As Tiger Woods tapped in the shortest of birdie putts on the 18th green last night, you could almost hearthe sighs of relief from the promoters of the New Zealand Open. For almost five hours, their mu Iti-m ill ion-dollar investment in the world No. 1 had hung on a knife edge. Where a week ago the bookies would only talk of Woods winning, yesterday the unthinkable loomed. Fears of him missing his first cut anywhere in the world since 1997. With his putter still out of sync and his long game becoming a co-conspirator, the promoters were having nightmares about a mile-long of angry spectators demanding their money back for a weekend without the star attraction. But the sight of him not putting one of his drives within 15 yards of a fairway over the first seven holes and then missing twice from four feet as he dropped three successive shots on the back nine called for a rethink. (Otway 2002:43)

'Woods' flat fee of $NZ5 million ($A4.16 million) to appear in the tournament dwarfs the $NZ1 million total prizemoney' (Carroll 2002: 8), but was seen by promoters as worth the risk in order to highlight golf for a New Zealand and global golfing public. Golf's dilemma is indicative of the challenges confronting sports in an increasingly competitive and commercial environment—that is, how to obtain a competitive advantage over other sports by maximising the promotional potential of its star players. The risk for promoters was financial. Would the drawing power of Tiger Woods, and the subsequent rise in ticket prices, ensure at least break-even or better for the tournament promoters? As Carroll noted (2002: 8), the 'local golf association that normally stages the tournament was out of its financial league and had to contract the event to a private corporation'. By contracting the event out, the local golf association divorced itself from the financial risk yet encouraged the potential for a promotional windfall for golf in New Zealand. Globally, television was the vehicle used to promote golf, New Zealand and the star attraction, Tiger Woods.

In the technological world of the 1990s and 2000s, many sports have emerged via the media to challenge for the position of global dominance. Soccer has long remained unchallenged as the world's most globalised sport. This competitive advantage has been based on high levels of participation and interest in so many countries throughout the world. For example, the 1998 World Cup drew a cumulative television audience of nearly 40 billion for the 64 matches (DaunceyEt Hare 2000). Basketball, via the National Basketball Association (NBA), is another exam pie, as is tennis. Golf, a genuinely global game but generally targeting different demographic groups from basketball or soccer, nicely expounds the conundrum confronting sport marketers. The challenge is how to maintain the integrity of golf's traditions, yet ensure that sophisticated marketing strategies are devised to position and expand the sport globally.

Major changes to the competitive positions of a variety of sports have occurred as a consequence of the media's ability to show sporting competitions played in all parts of the world. Domestic competitions also have increased in familiarity through the media. For example, the former Victorian Football League (VFL) has expanded from a 12-team statebased competition to become a 16-team national com petition played in five states. Basketball also has capitalised on its increased exposure, creating the National Basketball League (NBL).

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