been a longstanding partner with Mastercard along with Brook Henderson—who will be competing at the AIG Women’s Open next week when Mastercard is hosting another two Priceless Experiences.

Ahead of the AIG Women’s Open, the first Priceless Experience included three spots in the Pro-Am at St. Andrews. The second package is similar to the offering at the men’s Open Championship offering hospitality tickets to the tournament luxury hotel accommodations and upscale dining options. Exclusive to this offering was a VIP ticket to the AIG Women’s Open concert featuring popular U.K. singer, Tom Grennan.

Music and culinary experiences are two additional categories in the Priceless Experience offering that cardholders can explore, but the program often combines a few passions in each trip.

“In the last four to five years we’ve not just focused on a single passion but a confluence of multiple passions and that’s what gives us a ton of mileage and a great experience for our customers,” Rajamannar said. “We try to connect the dots with consumers, remembering golf is the number one but knowing we can help make that travel nicer and easier.”

Outside of attending tournament, the program also currently has over 40 packages to play courses around the world, including a stay-and-play package at Pelican Hill in Santa Barbara coupled with a coastal wine tour, tee times at exclusive clubs like TPC Sawgrass, Bay Hill Club or TPC Boston, and a bucket-list trip to England to play three Open Championship Courses: Prince's, Royal St. George's, and Royal Cinque Ports.