Chicago's No. 1 golf publication is in its 20th publishing season
Chicagoland Golf, considered by the industry to be the nation's finest
independent regional golf publication, serves 1.7 million golfers 15
times per year. Our readership rates as the No. 2 golf market in the
nation, an area with extremely powerful demographics and buying power.
Like the game it chronicles, Chicagoland Golf – which debuted in 1989 –
has also enjoyed unparalleled growth and international acclaim.
Distributed
free and supported solely by advertising, Chicagoland Golf appears once
in March, October and November – plus issues about every two weeks
during the height of the season – from late March to October.
Our distribution area – northern Illinois, southeast
Wisconsin and northwest Indiana – hosts a record number of rounds
played, making it the nation's No. 1 market for public golf and an
extremely lucrative market for advertisers. That helps make Chicagoland
Golf a highly-effective advertising buy for the industry. Here's why:
CG has had a 94 percent ad renewal rate every year since 1992.
National Golf Foundation statistics say 16.1 percent of Illinois residents play golf. In the Chicago area, that number grows to about 20 percent. That means with traditional "shotgun" media (daily and local newspapers, magazines, radio and television), approximately 80 percent of their readers and listeners DO NOT play golf.
That translates into 80 percent of advertising dollars spent on shotgun media is being wasted on non-golfers. With Chicagoland Golf's free distribution at public and private courses in a 24-county, 5,300-square mile area of northern Illinois, SE Wisconsin and NW Indiana, advertisers are guaranteed every issue winds up in the hands of a golfer, with virtually no advertising dollars being squandered. You reach more golfers per dollar spent than any other media outlet available.
We could talk about the success of Chicagoland Golf as an advertising vehicle – but better yet, feel free to ask any of our regular advertisers what is the response of their golfers to Chicagoland Golf. They''ll tell you the issues disappear almost instantly – as soon as they're delivered.
That's because Chicagoland Golf and its assemblage of award-winning writers and columnists provide the brand of writing knowledgeable golfers demand.
In this economy, no one can afford wasting valuable advertising dollars by making a placement mistake. Chicagoland Golf has been successful for so many years because we are the market's only full-time golf publishing house. Our advertisers get solid results – while we distribute to all types of courses, no other publication in the market reaches as many public golfers as Chicagoland Golf. That's why so many advertisers have stayed with us so long. We are established, full-time professionals who take our work seriously and unlike others, producing our publication is not a hobby for us. And our advertisers realize that.
Serious golfers are, by nature, voracious readers. Our founding philosophy was to become an editorially-driven vehicle that brings those serious players the honest, in-depth, topical golf coverage they can't get anywhere else in the market. This ideology has helped Chicagoland Golf become one of the longest-running and most successful regional golf periodicals in the nation.
The driving force behind Chicagoland Golf is publisher and editor Phil Kosin, the award-winning veteran golf writer who for 15 years has served as host to the highly-acclaimed "Phil Kosin's Chicagoland Golf Show" from 6 to 8 a.m. each Saturday morning in golf season on CBS Radio – 50,000-watt, clear channel WSCR SportsRadio 670-AM.
The bottom line What does Chicagoland Golf give its 200,000 regular readers?
Up-to-date information on tournaments and happenings from organizations like the United States Golf Association, PGA Tour, National Golf Foundation, PGA of America, Illinois Section of the PGA, Chicago District Golf Association and Western Golf Association
Previews, photographs and tournament coverage of junior, amateur, club and professional tournaments – events no one else covers
Coverage of golf's majors
Features about new equipment, people influencing the trends, fashions, travel and resorts
New course reviews, golf schools, health advice from experts
Informative instructional articles to keep pace with the latest playing techniques
Whatever impacts the volatile golf industry, you can bet Chicagoland Golf gets the story – and often sooner than national publications.
Plus, Chicagoland Golf is proud to be a member of The Associated Press, enabling us to bring our readership more regional, national and international golf news than any other publication in the market.
What makes Chicagoland Golf such a great media buy is the disposable income inherent to golfers. We get your advertising into the hands of hundreds of thousands of interested golfers 15 times a year – a complete package to reach a large volume of high income readers.
And with such widespread free distribution, advertisers do not have to hope that golfers will purchase the publication in order to see their ad message.
With 19 successful seasons under our belt, we know the Chicago golf market better than anyone else, so why aren't we working for you? We have a great track record, tried and true. Give us a call today and find out why so many of our advertisers will return again in 2008. Or, if you prefer, feel free to call any of our regular advertisers and ask them about the results they get from advertising in Chicagoland Golf.
