Exclusive: Golf influencer Paige Spiranac launches media business with Pro Shop
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Paige Spiranac watches her tee shot during the Creator Classic at the Philadelphia Cricket Club on May 7, 2025. Photo: Tracy Wilcox/PGA Tour via Getty Images
Golf influencer Paige Spiranac is teaming up with Pro Shop, the golf media and commerce company behind Netflix's "Full Swing," to launch a new media venture, she exclusively tells Axios.
Why it matters: The partnership underscores how creators are becoming central to modern sports media as athletes turn their personal brands into full-fledged companies.
What she's saying: "It's been a really crazy journey over the last 10 years of being a content creator, and I've always been looking for what's next and how I can keep my business going for the next five, 10, 15, 20 years," says Spiranac, a former collegiate and pro golfer with more than 11.6 million followers online.
- "I've had a very small team while creating my brand and business, which is me and sometimes my mom filming or me just doing it myself," she continued. "I had always looked for someone I could partner with because you can just do so much more when you have help."
- "When I started talking to the Pro Shop team, they were just so excited for me to be me," she added.
Zoom in: Called Paige Co., the new business will operate as a joint venture and focus on creating new shows and branded products. Pro Shop will manage production, distribution, sales, merchandising and marketing.
- The first project will be a YouTube series with Spiranac serving as a creative lead, producer and on-camera talent. She also will take an equity stake in and become an ambassador for Pro Shop.
Zoom out: Pro Shop, founded in 2023 by Vox Media alums Chad Mumm and Mark Olsen, Puck co-founder Joe Purzycki and former PGA Tour executive David Miller, has been expanding across golf media and entertainment.
- The portfolio includes media brand Skratch, commerce label Sugarloaf Social Club, golf news site and community GolfWRX and Pro Shop Studios, which produced "Full Swing" and "The Skins Game" and co-produced "Happy Gilmore 2."
- Last month, Pro Shop signed a media and licensing agreement with LPGA. It also serves as PGA Tour's preferred production partner.
- Pro Shop raised a $20 million Series A, led by Powerhouse Capital and joined by PGA Tour and EP Golf Ventures, in 2024.
Between the lines: Spiranac and Pro Shop have collaborated on multiple projects. She's played in and hosted the Creator Classic, a PGA Tour-sponsored tournament featuring YouTubers and other influencers. She also appeared in "Happy Gilmore 2."
- "We've assembled all these publisher and studio and media tools that also includes now commerce ... and those tools are Paige's tools now," Mumm says. "I feel like it's not dissimilar from how Vox used to work with all the different brands that we had."
The big picture: Golf fandom has exploded in recent years thanks in part to YouTube creators like Spiranac, who have brought the sport to new audiences.
- "Golf is just absolutely booming, and there are more eyes than ever on the game, which makes me so excited," Spiranac says. "One of our main core beliefs is growing the game of golf because we want everyone to play the game."
Go deeper: Creators change everything
