Golfing titles stay out of the rough The top 15 sporting titles sold through the newstrade cover four sports ­ golf, football, fishing and mountain biking, with golf taking the top slot. While much of the sporting sector suffered in the last ABCs as competition from websites and satellite TV intensified, golf titles bucked the trend, showing significant growth. Emap's Today's Golfer claims the title of best selling sports magazine in the UK, with an overall circulation of 100,048. This figure partly results from the merger of Today's Golfer with Fore! magazine in May, giving the title a massive 65.8% year on year sales growth. Neil Pope, editor of Today's Golfer, says the merger has given the title a clearer focus. "Previously Emap had three monthly golf titles and it became difficult for them to have a distinct focus. Now there are two magazines serving two different needs ­ Golf World is more for the traditional golfer who wants to read about the game and issues within it, whereas Today's Golfer is targeted at the weekend golfer who has probably taken up the game in the past decade." Pope puts the title's high circulation down to the appeal it has for the majority of golf enthusiasts. "For too long golf magazines were aimed just at the better players; we aim Today's Golfer at the masses," he says. IPC's Golf Monthly has adopted a broadly similar strategy. The title, which increased overall circulation by 2.1% year on year in the last ABCs to 73,589, was revamped in April to appeal to a wider audience. Editor Jane Carter says: "Until that time (April) our typical reader was very much the established, club golfer ­ plays twice a week, aged 45-55. However, the market has changed and we have altered our stance slightly to reflect that. The magazine is now aimed at the more casual golfer, who may not be a club member but is still fairly active within the game." The promise of improving the reader's game seems to be the key to the high circulation of golfing titles. Emap's Pope says retailers wanting to maximise sales must make sure covers can be seen because it is the tag lines that draw readers in. "Unlike other golf magazines, we don't have celebrities on the cover but prefer to flag up how you can improve your game and how you can choose the right equipment. Today's Golfer does very well on the news stand as the coverlines clearly carry the message that this magazine is going to help you improve your game." And Carter says: "We do aim to put a well known face on the cover, but the main tag line is always aimed at the reader's own game, in other words, Knock 10 shots off your score', as the combination of a famous face, plus improving their own game works for us." Carter is also keen to point out that the women's golf market is the fastest growing sector of the game and that Women & Golf, currently the only title catering for this, is due for a revamp this autumn. While the success of golfing titles lies in helping readers improve their game, football magazine buyers are differently motivated. Matt Snow, editor of Haymarket's Four Four Two, the number two adult sporting title with a news stand ABC of 61,362, says: "For many readers of Four Four Two, their playing days are over ­ they tend to want to follow the sport rather than play." This means football titles must compete with wide media coverage, much of it rolling news ­ on the internet, radio and tv. Gavin Hamilton, editor of IPC's World Soccer magazine, admits the competition is tough: "Compared to tv, radio and the web, football magazines are one-dimensional ­ you can't change that." Nevertheless, World Soccer was the only football title to increase ABC in the last audit, up 0.1% year on year, and Hamilton says his magazine bucked the downward trend by focusing on its key proposition: "We are unique in the English speaking world, a magazine that covers the whole world without bias to any country." Four Four Two's Snow says the nature of the sport means retailers must look beyond the sector's recent loss of sales ­ which saw BBC Worldwide's Match of the Day magazine fold after it fell 25.8% year on year ­ to a longer-term sales pattern. He says: "Every two years there is a big international event in football ­ the World Cup or European Championships ­ that boosts circulation. These surges occur on even years and circulation figures drop back on odd years. Retailers should get ready for an upsurge in sales, especially as England looks set to qualify for the World Cup." While Four Four Two claims the top football slot in the adult market, retailers should note that Emap's Match, a weekly aimed at the youth audience, posted a massive news stand ABC of 69,880 in the last period, outselling every adult football title, and making it a must-stock for retailers. Fishing has three titles in the sporting top 10 and, like golfing titles, the key to sales seems to lie with the promise of improving the reader's technique. The sector is dominated by one publisher ­ Emap Active, although IPC's Angler's Mail also appears in the top ten, with a news stand ABC of 42,110. Nevertheless, Emap's weekly Angling Times is the fishing title that sells most newsstand copies (60,048), although its monthly stablemate Improve Your Coarse Fishing claims a larger overall circulation (63,070). Improve Your Coarse Fishing recently had a revamp to mark its tenth anniversary, with changes including new sections such as a monthly series for the novice specialist, a Back to Basics series and more advice from the experts. It has also adopted a covermounting strategy. Writing in the magazine about the revamp, deputy editor Ian Toombs, offers reasons for the title's success: " Improve' has become Europe's biggest selling angling magazine. Others have tried to follow our successful formula, but we've always managed to stay several steps ahead of the opposition by combining the most important elements of any magazine: information and entertainment presented in an attractive way." Sitting just below these two fishing titles in the sporting top 10 is Future Publishing's Mountain Biking UK. The magazine sells an average 57,663 copies an issue overall, with its nearest competitor, IPC's Mountain Bike Rider, selling 40,200. Publisher of Mountain Biking UK, Kris Holland, says the title has succeeded by creating a point of difference: "We are different from other mountain biking magazines in that we don't cater for the hardcore biker, we go for the baggy jeans brigade and pride ourselves on having a sense of humour and offering a mountain biking magazine with attitude." Like most high selling titles, it also has a broad appeal: "We offer a full cross section of mountain biking covering everything from cross-country and downhill to precision biking," says Holland. Future also builds sales by putting money into marketing the title, using covermounting to build sales and organising an annual show, The Bike Show, held at Birmingham's NEC, and attended by 35,000 enthusiasts. While these four sports account for the top 15 best selling audited newsstand titles, other sports ­ notably rugby, athletics and sailing ­ should not be neglected, and retailers will increase sales if they give them prominence during their own sporting season. In addition, one-shot titles are regularly launched ­ together with pos ­ to coincide with major sporting events and offer retailers additional revenue and a premium cover prices. Currently titles such as BBC Worldwide's official Wimbledon magazine will help build sales and profits. Today's Golfer £3.10 M Frontline Latest news stand ABC 83,214 Match £1.10 W Frontline Latest news stand ABC 69, 880 Four Four Two £3.10 M Frontline Latest news stand ABC 61,362 Angling Times £1 W Frontline Latest news stand ABC 60,384 Improve Your Coarse Fishing £2.50 M Frontline Latest news stand ABC 55,429 World Soccer £2.70 Quarterly Marketforce Latest news stand ABC 43,952 Golf Monthly £3.10 M Marketforce Latest news stand ABC 42,259 Golf World £3.20 M Frontline Latest news stand ABC 44,182 Mountain Biking UK £3.30 M Seymour Latest news stand ABC 51,119 Mountain Bike Rider £3.25 M Marketforce Latest news stand ABC 34,501 Trout Fisherman £2.60 M Frontline Latest news stand ABC 33,136 Angler's Mail £1 W Marketforce Latest news stand ABC 42,110 {{CTN }}