Financial Times: Home Sims Are Mainstream Now
Home Sims Are Mainstream
The Short Answer
The Financial Times called home simulators an upswing. The world most respected business paper validated your hobby. Here is what they got right and wrong.
|The Financial Times published a piece this week called “Home Golf Simulators Are on the Upswing.”
The Financial Times. The pink newspaper. The one your dad reads on the train. Writing about simulator golf.
If you’re still wondering whether this is a real market, that’s your answer. The FT doesn’t write about toys. They write about markets.
The FT published the piece, and we published a full breakdown of what it means for home sim buyers — including the key data points the FT is working with and why institutional attention changes the math for anyone building a sim.
What the FT Got Right
The FT positioned home simulators as an asset class, not a hobby. They talked about market growth, infrastructure investment, and consumer adoption curves — the same language they use for electric vehicles and commercial real estate.
They cited the Fortune Business Insights numbers: the global golf simulator market hit $1.9 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $4.7 billion by 2034. That’s roughly 10% annual growth for a decade — our industry growth deep dive breaks down the four forces driving it. Not a spike — a sustained climb.
They highlighted the facility boom (which our readers know well — I’ve published five updates tracking 40+ new facilities in a week and a half). They mentioned TGL’s influence on mainstream awareness. They talked about price compression in the launch monitor market (also something we’ve been tracking).
The throughline is clear: sim golf is past the early adopter phase. We’re in the early majority now.
What the FT Missed
The FT piece is smart and well-researched, but it’s written from 30,000 feet. It talks about the market without talking about the buyer.
What the FT doesn’t tell you:
The sim buyer is not a tech investor. He’s a 41-year-old married guy with a garage that’s half-empty and a dream of hitting balls in January. He’s not buying a $5,000 launch monitor because it’s a good investment. He’s buying it because he wants to feel like he’s on 18 at Pebble Beach at 10 PM on a Thursday.
The “dusty simulator” problem is real. The FT mentions it in passing. I see it every day in forum threads. The fear is not “will the technology work?” — it’s “will I actually use it?” The answer is yes, but only if you buy the right setup. A Garmin R10 in a net that takes 15 minutes to set up? You won’t use it. A SkyTrak+ with a permanent enclosure that’s always ready? You’ll use it every single day.
The wife approval factor is the real gate. The FT doesn’t have a section on spousal dynamics. Our readers know it’s the #1 obstacle. We’ve written an entire playbook about it at /wife-approval. The FT might cover the macro trends, but we cover the living room negotiation.
The FT’s Audience Is Our Target Demo
The part that matters: the FT’s readers are exactly the people who should build home sims.
High income. 35-55 years old. Asset-owning. Married. They read the FT because they care about where to put their money — and a home simulator is both a lifestyle purchase and an asset that retains value (camera-based LMs hold 60-70% after 3 years).
The FT telling these readers “golf simulators are a real market” is the best third-party validation we could ask for. It’s not us saying it. It’s the pink newspaper.
The Opportunity the FT Created
When a publication like the FT covers a market, three things happen:
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Branded search spikes. People search “golf simulator financial times” and find the article. Then they search “how much does a golf simulator cost” and find us. The FT created the awareness. We answer the question.
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The “is this a fad?” objection dies. The FT doesn’t cover fads. They cover trends. If you’ve been hesitating because you’re not sure sim golf is here to stay, the FT just gave you permission to stop worrying.
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Institutional money follows. The same investors who read the FT are the ones funding sim lounges, facility expansions, and software startups. More investment means better products, lower prices, and more reasons to build.
My Take
The FT article is good for the industry. It validates what we’ve been saying for months: sim golf is not a niche anymore.
But validation is not a reason to wait.
The FT covers the market from the top down. We cover it from the garage up. They tell you “home simulators are a $1.9 billion market growing at 10% a year.” We tell you “buy the SkyTrak+, get the SIG8 enclosure, and start hitting balls tonight.”
Both are true. One of them actually helps you make a decision.
Read the FT piece. Feel good about the validation. Then come back here and build your sim.
Cross-linked: The Sim Facility Boom (21 facilities in one week) · Original Facility Boom Article · How TGL Made Home Sims Mainstream · Why Launch Monitor Prices Are Dropping · How Much Does a Golf Simulator Cost? · Is a Golf Simulator Worth It? · Wife Approval Playbook