Tag: statistics

Every number on this page was opened and checked in October 2026 for our indoor golf research. Each one has its source and date. Where a number is ours, from our own survey of 26 venues, we say so.

Key stats

How big is the golf simulator market in 2026?

The off-course side of golf is now huge. NGF says 48.1 million Americans played golf in 2025, on or off a course. About 38 million played away from a course, and 19 million played only off it. Simulator users more than doubled in a decade, from 3.8 million in 2015 to 8.1 million in 2024.

That last number is stated interest, not demand. Still, it tells you the pool of people who might try a bay is bigger than the pool of people who already golf.

In Canada, the R&A counts 7.1 million adults playing golf in some form and 5.8 million playing 9 or 18 holes. Golf Canada says about 41% of Canadian golfers have played simulator golf, up from about 23% in 2022. Golf Canada doesn't name the survey behind that figure, so treat it as a direction, not a census.

What it means for your club: the market isn't the problem. Turning a one-off visitor into a member is.

Who uses golf simulators?

Half of them aren't regular course golfers. NGF's 2025 white paper found 51% of simulator users hadn't played a round on a golf course in the previous 12 months, up from 42% a decade earlier. Weather is the top reason people use simulators (59%), followed by practice (43%) and swing analytics (34%).

Source: NGF, The Golf Simulator Opportunity, Apr 2025.

Two more things about who's playing. Simulator participation among golfers 50 and over grew 184% over four years, from a small base, and under-50s added more than 3 million participants (NGF, Nov 2025). And roughly two-thirds of new green-grass golfers had played off the course first (NGF, Feb 2026).

I think golf attracts successful people when it's marketed right, and a sim club is a great place to meet them. But your offer has to work for the half who don't think of themselves as golfers yet. Lead with fun, leagues and getting better. Don't lead with handicaps.

What it means for your club: market to two audiences, the winter golfer and the social non-golfer, with different ads and different first offers.

How many golf simulator businesses are there?

NGF counts at least 1,500 commercial golf simulator businesses in the US, nearly three times its 2022 count. NGF says the count isn't exhaustive, and part of the jump comes from better counting, not only new openings. On golf courses, about 6.5% of facilities had simulators in NGF's 2025 survey.

Simulators are more common at golf facilities in cold regions:

Source: NGF, The Golf Simulator Opportunity, Apr 2025. These are shares of golf facilities, not of golfers.

The brands are growing too, though these are company claims. Five Iron Golf says it has 50+ locations in 20+ states and 7 countries (Sept 2026). X-Golf says it has 100+ locations. Meanwhile, big entertainment venues are softening: Topgolf's same-venue sales fell 6% in Q2 2025, according to a company filing.

What it means for your club: more competitors are opening nearby, so your edge is the community and the membership, not the hardware.

What do golf simulator memberships cost?

At the US venues we surveyed, the median entry-level membership with play included is $149 a month (n=14), and the median top individual tier is $269 (n=13). 22 of 26 venues sell some kind of membership. Most tiers are separated by how far ahead members can book, not by price per hour.

No venue we surveyed publishes a standard initiation fee, though the four founder memberships work much like one.

Here's my opinion. I'd sell memberships over hourly bays every time. A member pays you in July. An hourly customer doesn't. And a longer booking window costs you nothing to give.

What it means for your club: price tiers on access (booking window, hours, guests), not on discounts, and sell the membership in the first visit.

What do indoor golf venues charge per hour?

At the Canadian venues we surveyed, the median non-member bay rate is about C$41 to C$44 at peak (n=10) and C$35 off-peak (n=7). The median US rate is $60 an hour (n=5), though most US membership clubs don't publish a public rate at all. Rates are per bay, not per person.

Food and drink matter too. At golf facilities with simulators, NGF's operator survey of 354 facilities found an average session of about $55, plus about $40 in food and drink per visit. That's an extra 73% on top of the bay.

What it means for your club: the bay is only part of the visit. Leagues and events that keep people in the building after their tee time lift revenue per visit.

When is golf simulator demand highest?

Demand follows the cold. When outdoor courses close, indoor bookings take over. In February 2025, outdoor rounds fell 70 to 90% year over year in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio and Michigan. In December 2025, rounds fell 91% in Pittsburgh and 87% in Cleveland. Northern sim clubs sell their year between September and March.

Not every northern market drops the same. Chicago fell only 22.5% in December 2025. So check your own city's weather before you plan your calendar.

Summer is the hard part. Of the 26 venues we surveyed, none publishes a summer freeze or pause. Five sell a winter or season pass instead, and another five change their prices by season. One Canadian club's month-to-month adult rate runs C$450 from January to April and C$185 from June to September.

What it means for your club: sell winter in August and September, sell gift cards before Black Friday, and have a summer offer ready before April.

How well do golf simulator clubs keep members?

Nobody publishes good churn data for sim clubs, so use golf and fitness as the guide. NGF says only about one in four beginners becomes a committed golfer. Fitness clubs across 27 countries kept about 66.4% of their members in 2024 (HFA). Members who make friends at the club are far less likely to leave.

The friend effect is from gyms, not golf. Still, I think a league is the closest thing a sim club has to it. A fixed night with the same group is a reason to keep paying.

What it means for your club: know every member's name, get them into a league in the first month, and call anyone who hasn't booked in 30 days.

What do the numbers mean for a sim club owner?

The market is big and still growing, and half of simulator users aren't regular course golfers. Most venues sell memberships, priced on access. Demand is seasonal, and food, drink and leagues lift each visit. So the winning plan is simple: sign members in winter and give them a reason to stay in summer.

If I ran a sim club, here's what I'd take from this page:

1. Sell memberships, not hours. 22 of 26 venues already do.
2. Tier on booking window. It's the most common lever, and it's free.
3. Plan the year backwards from November. Winter is sold in the fall.
4. Have a summer offer before April. Nobody we surveyed publishes a pause.
5. Build leagues early. It's the best retention tool you've got.

We wrote the full plan in how to market a golf simulator business, including the Black Friday gift card push.

How we compiled these numbers

Every figure was opened at its source between 8 and 9 October 2026 for our indoor golf playbook research, then checked a second time. Market and seasonality figures come from NGF, Golf Datatech, Golf Canada, the R&A, NRF and Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Company location counts are company claims, and we say so.

Pricing figures come from our own survey of 26 indoor golf venues (16 US, 10 Canada). We read each venue's own website or booking page on 9 October 2026. Prices are as published: USD for US venues and CAD for Canadian ones, before tax. We didn't use any "average cost" articles. The sample leans toward venues that publish their prices, so treat the medians as a guide, not a census. Where a sample is small, we show n.