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New SLRG Office Opens in St. Louis

Managing the St. Louis office will be SLRG Research Associate Alexis Mylenbusch, who recently joined the SLRG team on a full time basis. A graduate of Saint Louis University, Ms. Mylenbusch brings several years of experience working most recently at qualitative research firm Focus Pointe Global Research and has been a part of the Sports and Leisure Research Group on site team for various qualitative projects including sporting goods retail immersions and as an interviewer and recruiter for SLRG work at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Among her responsibilities and experience at SLRG is the coordination and management of qualitative logistics inclusive of recruiting and scheduling, analysis and project management. SLRG also has a corporate presence in the New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. markets.
SLRG’s Last Addresses State of the Golf Industry on Sirius XM Business RadioOn July 15th, SLRG president Jon Last was featured on Wharton Business Radio on Sirus XM. Last joined hosts Ken Shropshire, Sports Attorney, Professor, and Director of the Wharton Sports Business Initiative (WSBI), and Scott Rosner, Associate Professor and Faculty Associate Director of WSBI. Last provided perspective on the state of the golf industry, diffusing some of the recent alarmist and misguided general coverage of the industry’s health. Last made the case that much of this confusion emanates from unfair comparisons to 10 years ago, at the peak of a clear market bubble. Last also addressed recent SLRG research that offered a pragmatic look at marketing the sport to the millennial audience and how those among this cohort who are playing golf continue to value the authentic and traditional values of the game. Finally, Last spoke about how private club memberships have stabilized thanks to the greater focus on service, diversification and increased receptivity to family needs and amenities that go well beyond the golf course. Wharton’s Business Radio can be found on Ch. 111 on Sirius XM. To log in to your Sirius XM account or to start a free trial, click here.
POV: Will Big Data Disrupt Marketing Research?
There’s been an ongoing popular debate among insights professionals regarding the utilization of behavioral data (BIG DATA) as a surrogate for or even a disruptor of traditional market research. The disruption argument gets the headlines, but it strikes me that the more thoughtful discussion should be about how the two complement each other. Click here to read more.
SPEAKERS CORNER: Golf Inc. Strategies Summit

RECENT SLRG RESEARCH OF INTEREST
Leading Sports Organizations Look to Future Generations
A number of organizing bodies in sports, leagues, and properties have had an acute interest in making sure that their offerings are relevant to the next generation of participants and spectators. SLRG recently has been engaged in multiple projects for a number of these organizations to uncover a greater a sense of current participation levels, intent to participate in these sports, and in derivative activities of these sports. SLRG research has also been helpful in allowing these organizations to gauge receptivity to a variety of different programs, message points, and communication platforms that can spur greater interest among the next generation of participants and fans. Through a combination of in depth qualitative research with both young people and their parents, as well as nationally representative survey research, SLRG has been able to uncover motivations, interests, competitive leisure pursuits, and the extent with which they may impede one’s interest levels in a greater relationship with a sport or property. To do so is a great combination of hard science through quantitative research as well as taking an in depth look at the voice of the customer to derive the emotional barriers and opportunities that can resonate with this audience. SLRG can do this on a brand level as well as for larger organizations, talk to us.