Golf simulator participation is expanding beyond traditional golfers. In the United States, simulator and screen-golf users reached an estimated 8.1 million in 2024, while facility adoption, installation economics and reported customer spending varied substantially by venue type.
Key Golf Simulator Statistics
The following figures summarize the most useful U.S. golf simulator data points:
- 8.1 million simulator and screen-golf users participated in the United States in 2024, according to an NGF estimate.
- Simulator and screen-golf participation increased 126% from 3.6 million users in 2019 to 8.1 million in 2024 in the United States.
- 51% of simulator users were non-golfers in 2024, defined by NGF as people who had not played on-course during the prior 12 months.
- 28.1 million people played traditional on-course golf in the United States in 2024.
- 47.2 million participants were counted across the broader U.S. golf ecosystem in 2024 when off-course formats were included.
- 6.5% of U.S. golf facilities had installed simulators in the 2024 NGF facility database.
- 10.4% of private U.S. golf facilities had simulator penetration in the 2024 database.
- 5.1% of public U.S. golf facilities had simulator penetration in the 2024 database.
- 13% of U.S. facilities planned to add simulators within one to two years based on plans reported in 2024, including 4% definite and 9% probable plans.
- $45,000 was the average investment per simulator bay among operators with simulators in an NGF survey fielded in November–December 2024.
- 72% of facilities without simulators cited space requirements as a barrier in the November–December 2024 U.S. operator survey.
- The average simulator session fee was $55 among surveyed U.S. operators in November–December 2024.
- Customers spent an additional $40 on food and beverage per visit in the same survey of U.S. simulator customers.
- 70% of facilities with simulators reported a positive financial impact in the November–December 2024 survey.
- 44% of facilities with simulators reported positive returns within the first month in the November–December 2024 survey.
- 59% of simulator users cited weather-independent play as a demand driver in 2024 U.S. user research.
- 9.2 million people participated in screen and simulator golf in the United States in 2025, an NGF category estimate reproduced in a company filing.
The highlights use different populations and definitions. Simulator, screen-golf, off-course and green-grass-facility figures are not interchangeable.
Contents
- Golf simulator participation statistics and user growth
- Golf simulator adoption across U.S. facilities
- Golf simulator costs, space and installation data
- Golf simulator session pricing and customer spending
- Golf simulator profitability and reported ROI
- Golf simulator demand drivers and market outlook
Golf Simulator Participation Statistics and User Growth
The National Golf Foundation’s 2025 white paper estimated 8.1 million simulator and screen-golf users in the United States in 2024. This combined category rose from 3.6 million in 2019, a reported 126% increase, and from 3.8 million in 2015.
The Golf Simulator Opportunity: A Golf Facility Decision-Maker’s Guide to Implementation and ROI, 2025 Edition reports the estimates and definitions.
| U.S. participation measure | Period | Reported figure |
|---|---|---|
| Simulator and screen-golf users | 2015 | 3.8 million |
| Simulator and screen-golf users | 2019 | 3.6 million |
| Simulator and screen-golf users | 2024 | 8.1 million |
| Traditional on-course players | 2024 | 28.1 million |
| Broad golf ecosystem participants | 2024 | 47.2 million |
In 2024, non-golfers represented 51% of simulator users. NGF defines this group as people who did not play on-course in the prior 12 months; the comparable share was 42% approximately a decade earlier, although the source cautions that survey waves and the broad category differ.
The same NGF estimate says 16.2 million people tried traditional golf for the first time during the five years before 2024. Only 3.3 million, or 20%, represented the net gain in on-course participation; this is a retention framing, not a simulator-specific conversion rate.
Off-course golf participation increased almost 20% from 2019 to 2022, compared with about 5% growth in on-course participation. The off-course pool was 14.3 million in 2014 and had almost doubled by 2022, but the category includes golf entertainment and indoor simulator facilities.
2023 The Graffis Report: Sample Off-Course Golfers provides the off-course comparison.
Golf Simulator Adoption Across U.S. Facilities
Facility adoption remained a minority measure in the 2024 NGF database. Overall penetration was 6.5%, while a separate rounded NGF summary described current penetration as 7%; the detailed table and rounded summary should not be treated as conflicting precision levels.
| Facility segment | Simulator adoption, 2024 |
|---|---|
| All U.S. facilities | 6.5% |
| Private facilities | 10.4% |
| Public facilities | 5.1% |
| Nine-hole facilities | 3.0% |
| 18-hole facilities | 7.5% |
| Facilities with 27 or more holes | 9.9% |
Among public facilities, adoption was 3.4% for value-priced locations with greens fees under $50 and 8.0% for premium locations with greens fees of $80 or more. Regionally, the Midwest recorded 8.4% adoption, the North 7.9% and the South 4%.
The NGF survey found that 13% of facilities planned to add simulators within one to two years: 4% described plans as definite and 9% as probable. These are operator intentions reported in 2024, not completed installations.
Additional estimates describe adjacent U.S. infrastructure at year-end 2025. Approximately 1,700 businesses focused primarily on golf-entertainment simulators and about 700 commercial simulator locations focused on instruction and club fitting existed then; approximately 1,600 green-grass facilities had simulators or range technology.
The TruGolf Holdings, Inc. Form 10-K reproduces NGF estimates in company reporting. It also describes just under 800 standalone driving ranges, about 250 with integrated ball-tracking technology; these ranges are adjacent infrastructure, not all simulator locations.
Golf Simulator Costs, Space and Installation Data
Installation economics depend on whether the operator already has suitable space and whether the setup is portable, commercial or premium. Operators with simulators reported an average investment of $45,000 per bay in an NGF survey fielded in November–December 2024, while about half of operators without a simulator expected to spend under $20,000.
The $45,000 average may reflect early, more-premium buyers, and the under-$20,000 figure is an expectation rather than a realized investment. These figures therefore describe different respondent groups and should not be read as a universal retail price.
A typical installation required approximately 15 feet of width, 13 feet of height and 21 feet of depth in the 2024 operator survey. Smaller alternative setups may exist, but the cited dimensions include the hitting and swing area.
Space was the most frequently reported obstacle among non-adopters:
- 72% of facilities without simulators cited space requirements as a barrier in the November–December 2024 survey.
- 53% cited initial investment as a barrier in the same survey.
- More than 20% of facilities reported owning at least one portable launch monitor.
These findings come from The Golf Simulator Opportunity: A Golf Facility Decision-Maker’s Guide to Implementation and ROI, 2025 Edition, based on an operator survey of n=354 fielded in November–December 2024 plus facility-database and golfer-panel data. The survey percentages are not necessarily nationally representative.
Golf Simulator Session Pricing and Customer Spending
The average simulator session fee was $55 among U.S. operators surveyed in November–December 2024. Core golfers reported spending $58 for a typical 90-minute visit in separate 2024 research, but core golfers are a comparison population rather than simulator users only.
Customer spending often extended beyond the bay fee. Surveyed simulator customers spent an additional $40 on food and beverage per visit, which NGF reported as a 73% revenue uplift and as total customer value approaching $100 per visit after food and beverage spending.
| Spending measure | Population and period | Figure |
|---|---|---|
| Average simulator session fee | Surveyed U.S. operators, Nov.–Dec. 2024 | $55 |
| Typical 90-minute visit | U.S. core golfers, 2024 | $58 |
| Additional food and beverage | Surveyed U.S. simulator customers, Nov.–Dec. 2024 | $40 |
| Total value after food and beverage | Surveyed U.S. simulator operators, Nov.–Dec. 2024 | Approaching $100 |
At public facilities, 40% of customers spent more than $70 per simulator session. More than 40% of groups split session costs among participants, a pricing behavior that can make the per-person payment different from the facility’s session fee.
Private clubs used per-session charging 59% of the time, while 18% incorporated simulator costs into member dues. Other clubs offered access free or used another pricing structure; the percentages describe club strategies, not the share of customers.
Golf Simulator Profitability and Reported ROI
The NGF’s November–December 2024 operator survey measured self-reported financial impact rather than audited profit. Overall, 70% of facilities with simulators reported a positive financial impact, while 44% said they achieved positive returns within the first month.
Reported timing bands were distributed as follows:
| Reported return milestone | Share of facilities with simulators |
|---|---|
| Positive returns within first month | 44% |
| Positive returns within two to five months | 17% |
| Positive returns within six to 11 months | 19% |
| Positive returns within 12 months or longer | 21% |
The timing categories are self-reported milestones and should not be interpreted as a guaranteed payback schedule. They also do not establish profit margins, occupancy, financing costs or lifetime customer value for an individual installation.
The source notes that its main white paper combines an operator survey of n=354 with NGF facility-database and golfer-panel data. Survey percentages are not necessarily nationally representative, so the reported ROI figures are best used as benchmarking context rather than a forecast.
Golf Simulator Demand Drivers and Market Outlook
Weather-independent play was the leading cited demand driver in 2024 U.S. user research, selected by 59% of simulator users. Because multiple motivations were permitted, the percentages below are not intended to sum to 100%.
- 59% cited weather-independent play.
- 43% cited enhanced practice capabilities.
- 34% cited performance feedback and analytics.
- 23% cited extended playing hours.
- 22% cited access to virtual course experiences.
A 2025 published report estimated that U.S. operators had approximately 10% remaining tee-sheet capacity on green-grass golf. This is an operator estimate, not a census of all tee sheets, and it concerns outdoor facility capacity rather than simulator utilization.
The market-count picture also changed across the supplied periods. Screen and simulator golf participation reached an estimated 9.2 million in the United States in 2025, while year-end 2025 estimates counted approximately 1,700 golf-entertainment simulator businesses, about 700 commercial instruction and club-fitting locations, and approximately 1,600 green-grass facilities with simulators or range technology.
The 2025 participation and market estimates are reproduced in the TruGolf Holdings, Inc. Form 10-K. The filing attributes the market counts to NGF, and those counts are not audited census results; screen-golf and simulator participation is also a combined category.