4. Martin Borgmeier, World Long Drive Champ – Turning Sport into a Content Business
Farrell Sports Business Podcast
Interviews with unicorns from sports business and their unique stories, dreams, ideas, insights, innovations, flops and career paths. Get a unique perspective of the inner workings of jobs working in sports beyond just pro sports leagues. Hosted by 30-year sports business veteran Matt Farrell, President of Farrell Sports and CEO of Bat Around.
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Farrell Sports Business (00:00)
This is the Farrell Sports Business Podcast and I'm the host Matt Farrell. This week we're gonna go long. We're gonna have a world champion long driver who's taken the sport of long drive, won a world championship, and also has turned that into a content and media
Martin Borgmeier won the 2022 world championship in the sport of long drive, but he's almost as known if not more for creating a social media platform, building his own content on YouTube and Instagram and Tik Tok. And he just has a larger than life personality and is one of the most relatable, fun, first -class individuals I've run across in my career working in
Let's jump in with 2022 world champion long driver and sports content creator, Martin Borgmeier of Germany.
Farrell Sports Business (01:02)
Martin, so great to see you, welcome.
Martin Borgmeier (01:05)
Good to see you. Thanks for having me.
Farrell Sports Business (01:08)
Okay, Martin, we're gonna start with an easy one for you. For someone who has not seen the sport of long drive, how would you describe it?
Martin Borgmeier (01:17)
most people probably know golf and this is the most extreme version of golf. The only goal of long drive is to hit a golf ball as far as possible, but keeping it between the lines at the same time. So what we have to do as athletes is we have to create a lot of club head speed, a lot of ball speed eventually, but with a square face. So it's the most extreme version, the most adrenaline driven version.
of golf you'll ever see. So I like to call it a combination of darts, you've probably seen that in Europe at least, and golf. So it's a darts -like atmosphere with people cheering, screaming, and a golf technique.
Farrell Sports Business (02:03)
That's a perfect description. I hadn't heard that one before. Another element to it is this is not your quiet golf clap type environment. The music is blaring, the athletes big personalities and a little bit of yelling and screaming and jumping and it just creates a fun atmosphere.
Martin Borgmeier (02:20)
Yeah, you wouldn't like when you just see the crowd and everything that's going on around the athlete, you wouldn't feel like this is a golf sport. It's well, everything but that. But that's kind of what makes long drive, long drive. It's extreme on all ends.
Farrell Sports Business (02:39)
Well, I've known you for probably four, almost five, five years now. And what I didn't know until recently is how you got into the sport. If this is true that you were sitting at a corporate desk job is, is that a true story?
Martin Borgmeier (02:54)
Yeah, that's true. I actually did that for eight years, more than my long drive or like content creation career or golf career now. Yeah, it's a long story short. I did something called dual studies over here in Germany. So I did my bachelor's degree on the job, basically. So I started an apprenticeship while doing a bachelor's. So that already...
gave me a lot of experience in that environment and I was in IT sales for a total of eight years eventually. So I did the same thing for my master's degree in business psychology. So I did my bachelor's in business administration and my master's in business psychology. The system over here in Europe is a little different, but yeah, I sold large IT projects, right? Like outsourcing projects, like data center projects, like all that type of stuff, data center moves.
Like all the boring stuff that nobody would expect when you will see me at a golf ball. But yeah, clients and colleagues kind of got me back into golf, a sport that I did as a junior till I was like 60 years old. And that kind of started the whole thing with long drive because I played my first tournament and got totally hooked because it's, I mean, it's a dick thing. As soon as you hit the, like, as soon as you square up the first perfect shot for the speed you put up, you want to do it over and over again. And well,
the sport is pretty much only done and marketed correctly or at that point was marketed correctly in the US. So I started competing in the US in 2019.
Farrell Sports Business (04:32)
we're going to get into you and your business, but I think you almost have to reset a little bit with this, with the sport of long drive. It's been around for decades. When we interacted 2019, 2020, it, the sport actually ended up going through a rough time. It was owned by golf channel at the time and golf channel decided to sell the property and, and, and effectively shut it down for a while. Combination of COVID. So,
That was a tough time where the sport had to just rally and pick itself back up from the sport in general. Martin, how do you look at that time period? How rough was it for the sport? And what do you think were the keys to really get it back on excellent on its legs?
Martin Borgmeier (05:18)
Well, looking back at it right now, from my perspective, the times were amazing. To be honest with you, we had it really good back then because we had TV coverage and we had the golf channel backing. Right? So it's the tough part for long drive in my opinion is to tell the story of like, this is golf, but it's not selling something that is so adrenaline driven and so spectacular to a golf audience.
Because I truly believe this, I mean, just showcasing the spectacle of like long drive is something that a non -golfer would totally understand. All right, so showing, if I would approach someone in Munich city, for example, right? Germany, a country that is not really known to have a large golf audience. When I show them long drive, they would totally understand it. A hits against B, B hits it further than A.
B wins, done. It's super easy to understand. And now, well, the details of how insane it actually is to swing a golf club that fast and utilizing all the biomechanics, launch characteristics, and all of that is something that really only, I believe, the fans and nerds understand and see as a reason to tune in. But the spectacle around it and everything happening is something that, well, everybody could watch and enjoy. Like,
I'm I was every now and then I watch darts over here in Europe. I can't play the arts I don't understand the logistics and the everything around darts but I enjoy watching the crowd cheer and people going crazy and I think that is also one of the the main hurdles that long drive has to conquer because it's it's tough to Create or produce such a show that is
pretty costly with like multiple camera angles with a grid of 400, 450 yards, 500 yards plus to cover. And well, athletes that are not known enough in the golf world to really generate enough eyeballs. That I think is the big hurdle because when you look at the athletes in long drives, it's either
failed golfers, failed baseball players, or like hobby golfers, hockey players or whatnot that hit the ball far that decide to do this as a professional sport. Right? It's not really like, well, a kid, not yet, a kid that, well, grows up and feels like, hey, I want to become a long driver. These kids want to become golfers because they see how much
It's more like a plan B and that's really the one thing that is tough to conquer in the sport in the market and I believe there is really only one person that can change that as of right now and that is Bryson DeChambeau and the reason being is that he was the one guy who
that came in in 2020, 2021 during the COVID break when he decided to pursue his speed journey, right? Because he saw, he watched World Long Drive on the golf channel and he was like, if I only had like 5 % of this, my golf game would be so much better. And then he started his whole process and he's the only one that can save it in my opinion.
Farrell Sports Business (09:07)
Well, two things really, at least from my view, and I was separated from the sport at the time that just changed the trajectory. One, I think legitimately is you winning the world championship in 2022, but that really intersected with a time that Bryson came into the sport. And I've come to appreciate so much about Bryson DeChambeau, especially over the last few years.
Martin Borgmeier (09:29)
Yep.
Farrell Sports Business (09:36)
He was, he drew attention no matter what he did. And, and in that case, it just created such an interesting hook and an interesting angle that I think that was really made the sport interesting to see your trajectory and him coming into the sport formed a little bit of a perfect storm maybe for you and for the sport.
Martin Borgmeier (09:45)
Yeah, it did. It was interesting. Because when he reached out to me for the very first time, I was blown away by the message, right? Because I was like, my God, Bryson DeChambeau really responded to my...
story of me like hitting a three wooded 205 miles an hour. I mean, I didn't even realize that he started following me at that time, right? Because that was in during COVID. I can do a thing. Everything was locked up, but I still had my golf simulator that I built like the year before and like an old office building down here in Munich. And he responded to my story and asked started asking questions.
like about shafts, about launch characteristics, about speed protocols, about like all the stuff for him to figure out how to get faster. And then I obviously started following his speed journey very closely and we just started chatting back and forth and back and forth. And I utilized the very first option I had to meet him in Dallas. And that was in 2021, just like when COVID was still...
present, but everything got a little more open. And yeah, we started practicing together. And it was so interesting to see his approach to things and how like extreme he does things when he feels like it's the right path. Like he's down that rabbit hole like super quick. And yeah, it was the beginning of...
one and a half, two years that one formed great friendship. In the meanwhile, we're really good friends. And I mean, I just visited him 10 days ago and we practiced together, did a few things before the PGA championship, filmed YouTube videos together, like all this stuff that in the meanwhile grew so much. But it's, yeah, it's just such like at that point in time, it amazed me like how he approaches things.
and how he sees things differently and how he's trying to always almost like avoid the mainstream. It's almost like, yeah, that's mainstream, that can't work. So I gotta do my own thing. He's always trying to find his own thing. And it was a blessing at that point in time for Long Drive.
Farrell Sports Business (12:18)
Yeah.
Well, I'm going to turn it back to you here in a quick, in a second, but really briefly, I just can't think of another athlete that I've ever seen that has reinvented himself quite like he has on his own media platforms, YouTube in particular, like Bryson DeChambeau.
Martin Borgmeier (12:37)
Yeah, absolutely. It's interesting how the whole dynamic took place with him winning the US Open back in the days with his new speed, basically overpowering the golf course. In my opinion, it wasn't the driver. It was actually him being
super dominant out of the rough and on the greens because he had the speed to actually, well, hit it close from the rough because he had the power to like swing through the rough, which was interesting. But then he went to LIV The whole like PR disaster took place. And now through YouTube, he's pretty much the only professional golfer that
does concentration, call it that, right, with his team around him. And by doing so, he's creating a fan base that is unique. Because no one has ever done that. Because let's face it, the reason is probably a PGA Tour player, lift player, professional golfer, whatever, call it whatever you want. They're making up to $4 million of price money per event.
So with $4 million up there, what is the real benefit of putting all the time and effort into content creation and YouTube and all of that to potentially make like, whatever, let's call it half a million a year, a million a year in adsense revenue when you're really doing well and that platform is growing like crazy in comparison to the potential price money?
So I totally understand that tour players, professional golfers, at least the ones up there, aren't necessarily focusing on creating content, but focusing on range time and actually perfecting their skills around the green and all that stuff, because there's just more potential money in it. But Bryson, again, is going the opposite route, and he's like, this is important for me to, one, inspire people,
entertain people, educate people on golf, but also obviously to help his brand.
Farrell Sports Business (15:12)
impressive, what I call a reinvention for him, but let's, I mean, when it comes to building your brand and social media, I mean, for you 141 ,000 followers on TikTok over 200 ,000 on Instagram, 154 ,000 on YouTube. When did.
Martin Borgmeier (15:16)
100 percent, I agree.
Yes.
Farrell Sports Business (15:36)
long drive go from sport to business and content platform for you.
Martin Borgmeier (15:43)
from the very beginning, to be honest with you. It's, I mean, I always, obviously when I started, had the dream to become a world champion. And I did that in 2022. And it's interesting because when you have this dream right in front of you at all times, and then you achieve it, you realize that absolutely nothing changed. Absolutely nothing.
It's almost like the process of trying to get there was more interesting than actually getting the belt, which is crazy, but it's a continuous process eventually. And the fun of the process is much cooler than actually achieving things. I mean, both together are like probably best, but the process is more fun, at least to me. And that's why the, from the very beginning, I started, or I documented my journey.
the whole way. Like back in the days when I started doing Instagram, that's how it all started off. The platform was still a little bit different. In the very beginning of social media platforms, it was really about your social network, right? About friends, colleagues, and all that. It transitioned like fast forward to like 2024. It kind of transitioned to being more of a content slash topic related platform than a
network of friends. I mean, which makes total sense because eventually what these platforms want to create is they want to keep all the viewers or users on the platform for as long as possible so they can sell more ads, which makes total sense. So they want to keep it as interest related, topic related as possible so people stay on the platform for longer and well, show maybe the occasional post or story from friends.
But what these platforms do is they really figure out what a viewer wants to see and what the viewer's interests are. And I realized that in maybe 2020, like during my second or third long drive season, because I saw which posted well and which one didn't. And that was also the time when Instagram and like all these platforms kind of transitioned to what they are today.
And I just started documenting the stuff that I'm doing, that I'm figuring out myself, like my training, my like all the launch characteristics and all the stuff that is important to long drive. What can golfers learn from long drivers? And yeah, by doing so, I just learned like what type of content works and also what type of content I want to create what I identify myself with. Right. And today I, what I'm doing is.
I'm just utilizing those best practices that I've learned over the last couple of years and will fill it with the occasional like off topic post with like golf girls that top golf and making fun of them and like all that type of stuff that is revolving around like in the social media world. But I mean, obviously growing that audience helped me big time to monetize.
my brand, right? Because there's not that much price money. I was talking millions before in golf. There's not that much price money in long drive. I mean, we have to find different ways to make some money and make a living off of it.
Farrell Sports Business (19:22)
Well, with that said, that's an interesting way to put it because, you know, in there's a saying in business of make sure your main thing is always your main thing. And from a revenue standpoint, and we're not talking, you know, prying into your life with dollars and cents here, Martin, but, you know, a few years ago, you might've said long drive is your main thing. Now content creation could be your main thing with.
long drive as a platform, how do you create the blend?
Martin Borgmeier (19:57)
Yeah, it's interesting. As I mentioned, from the very beginning, I was always very content focused. But back in the days, I did most of my revenue was through coaching, like on -site coaching that I did when I quit my job in corporate, as I mentioned earlier. As soon as I had my first sponsors and regular students, I quit my main job. I made way less money than I had made before.
But I simply saw the, I had this dream of becoming a world champion and only focusing on that. And I saw a way of making this happen. I didn't have kids back then. I was married. I didn't have kids, which is a totally different life than I have today. In the meanwhile, I have one son and my daily life is completely different, obviously. But back in the days, I took the risk. And it's interesting how,
Like long drive back in the days was still like on the upslope, especially in 2020 with all the good stuff we had planned, like the anti -doping, the sports betting, all revenue streams that had the potential to grow long drive big time and then COVID killed it. So I had to find different ways to monetize the stuff that I've built. And yeah, with that also came all the more video content in general on all the platforms.
And that was the time for me to, well, create content that was already relevant, but nobody has had shown yet. So with that, I attracted more sponsors, obviously, and people like brands in general that simply wanted to utilize the skills that I've built over the time to showcase their products. And as I saw that grow,
I'm more and more focused on it. So, and then in the meanwhile, again, fast forward to 2024, I've built a structure around me as a brand that helps me to just find the most efficient way to do the stuff that I'm doing. For example, I have a media company in the meanwhile that obviously is producing all my stuff and helps me with effects and filming and...
editing of long YouTube videos in general that take a long time, but also helps other brands and other athletes to utilize the best practices that I found in golf, but also in other worlds to grow their profiles. Because it's interesting when you look from an outside perspective, you could think when you have absolutely no idea about social media in general, you would think like, yeah, he's just posting.
this one video and he's making that one photo back in the days and he's making that much money, which is crazy. But what people don't see is how much it took to actually grow to that point. So it's attracting that many eyeballs. It's authentic. It's legit. People believe it. It's creating some type of like that, that, well, the halo effect of my brand is also transitioning over to, to.
that brand or the product I'm promoting or showcasing. And yeah, the things in general, especially in golf, the best practices that work. So whatever it might be, camera angles, type of editing, the structure of the video, whatever it might be. And that really helped me to get to the point I am today. And yeah, that's, I mean.
long story short, I would say long story medium long, at least, how I built all that.
Farrell Sports Business (23:48)
you're involved with multiple brands and a couple of global brands that I just want to call out Callaway and J Lindeberg in particular. So if you had a meeting with them this afternoon and that meeting was one hour, how much of that hour would be about golf and long drive and how much of that meeting would be about content?
Martin Borgmeier (24:18)
a hundred and zero probably. It's so, it's so interesting. You hit it right on the nail because my, for example, in 2019, when I first signed with Callaway, the title of my Callaway agreement was, I think athletes agreement or sponsorship agreement or something like that. And then in 2021, it shifted to.
content creation or slash influencer agreement. I don't like the term influencer, but it's more like because influencers are different to content creators in my opinion. But yeah, that's how it shifted. So it's Calaway and J Lindeberg don't really care how I do it, all these long drive events. It doesn't matter as long as it's producing great content and as long as the halo around it is a positive halo. That's all it is. And to be honest with you,
I think it's also the right way because content creation is a lot more than people believe. And it's not easy to just make a video and shape everything and frame everything the right way. It takes a lot of experience and it's like, if I had to estimate,
how much of the experiences that I've made over the last five years are beneficial for long drive or hitting the ball further, or are beneficial to create a positive marketing effect, then it's like 90 -10.
Farrell Sports Business (25:59)
It's really interesting. I just find, I don't know if this is a good comparison or not, but it, it almost feels like what you're doing is almost like what Red Bull does in action sports. whether it's diving off a cliff or, you know, hang gliding or whatever it might be, it's creating the brand around that and the storytelling and it's, it's impressive. So.
Martin Borgmeier (26:23)
It's creating an emotion, right? It's framing the brand. When you look at Red Bull's Instagram page, for example, you don't find a single can of Red Bull because people don't care about the product. They, especially with such a product, they care about what it's creating for them, what kind of an emotion it's creating for them when they drink the Red Bull, right? And what they associate it with. And it's pretty much the same thing with
all the products that I'm partnering with, because the times, in my opinion, the times of like, hey, buy this, are over. It doesn't work on social media. The way it works is like, you create trust around the product and you create authenticity around the product. Because I would also never partner up with a brand that doesn't fit, right? Because it's very short -term minded. Because when you want to set it up in a sustainable way,
it's gotta be a product that people really believe you're using, right? And that is CalWay. And that, because I'm using the product, it is J Lindeberg. I mean, the short shorts are almost iconic in the meanwhile, I guess, right? Half of the comments on my posts are about the short shorts. And I totally get that. I don't blame people, right? And then for example, like whatever it might be, shafts, like the grips I'm using, like all the stuff that I use anyways and I believe is great, why wouldn't I tell more people about it?
Farrell Sports Business (27:28)
Great advice.
You
Martin Borgmeier (27:51)
And that's where the perfect blend is being created.
Farrell Sports Business (27:58)
I want to give you the last word, Martin, anything in opportunity for shameless plug. So you get the last shot, anything you're working on that I haven't asked you about that, that you would want to share.
Martin Borgmeier (28:11)
Well, it's interesting. I have one thought. So I talked a lot about content creation, how amazing it is and how people should do it and like PGA Tour players, tour players are not doing it that much and so on. I don't think content creation is for everybody. I think everybody should have some sort of a social media presence, but there's different levels and layers to it. It could just be a page with pictures.
which is a landing page to showcase who you are. You don't have to post like a video every day or every week and become a content creator to be successful. There's multiple ways of doing this. It's just one way. In long drive, when you look at the world of long drive, a lot of people actually make a living off of long drive or the platform long drive, but some do content creation like myself. Others do coachings, club fittings, fitness stuff.
They play golf rounds with people, like, what event management, whatever it might be. There's multiple different ways to leverage things. The content creation is not always the answer, but I still believe there's got to be some sort of presence on the social media platforms about what you do so people can actually look at what you're doing. And I just hope, I just hope Long Drive finds a way.
Farrell Sports Business (29:34)
great advice.
Martin Borgmeier (29:38)
to come back and I hope that, I know Bryson absolutely loves long drive. I just hope that he is gonna come back to some capacity and well, I wouldn't say resurrect, but like rejuvenate the whole thing.
Farrell Sports Business (29:56)
Martin, I just, you're a first class individual. I enjoy meeting you, keeping in touch with you, and thanks for taking a few minutes to join on this one. Good luck to you. Let's make sure you make it on time to your meeting.
Martin Borgmeier (30:07)
Likewise, Matt. Thank you so much.
Seven minutes left, let's go.
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