The Promotion Or The Format?

Ron Kroichick says what others have been saying, namely that the Tour's promotion of the FedEx Cup is largely to blame for fan and media apathy:

The flaws of the FedEx Cup, then, begin with how Finchem and other tour officials promoted their pet project. They tried to jam it down our throats all year, as if the playoffs really were more important than the majors. They didn't put it that way, of course, but the implication turned off many fans (and players).

It seems to me that while that is true, the PGA Tour is in a tough position because of a perceived need to cater to "tradition."

Now, I'm just as guilty as anyone of revering golf's traditions, but if the promotion conveyed that the FedEx Cup was simply a new, fresh way to conclude the year and merely meant to entertain us, would they have been raked over the coals for daring to imply that professional golf is in the entertainment business above all else?

I'm afraid so. Which is a shame, because the pro game needs more variety outside of the major season. The Tour needs ore interesting formats, more diverse courses and more variety in setups.

But it seems golf, and in particular, pro golfers, are too conservative and devoid of imagination to accept anything outside of 72-holes of stroke play each week played on a course looking pretty similar to the one played the week before.

So has the promotion rubbed you the wrong way or is it the format?

Comments

[An_ony_mouse]

A little of both. The promotion has seemed endless. The format bugs me in that I'd like to see the Tour Championship be match play. Take the top 32 (instead of 30) and play 5 days of 36 hole matches.

Maybe one of the weeks before play some other form of play like modified Stableford.

Also, I wish that once the playoffs are done, they would put in a team event or two that would count as official money. Perhaps a Foursomes one week and a Four Ball another. They used to have them as part of the regular season.

[CMA]

In my mind, a lot of it has to do with the name. Call it the Hagen Cup or the Hogan Cup, and more fans might embrace it - or at least accept that it could be the beginning of something special. Having "FedEx" in the name screams promotionalism and advertising…and denigrates the event.


How long is FedEx even obligated to carry on as the sponsor? Won’t it be silly when we have to call it the Target Cup… and then the Ebay Cup…much like the Buy.com Tour…Nike Tour...Nationwide Tour.

[Glyn]

I agree with CMA, it's the Super Bowl not the Coca-Cola bowl, the World Series, not the Nike Series of baseball. In fact I hate all the tournaments with sponser names to be honest because I can't keep them straight from year to year. Maybe it's too late now though the horses seem to have left the barn for good on that one.

[RM]

It's a little bit of everything that adds up. Over-promotion, the points system (why not award points on a lower scale, say 100 for a victory and then on down, instead of thousands), the (negative) impact on the rest of the schedule (especially the grueling bridgstone through ryder/pres cup stretch), the creation of the lame fall season. It just feels like everything else had to suffer for these 4 weeks, and even though these 4 weeks will actually be pretty good, it just feels like they risked too much and the reward is not there, at least for the fans. And it's really going to be a bummer on Sunday at The Tour Championship if the leaders of the FedEx Cup are not the leaders of the actual tournament. But there is still one word that is mostly to blame: confusion.

[jay]

can someone explain why pga live scoring color codes standings at #1-15,16-30 and 31-144 as opposed to #1-30, 31-70, 71-120 and 121-144. is it because only the top 15 have a chance at winning the coveted fed ex cup?

[Joe]

Why didn't the Tour do a "Playoffs, Playoffs" commercial featuring Jim Mora.

[Golfboy]

You can debate the merits of the format all you like, but the beginning of this Three Mile Island meltdown of the Tour goes back to those three little words: The. Golf. Channel.

I'm vaguely aware that it exists (like anti-matter) but it's even less relevant to my daily life. To me, that was the beginning of the end. No different than when the Senior Tour (I refuse to use the other name) was relegated to CNBC or whatever the hell it was.

What a bunch of idiots.

[Smolmania]

From the Chicago point of view, my objection may be quantified in two words: WESTERN OPEN.

The second oldest tournament in this country is no more. And we don't even get a tournament at all next year.

This entire promotion is an attempt by Mr. Finchem to create a legacy. This wasn't the bold stroke taken by the LPGA in its season ender. It's a contrived set of "playoffs" designed (ostensibly) to "make golf more relevant" in the fall. Sorry Mr. F, won't ever happen. Football is king in this country and there isn't anything that a $10million contribution to some millionaire's retirement will do to change that.

[The Big K]

The utter lack of imagination that was put into it, for certain.

And also, Tim Finchem. Probably a good guy, great husband and father, but when he gets in the broadcast booth you wonder if they could find a less inspiring leader.

[Jay]

Also, the paycheck, which isn't the usual cash on the barrel, but rather an annuity at age 45.

At that point, do they get all the money, or do they get yearly payments?

And why did they do it this way, which seems to be a first in sports?

[Smolmania]

I just saw 4 putts post below about shipping with UPS and I remember why I hate this concept. 10 years ago my brother got married, and for his bachelor party I was going to take the wedding party out for a round of golf at Las Sendas. I'd seen an article in Golf Digest about shipping your clubs, and since it's a pain I did. . . they made it to Memphis. My clubs, my late father's staff bag.

Fed Ex claimed that I had not declared the value of my shipment because the amount did not clearly make it all the way through to the shipper's copy (tho I had my copy with a declared value). My renter's insurance covered the clubs. I wrote to State Farm volunteering to sue the assholes for free, and that I'd even pay the costs. A week later a lawyer from their subrogation dept. called me -- the sent my letter on to Fed Ex, who promptly paid State Farm for my loss.

Ship with UPS and F*&^ the Fed Up Cup!

[Josh Hoisington]

The loss of the Western Open was the last straw for me, as well.

I agree that a couple of matchplay events and even a four-ball type of thing every now and again would be good for the tour.

[CBell]

Format, hypocrisy, timing. Big tournaments ought to be...

March: TPC
April: Masters.
May: PGA
June: US Open
July: British Open
August: Fed Ex [Move the Memorial to here; Jack wouldn't mind his course being a little brown.]
September: Prez Cup or Ryder Cup, 2nd or 3rd weekend
October: Tour Championship

[Hawkeye]

Now that it's officially begun, I must say that I'm more intrigued than I'd expected. I thought it was kind of cool to have two leaderboards - one showing the standing in the tournament and one the standing in the cup (with the three different cut marks for the upcoming tournaments). And that's only the first round, so it's likely going to be more interesting in the upcoming weeks.

But as for the question - the hype, definitely. It has been nothing short of an insult to the audience's intelligence.

[86general]

I describe the hyping of the thing as "lame," but that isn't responsible for the apathy and disinterest.

That stems from the fact that the signature events in golf are already over. The worst part of the hyping is the name itself. The corporate name just ruins it.

But not all of the hyping is lame, for me anyway. I like some of the ads, like the ones about the golf-crazed office workers, etc.

Having a season-ending tournament and champion would be great, but it looks like it's not going to work. Maybe interest and buzz will pick up after a few years.

[Joe]

Is it just a coincidence that the best events in golf (the majors the Ryder Cup, the US Am,) are the events that have absolutely nothing to do with the PGA Tour -- no corporate title sponsor, no pro-am, no stupid commercials, no hole-in-one prizes, no lame CEO of title sponsor interview, no "playoffs" just golf.

[86general]

I think there are plenty of stupid commercials in ALL televised sports, not just golf.

USGA commercials? Ugh.

[Smolmania]

Sorry I missed this on tgc last evening:

Steve Sands is interviewing Vijay about the tournament and blah blah blah and then asks if he's a little extra excited about this year's event because it's the beginning of the playoffs...

VS - "No, not really"...
SS - "really, not even a little bit more interested?"
VS - "No, why should I be?"
SS - "Well Veej, it's the first event of an historic event, the first ever playoffs"
VS - "No, it really doesn't excite me all that much..."

I saw this on GCA this morning. Veej, I couldn't have said it better. . .

[Jordan]

CBell is close. But the "big events" should be:

March - Match Play
April - Masters
May - Players
June - U.S. Open
July - British
August - PGA
September - Ryder or President's (Shouldn't they just let the internationals in with the Euros and get rid of the President's altogheter?)
October (early) - Tour Championship
October (late) - World Golf Championship

Also would be nice to see the best from the PGA Tour play the Australian and South African Opens in our winter months on courses like Melbourne, New South Wales, and Durban. Would also be nice if they gave the Canadian Open a better date and to see the RCGA move the tournament outside of Ontario and Quebec.

[biib]

I kept an open mind during all the hype during this golf season. Now that the FedEx Cup "playoffs" have begun I agree with the posts above that they are a waste. I did not know that the tour killed The Western Open. Yet another tour event played at a muni course that is gone. I did watch the Westchester (sorry, the Barclays) yesterday and was baffled by the "Projected Standings" on screen display: Birdie - x place ; Par - y place ; Bogey - z place. Huh? Shot by shot projections of the standings during the third round of the first of four events? Give the PGA Tour a double bogey on that one.