The Golf Channel is doing a booming business. It just had its best third quarter in history and was recently named America’s fastest-growing television network, now available in more than 80 million homes in the US, and more than 120 million worldwide. This comes on the heels of the Comcast-owned (via its NBC Sports group) cable network’s best second quarter in its 17-year history. 

But just because the network, which was co-founded by Arnold Palmer, has so many folks paying attention to it doesn’t mean the channel is acting like it’s in the popular crowd now. In fact, the channel is going the extra mile to showcase that it’s not quite like everybody else. The network’s new ad campaign is entitled “We Know We’re Different.”

The campaign launched this week with five on-air spots and print advertising (see below), timed to Golf Channel’s exclusive, live coverage of the Tiger Woods-hosted World Challenge presented by Northwestern Mutual. Each spot tells “an observation of the sport, from eccentric fashion to ball marking rituals, from the Golf Channel’s point of view,” according to a press release.Continue reading...

As golf is a major passion point for Chase Sapphire’s upscale target and customer base, the brand is actively pursuing golf partnerships and increasing spend this year by more than 500% over last year, and teed up the Golf Digest and Golf Channel brands for a social marketing campaign on Facebook.

Golf Digest and Golf Channel have linked up with Chase Sapphire, Chase bank's premier travel and dining rewards credit card, on ‘Beyond the Tee,’ a multi-platform initiative centered around a Facebook app on the Chase Sapphire FB page, aimed at golf enthusiasts.

“Many of our cardholders are passionate about golf, so Chase Sapphire is committed to providing the compelling experiences and content we know our customers want,” stated Sean O’Reilly, general manager, Chase Card Services.Continue reading...

As the world (and London's Heathrow airport) bids adieu to the Summer Olympians and gets ready for the Paralympic Games, a few thoughts to leave you with:

IOC Chief Rogge Celebrates His Last Games            

International Olympic Committee chief Jacques Rogge is getting ready to pass on the leadership torch and he is ending his long reign a happy man. Rogge toasted London’s Games Sunday, saying that these Olympics were “absolutely fabulous.” What bigger compliment can there be?

London 2012 Will Be Paid Off in Nine Years

The Summer Olympics may have cost billions for London to throw, including all the lost revenue from tourists who were scared away and residents who worked at home during the Games. But the Centre for Economics and Business Research estimates that the whole extravagant shebang will pay for itself by 2021. The big jump will come in 2015, the think tank estimates, when the country will start generating an extra £1.8billion ($2.8 billion) a year due to the Games.Continue reading...

Tiger Woods may have closed 2010 as the most polarizing figure in golf (if not all sports). But Rush Limbaugh might open the new year by taking Tiger’s place.

Radio-talk king Limbaugh — beloved by conservatives, vilified by the Left, and a curiosity to just about everyone — will be laying bare his golf game beginning Tuesday night on the Golf Channel, as the latest celebrity to become part of The Haney Project.

The idea of the series is that Hank Haney, who teaches the pros to play, tries to take the golf game of some middling but well-intended amateur to a much higher plane.Continue reading...

Art by Patrick Broderick/ModernHumorist.com

Exactly what kind of public and private behavior does it take for a brand to forsake a celebrity spokesperson? Apparently a lot more than what Tiger Woods has confessed to.

There are reports today that Nike and Tiger already are back together filming TV commercials again. According to TMZ, Woods was garbed in black-and-red Nike clothing during a recent shoot on the Isleworth Country Club golf course in Windermere, Fla., which is near Woods’ home.

Regardless of the veracity of this particular report, remember that Nike in fact didn’t drop Woods after the scandal broke on Thanksgiving weekend last year, while other brands including Accenture, AT&T and Gatorade have given up their endorsement relationships with the world’s best golfer and one of its most recognizable personalities.

And whether Nike is fully on board at this point or not, Tiger has become phoenix-like as his personal revival tour has gained full steam.Continue reading...