Fairway Media

What Fairway Media does

Fairway Media is a division of Transportation Media Inc. that designs, manufactures, and distributes custom print-based golf course marketing products — course guides, scorecards, and yardage cards — to golf courses across North America at no cost. Products are funded through a sponsorship advertising model in which local businesses pay to place advertisements on the course products, covering the full cost of design, satellite-mapped course illustrations, full-color professional printing, and manufacturing at the company's Portland, Oregon headquarters. The company operates through a dual go-to-market motion: sponsorship coordinators acquire local business advertisers by matching them with nearby golf courses, while a dedicated golf course relations team onboards course partners.

The company's technology stack centers on satellite-based course mapping for precise hole illustrations and in-house full-color professional printing on glossy, bound paper. Fairway Media maintains partnerships with 4,500+ golf courses across the United States and Canada, printing 72,000+ advertisements annually, and operates from 12 regional offices with 400+ employees. The Canadian market is served through an operational alignment with Bench Craft Company as Fairway Media's Canadian affiliate.

The business generates revenue from local business advertising sponsorships that fund free product placement at golf courses. Golf courses receive custom-designed marketing materials at zero cost; advertisers gain access to an affluent, captive golfer demographic during multi-hour rounds. The company is privately held as a division of Transportation Media Inc. with no disclosed funding history, no AI/ML capabilities evident in operations, and no recent strategic moves beyond ongoing scale maintenance.

Name

Fairway Media

Legal name

Transportation Media Inc.

Website

https://fairwaymedia.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

1982

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Fairway Media, a division of Transportation Media Inc., designs and manufactures free custom course guides, scorecards, and yardage cards for 4,500+ North American golf courses, funded entirely through local business advertising sponsorships placed on the printed products.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Golf Course Advertising and Marketing

NAICS

Sporting and Recreational Goods and Supplies Merchant Wholesalers (423910)

SIC

Wholesale-Paper & Paper Products (5110)

akta.pro primary industry

Golf Equipment & Accessories Distribution (CRAOAJAK)

Keywords

• Golf course marketing
• Sponsorship advertising
• Print advertising
• Course guides
• Golf advertising

Headquarters

HQ city

Portland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Sponsorship Advertising: Local businesses pay to advertise on golf course products. The advertisement revenue covers the cost of products for both the golf course and the advertiser. Golf courses receive custom products at no cost while businesses gain access to an affluent demographic.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Fairway Media designs and manufactures custom golf course products (course guides, scorecards, and yardage cards) provided free of charge to golf courses, with all costs covered by local businesses purchasing advertising placements on those products. The company handles design, printing, and manufacturing at its Portland, Oregon headquarters and ships finished products to golf courses across North America for distribution to golfers.

Product overview

Fairway Media provides a suite of print-based golf course marketing products: Course Guides (pocket-sized hole-by-hole magazines), Scorecards (custom scorecards with course maps), and Yardage Cards (detailed hole maps). All products are provided to golf courses at no cost and funded through local business advertising sponsorship. The company operates as a division of Transportation Media Inc.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Course Guides Pocket-sized magazine-style guides featuring hole-by-hole illustrated maps, yardages, hazard information, and professional advice for each golf hole. Includes amenities, covers, and scorecard pages. Provided free to golf courses and funded by local business advertising.
• Scorecards Custom designed scorecards featuring yardage, handicap, and par information for each hole with course maps on the outside cover. Available in bi-fold and tri-fold styles. Provided free to golf courses and funded by local business advertising.
• Yardage Cards Detailed hole maps showing hazards, green depth, par and yardage information. Available in tri-fold for 18-hole courses and bi-fold for 9-hole courses. Maps built utilizing satellite technology for accurate hole illustrations with precise yardages to hazards and landmarks.

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Transportation Media Inc.flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerFairway Media is a division of Transportation Media Inc., which was founded in 1982. Transportation Media has grown into a worldwide brand of 400+ employees with 12 regional offices throughout Canada and the United States.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Club Prophet Systems: A long-standing golf course management software provider offering tee sheets, POS, member management, and marketing tools to private and public golf courses. Club Prophet's marketing capabilities overlap with parts of Fairway Media's value proposition to golf courses.
• EZLinks Golf: A tee time booking and golf course operations platform serving thousands of courses, now part of Lightspeed. EZLinks' golf course customer base and tee-time marketplace represent adjacent ecosystem participation to Fairway Media's advertising services for the same audience.
• MyGolfSpy: A leading digital golf media platform providing equipment reviews, news, and original content to golfers. While digital-first rather than print-based, MyGolfSpy competes for the same pool of advertising dollars from golf-related brands and represents an emerging alternative channel for advertisers seeking to reach the golfer demographic.
• Lightspeed Golf: A golf course management software platform offering tee time booking, point-of-sale, and course operations tools to thousands of golf courses. While operating in a different vertical (course operations software), Lightspeed Golf serves the same golf course customer base and could expand into marketing services adjacent to Fairway Media's offerings.

Others

• Global Golf Post: A digital golf publication delivering news, instruction, and travel content to golfers worldwide. While not a direct competitor, Global Golf Post represents the digital editorial side of golf media that competes with Fairway Media for advertiser attention from golf-related brands targeting the same demographic.

Broad incumbents

• Clear Channel Outdoor: A leading global outdoor advertising company operating billboards, transit, and digital displays. While operating at massive scale across broad audiences, Clear Channel Outdoor shares the underlying business model of monetizing physical advertising inventory to reach targeted demographics, conceptually parallel to Fairway Media's golf course placements.
• Lamar Advertising Company: One of the largest outdoor advertising operators in North America, running billboard, transit, and digital display networks. Lamar's model of monetizing physical ad placements to reach targeted audiences is conceptually parallel to Fairway Media's niche golf course advertising placements.
• 8AM Golf: A golf-focused media and consumer products holding company that owns brands including Golf Digest and Golf Magazine. While operating in editorial golf media rather than golf course advertising, 8AM Golf targets the same affluent golfer demographic and competes for the same pool of golf-related advertiser dollars.
• Outfront Media: A large publicly-traded outdoor and transit advertising company. While operating at much larger scale across billboards, transit, and digital out-of-home, Outfront shares Fairway Media's fundamental model of monetizing physical advertising space in high-traffic locations to reach targeted demographics.

Direct peers

• Bench Craft Company: Fairway Media's Canadian affiliate and sibling company under Transportation Media Inc. Bench Craft operates the same sponsor-funded golf course advertising model in the U.S., offering nearly identical products (course guides, scorecards, yardage cards). Their explicit operational and ownership alignment makes Bench Craft the single most comparable company.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/fairwaymedia
• Facebookfacebook.com/fairwaymedia
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/fairway-media

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Fairway Media