Topgolf Launches Media Networks Division

Topgolf quietly became a media company in the middle of July. Most people missed it, because the story that dominated that week was the $530 million Versant/Full Swing acquisition. But the launch of Topgolf Media Networks on July 16 may be the more significant business story for the sim industry in the long run.

Topgolf is turning its 100+ U.S. venues into a retail-media-network — the same playbook DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Amazon have used to turn their customer traffic into advertising revenue. Unlike those digital-first platforms, Topgolf has a physical advantage: 28,000 in-venue digital screens, 42 million annual guest visits, and a captive audience spending 90 minutes per visit hitting balls and eating food.

Here is what Topgolf Media Networks is, why it matters, and what it signals about the future of off-course golf.

What Topgolf Media Networks Actually Is

Per the official press release, Topgolf Media Networks is a new Sponsorship, Media and Licensing division that creates a single entry point for brands wanting to reach Topgolf’s audience.

Instead of selling standardized sponsorship packages (put a logo on a bay divider), Topgolf builds custom partnerships combining live experiences, digital screen placements, first-party consumer data, and licensing deals that extend the Topgolf brand beyond the venue.

The assets brands can tap into:

• 42 million annual guest visits across 100+ U.S. venues
• 28,000+ digital screens in every bay, bar, and common area
• First-party audience data from Topgolf’s owned digital channels (12M+ email list, 8M+ app downloads)
• Licensing opportunities for Topgolf-branded products sold outside venues
• Original content and branded entertainment

The result is a full-funnel advertising platform: awareness via screens and signage, engagement via in-venue activations and events, conversion via digital retargeting, and loyalty via branded programs.

The Retail Media Network Playbook: Topgolf’s Advertising Platform

This is not a new model. The retail media network category generated an estimated $60+ billion in U.S. ad revenue in 2025, led by Amazon Ads, Walmart Connect, and Instacart. DoorDash and Uber Eats launched their own ad platforms in 2023-2024. The formula is the same: if you own a physical or digital space where consumers spend time, you can sell access to those consumers to brands.

What makes Topgolf’s version interesting is the environment. A Topgolf visit averages 90 minutes. Guests are seated in bays with a built-in screen in front of them, eating, drinking, and waiting for their turn to swing. That screen space is essentially a captive-audience channel — harder to skip than a TV commercial, less intrusive than an Instagram ad.

FSR Magazine framed it explicitly as a retail media network play: “The company is leveraging its venues, digital ecosystem, and millions of annual guests to create a new sponsorship business.” Nation’s Restaurant News was even blunter: “Topgolf is turning its golf-and-dining centers into an advertising channel.”

What Topgolf Media Networks Means for the Sim Industry

Topgolf Media Networks is the strongest signal yet that Topgolf’s business model is diverging from the rest of the sim industry. Under the Leonard Green ownership that took a 60% stake at a $1.1 billion valuation — half the 2020 merger price — the company has a new CEO (David McKillips, former Chuck E. Cheese), has laid off 300 employees, cut $40 million in costs, and is now pivoting toward higher-margin revenue streams that do not require opening more venues.

For the sim industry, this matters for three reasons:

1. Topgolf is no longer a sim-software competitor. If the Media Networks division generates meaningful revenue, Topgolf has less incentive to compete in the home sim software space. Toptracer remains the best ball-tracking technology on the market, but Topgolf’s focus is shifting toward monetizing its physical footprint and audience data — not selling software subscriptions to home users.

2. The venue-as-media-platform model validates 24/7 sim facilities. If Topgolf can sell screen space to advertisers at 100+ locations, independent 24/7 sim venues with similar screen-in-bay setups have the same opportunity at a smaller scale. The economics of a Back Nine or Five Iron improve dramatically if the bay screen becomes an advertising channel, not just a golf display. For a full analysis of the sim golf venue franchise models, see our franchise comparison deep-dive.

3. First-party data is the new oil in sim golf. Topgolf’s 12M email list and 8M app downloads represent one of the largest first-party consumer datasets in golf — bigger than the PGA Tour’s, bigger than GolfNow’s. In a post-cookie advertising world, that data is extremely valuable to equipment manufacturers, apparel brands, resorts, and anyone trying to reach golf consumers.

The Timing of the Topgolf Media Networks Launch

The Media Networks launch follows the completion of the Leonard Green acquisition that separated Topgolf from Topgolf Callaway Brands. Under the previous ownership structure, Topgolf was part of a publicly traded company with competing priorities — selling Callaway equipment versus running entertainment venues. Leonard Green, as a private equity firm, has a single objective: maximize the value of the Topgolf asset. If that means turning bay screens into billboards and guest data into ad revenue, that is exactly what happens.

CEO David McKillips, hired post-acquisition, comes from Chuck E. Cheese — another entertainment brand that monetizes physical visits through games, food, and parties. The Media Networks play is consistent with his background: find new revenue streams inside the existing experience without changing the experience itself.

For more on Topgolf’s evolution: Topgolf CEO Leonard Green restructuring analysis · Versant acquires Full Swing for $530M · Sim golf venue franchise models compared