News & Views | APRIL, 2025

A Premium on Work/Life Balance and Growing Stress Bode Well For the Leisure Industry

Our latest Consumer Optimism Barometer vividly illustrates contributing factors to a “Great Reprioritization” that is particularly acute among younger consumers. SEE DETAILS and CONTACT US to find out how this has implications for leisure businesses seeking to meet the needs of their customers.

Should Sports Leagues Stay the Course in terms of Expansion? 

New SLRG data shows that a majority of U.S. sports fans prefer to see short term stability in the number of teams across the “Big 6” leagues  and in NCAA men’s tournaments.  LEARN MORE HERE.

New Definitions of Wealth in America 

For as long as we’ve been interviewing consumers, SLRG data has shown big misperceptions on what constitutes affluence.  Amidst the inflationary environment of the past four years, here’s a current look at two interesting data points on how consumers perceive what makes someone wealthy. There are meaningful  implications for luxury travel, sports and real estate marketers. CONTACT US to learn more. CLICK HERE for the numbers.

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Taking Inventory: Golf Facility Owners Size up The State of the Market

SLRG’s Jon Last joined National Golf Course Owners’ Association CEO Jay Karen for the opening keynote session of ForeUp’s Digital Summit on March 20, to present highlights from the recently released NGCOA 2025 Golf Business Pulse study.  You can watch the presentation HERE and obtain the full report from the NGCOA  HERE

SLRG’s Last Presents Latest Travel Research to Resort Developers

Drawing from our Consumer Optimism Barometer and the American Resort Developers Association’s monthly Vacation ownership index (VOI), SLRG President Jon Last shared the latest travel market insights as part of the opening presentation of ARDA’s Spring Conference.  The presentation was delivered to a packed house on March 24th in Orlando, Florida. You can keep up with the latest traveler insights from the VOI at ARDA’s Research site, HERE.

SLRG INSIGHTS IN THE NEWS



Golf industry Upswing

March 30, 2025

The latest issue of Golf Inc. speaks to how golf facilities can continue positive momentum in 2025, citing insights from SLRG research and commentary from President Jon Last.

Read More »

NGCOA Releases 2025 GOLF BUSINESS Pulse Report

March 13, 2025

The National Golf Course Owners’ Association releases the 2025 Golf Business Pulse Report, produced in partnership with SLRG.



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NGCOA releases 2025 Golf Business Pulse Report

March 13, 2025

The National Golf Course Owners’ Association releases the 2025 Golf Business Pulse Report, produced in partnership with SLRG.



Read More »

Sports Marketers Need to Be Careful Whom They Listen To

March 13, 2025

Sports marketers often viscerally adopt the loudest voices as surrogates for the overall fan base — voices that typically don’t reflect the silent majority.



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Download the Latest SLRG Podcasts Covering the Business of Golf and the Latest in The Research and Insights Industry

Jon Last and David Klein welcome leading voices in the golf industry on The First Call’s podcast series, Driver$.  

Here are the latest episodes: 

Driver$: GolfTec Celebrates 30 years, 20 Million Golf Lessons

April 2, 2025

Sports and Leisure Research Group’s Jon Last speaks with GolfTec Founder and CEO Joe Assell about how the company has scaled to over 250 locations and how technological innovation continues to set the pace as the leading provider of golf instruction and largest employer of PGA Teaching professionals looks to the future...

Listen Here »

Driver$: A unique case study in golf destination marketing

March 13, 2025

Golf Prince Edward Island CEO Sam MacPhail joins Sports and Leisure Research Group’s Jon Last and David Klein to unpack the challenges and triumphs of marketing this unique Canadian golf destination.

Listen Here »

SLRG’s Jon Last is a past President and current marketing chair of Market Research Institute International, a thought leadership group and partner with The University of Georgia in offering the leading global online certificate programs, supporting the career development and education of market research professionals.  SLRG is also a proud sponsor of the Institute.



MRII ‘s podcast series offers compelling discussions with industry leaders.  Last is one of the hosts of the series.  

Cultivating a Culture of Service in Research Insights with Steve Schlesinger, Sago

March 17, 2025

SLRG President Jon Last hosts industry legend and Sago CEO Steve Schlesinger on MRII’s Insights and Innovators podcast.

Listen Here »

Jon’s new Insights & Innovators podcast drops at noon ET on Thursday April 3.  You can find it HERE  

Learn more about MRII HERE