"Class Action Lawsuit Alleges NBC Illegally Profits from Golf Channel Viewer Data"

Plaintiff Justin Breault claims that NBCUniversal has been selling subscriber information to third parties is troubling given Golf Channel, Golfpass and Golf Now’s business.

The case was filed in a Massachusetts federal court and “accuses NBCUniversal’s Golf Channel of selling viewers’ personal information and viewing history without their permission.”

The information allegedly being rented or sold includes customers’ names and addresses, as well as “detailed transactional information” about the titles and subject matter of the media purchased by subscribers. 

Once the data is disclosed, the third-party recipients of the information can add other personal and demographic data for those customers, then re-sell the personal viewing information to other third-parties, the class action lawsuit says.

While not specified, presumably Breault was a Golfpass subscriber, or, before that, a Revolution Golf customer (a service purchased by Golf Channel and later folded).

Breault says he purchased a Golf Channel “subscription-based video good or service” within the past two years, and he was never notified, in writing or otherwise, that his personal or viewing information would be disclosed to third-parties.

However, Breault claims, NBCUniversal disclosed his personal information, “including, inter alia, Plaintiff’s name, postal address, telephone number, gender, age, income, whether he has children, and his homeowner status, as well as the title of the video service/product Plaintiff purchased” to marketing companies, data appenders and aggregators or other third-parties.

I’ve asked Golf Channel for comment and will amend this post to reflect any statement when received.

Back in June, a lawsuit was filed against Golf Channel, NBC and Rory McIlroy over the use of Golfpass, a trademarked service.

GolfClub’s GOLFPASS, which is a United States Golf Association official golf club that partners with local golf courses and allows customers to book tee times through a mobile application, alleges that the group of defendants misappropriated its business name when they launched their own version of Golfpass in February of 2019 in violation of the Lanham Act and monopolized the market for digital tee time booking in violation of the Sherman Act and Clayton Act. Court documents filed by GolfClub and its CEO, Christopher Silano, allege that McIlroy, who is described as a "Founding Partner" of Golfpass, and the defendants knowingly took the name GOLFPASS despite GolfClub first using it and establishing trademark rights.

Court papers further allege that as soon as Rory McIlroy and NBC launched their platform, consumers and potential partners immediately began confusing the two platforms to GolfClub’s detriment, and that Silano regularly started receiving a barrage of emails from customers complaining about the McIlroy/NBC service and app.

In news related to Golf Channel’s Orlando facility where most employees have been laid off and closure is coming this fall, Monivette Cordeiro reports for the Orlando Sentinel on channel employees suing Lockheed Martin over mismanagement of toxins that workers allege contaminated them. There are reports of multiple sclerosis, brain lesions, cancer and other diseases caused by the dumping of toxins into the ground water.

For decades, Lockheed Martin manufactured heavy weaponry at its facilities, generating “dangerous wastes,” including different types of metal sludge, oils and greases, metal cuttings and scraps, cyanide and spent acid solutions, the lawsuit said.

Instead of carefully managing the waste, attorneys alleged Lockheed Martin stored toxins in leaking storage tanks, collected and transported waste in leaking underground piping systems and dumped tons of toxic waste sludge inside trenches dug at the Orlando facility.

“Lockheed Martin’s stunning indifference to environmental protection and human health resulted in staggering levels of contamination at the Orlando [facility],” the lawsuit said.

Regulations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency limit certain chemical contaminants in drinking water to 5 parts per billion (ppb) with a goal of having zero. The lawsuit alleges two contaminants were detected in groundwater underneath the Lockheed Martin facility in concentrations as high as 386,000 ppb and 213,600 ppb.

Eleven Golf Channel employees who worked at the facility from 1994 to 2020 are named in the suit.

"The Sports Industry’s Gen Z Problem" And Golf

Move over M’s!

The Z’s are here and if the last decade’s millennial pandering is any indication, Generation Z is the sports industry’s new focus.

At least, given the numbers presented by The Morning Consult’s Alex Silverman showing less Gen Z enthusiasm for sports than millennials.

Simply put, those born from 1996 and on do not appear to be serious sports viewing fans.

Gen Z’s relative disinterest in sports is reflected in its viewing habits: While 42 percent of all adults, and 50 percent of millennials, said they watch live sports at least once a week, only 1 in 4 individuals ages 13-23 said the same. In addition, Gen Zers were twice as likely as millennials to say they “never” watch live sports.

They are, apparently, degenerate gamblers in the making…

Zach Leonsis, senior vice president of strategic initiatives at franchise ownership group and media company Monumental Sports & Entertainment, said the keys to growing live viewership among young fans are accessibility and opportunities for engagement.

“Sports properties need to make sure that their games are digestible and available via streaming products,” Leonsis said. “They need to make their games engaging by fostering gamification, daily fantasy, free-to-play games and, ultimately, sports betting.”

Golf did not fare too well in the findings, failing to make the chart above showing avid or casual numbers, landing in the 17% or below group that includes MLS, F1 and the Premier League but below UFC, NASCAR and the WNBA.

The polling was conducted a month ago, thereby not accounting for this summer’s pandemic-related spike in recreational interest. Either way, expect golf organizations to lose their minds over this data and make the millennial pandering pale by comparison.

As for “engagement” of teenagers via gambling, I wonder if that’s data-based or just wishful thinking for an industry looking to expand revenue streams.

Intersecting Stories Help Better Explain Why Comcast Is Downsizing Golf Channel

Last week The Athletic’s Brendan Quinn detailed the rather stunning changes at Golf Channel and the likely blurring of editorial lines as the network is moved to Connecticut, with offices in the PGA Tour’s new expensive new headquarters.

The confounding implosion of Arnold Palmer and Joe Gibbs’ successful vision is coming into better focus after two stories emerged connecting more dots.

Palash Gosh at International Business Times reports on activist investor Nelson Peltz acquiring 7.2 million shares in Golf Channel owner Comcast, as first reported in the Wall Street Journal. Peltz’s Trian Fund now holds 20 million shares and a 0.4% stake in the company, believing the stock is undervalued, looks forward to discussions about improving the company, yada, yada.

The Journal commented that Trian is known for “encouraging changes at companies it targets, such as a breakup or sale of underperforming divisions or moves to improve efficiency and better use capital. It often seeks board representation and tries to avoid public spats, unlike some of its more pugnacious rivals.”

However, Comcast may be difficult for Trian to influence as Brian Roberts, its chairman and chief executive officer, controls about one-third of the stock’s voting rights.

Another Wall Street Journal story on the same day—mitzvah time!—not coincidentally details Comcast and NBC’s plan to essentially wind down several key cable channels they see as an “albatross” and put their focus into “individual franchises” for the Peacock app.

Thanks to reader Todd for Lillian Rizzo and Joe Flint’s story that included this:

The future is also dimming for sports networks like the Golf Channel and NBC Sports Network. Hockey and soccer games are likely to appear more frequently on USA Network and Peacock, the people say.

The move to downsize cable networks comes as the pandemic weighs on NBCUniversal’s business. Movie-theater closures hurt its film operation, its theme parks were closed and TV ad spending fell off. NBC’s second-quarter revenue shrank 25% compared with the same period last year.

When Comcast acquired control of NBCUniversal nearly a decade ago, Chief Executive Brian Roberts cited the cable entertainment networks as a key attraction in the deal.

And now those channels, along with sagging numbers at NBC would seem to be part of Peltz’s desire to see Comcast consider shedding the units via breakup or sale. Budget cuts seem unlikely since, as last weekends bare bone U.S. Open telecast showed, NBC has already trimmed so much.

Sadly, as Quinn noted last week, any outcome of this corporate arm wrestling appears too late for the several hundred who lost jobs. Worse, for viewers who appreciated the vision of Palmer and Gibbs, the damage has already been done.

Danny Lee Apologizes For Shocking 6-Putt Not Seen On U.S. Open Broadcast

As I noted here, NBC carried eight hours of 2020 U.S. Open coverage last Saturday but Danny Lee’s unbelievable 6-putt meltdown did not make the show. Only after an influencer Tweet did the sequence make it on the Sunday morning pre-game show where it was decried as “not a great look.”

Tuesday, Danny Lee admirably pulled out the old Notes app, typed out an apology and posted it to Twitter. He says he has been battling a wrist issue—the reason cited for his WD—and will be taking some time off.

pic.twitter.com/liZZsTppG5

— Danny Lee (@dannygolf72) September 22, 2020

The 2020 U.S. Open's Overnight Ratings Are Not Good

Showbuzzydaily.com

The rescheduled 2020 U.S. Open provides a rare, and (hopefully) one-off look into what happens when a major championship moves to the fall against the NFL.

The numbers, courtesy of ShowBuzzDaily.com’s Mitch Metcalf, saw Sunday’s final round earn a 1.99 overnight rating, on par with the better “Return to Golf” events but easily a record U.S. Open low.

The previous benchmark for a U.S. Open final round came in 2014 when Martin Kaymer’s runaway win earned a 3.0 on NBC. However, that event was not going up against top-flight NFL matchups on CBS and Fox, where this year’s tournament was crushed by two dynamite games: Cowboys vs. Falcons and Chiefs vs. Chargers.

Against less competition Saturday, the 8-hour third round telecast averaged a 1.92, or 542,000 viewers in the only age group that purportedly shops.

NBC’s weekday coverage drew more decently, with a 1.33 Thursday and a 1.51 Friday.

Golf Channel’s first-year televising U.S. Open action appears have established record overnight lows which will almost certainly improve in 2021 when the event returns to June and a west coast venue.

Three editions of “Live From” surfaced in the top 150 cable shows, with Sunday’s post-final round edition earning a .03/171,000 viewers.

**Paulsen at SportsMediaWatch offered more on the various all-time lows and percentage declines.

Third round action averaged a 1.9 and 3.04 million, also the lowest on record. The previous lows were a 2.2 (2016 and 2017) and 3.20 million (2014). The telecast declined 32% in ratings and 27% in viewership from last year (2.8, 4.20M) and 24% and 19% respectively from 2018 (2.5, 3.77M).

The increase from Saturday’s third round to Sunday’s final round — just 5% — is the smallest on record for the tournament. Last year’s final round increased 57% in ratings and 74% in viewership over the third round.

NBC also averaged a 1.5 and 2.30 million for second round coverage on Friday (both -12%) and a 1.3 (-44%) and 1.96 million (-43%) for opening round action last Thursday. NBC’s weekday windows began in the afternoon, while last year’s comparable FOX telecasts aired mostly in primetime.

U.S. Open Coverage Shifting To Peacock Goes About As Well As Expected

As predicted some time ago, the inclusion of Peacock as part of NBC’s streaming strategy might upset U.S. Open fans. This, even though the app was free and shockingly, completely free of ads during its round one debut on Comcast’s big foray into streaming.

Todd Kelly reports on the viewer issues with Peacock, which picked up the last and first two hours of weekday coverage (more weekend windows early are looming).

Problem is, Peacock doesn’t quite have Netflix-level penetration across the U.S. and many sports fans are probably still scrambling as this story was being typed, looking for that app. NBCUniversal reported on Sept. 15 that 15 million people have signed up. It first debuted about three months ago for Comcast and Cox subscribers.

They’re probably banking on acquiring more by using a major championship to spur sports fans to jump on board.

Good news: You can find Peacock on your computer by going here. You do need to create an account but it’s free.

Reports on Twitter are that Peacock is not on the Roku. It’s been confirmed that it’s also not on the Amazon Firestick, but, there’s a work-around for that.

Nothing says well-oiled machine like a workaround and being unattached to Roku and Amazon.

But the kids love their streaming no matter how clunky it remains for sports viewing. Personally, I had no issues with Peacock working on a smart TV other than a noticeable loss of picture quality and whites looking blue, some of which was verified by many on Twitter if you hit this and read the replies:

For those who made the leap, anyone else finding the US Open @peacockTV picture to be softer than @nbc and @GolfChannel? Graphics that looked so good now feel very 2007.

— Geoff Shackelford (@GeoffShac) September 17, 2020

Report: GolfChannel.com Shuttering At Year's End

Brendan Quinn at The Athletic dropped a doozy of a feature that I’ll return to next week when Golf Channel’s U.S. Open coverage is over.

But among the many exclusive details: NBC (and therefore Comcast)’s dismantling of Golf Channel: the stunning end of the channel’s reliable, award-winning golf website, GolfChannel.com.

Quinn writes:

Golfchannel.com is being shuttered at the end of the year. Its content will move to NBCSports.com, where it will be found as a drop down option off the main page, like any other sport. Its staff is shrinking dramatically, weakening the focus on written content and originally produced journalism.

Now holding heaps of live programming costing countless millions of dollars, including documentary work and television series, Golf Channel is expected to dramatically reduce if not outright eliminate original productions.

Fox And NBC Initially Negotiated Landmark Rights Trade Without The USGA

The next time someone mentions “ironclad” and sports rights contracts, you’ll probably think of this story by Dave Shedloski at GolfDigest.com.

He speaks to several figures, including NBC’s Jon Miller, who largely orchestrated the unbelievable swap of USGA rights from Fox back to NBC/Golf Channel by staying in touch with the Fox execs. Former USGA official and now-NBC Sports head Pete Bevacqua also played a key role in bringing the two sides back together after the shocking end to NBC’s prior deal.

Most amazing in the sequence of events might have been this revelation:

FOX and NBC had to hammer out a deal in which the two sides split nearly equally the cost of the remainder of the FOX contract. Talks wrapped up in early June. But that was hardly the end of it. FOX did not have the right to simply assign the TV rights to NBC. The USGA had to sign off on it, essentially negotiating an exit deal with FOX and closing on a new deal with NBC.

FOX representatives broke the news of their agreement with NBC to Davis at a June 17 meeting at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J.

Well that must have been a surprise!

The initial story broken by AP’s Doug Ferguson insinuated that Fox asked out of the deal after not coming to a resolution with USGA officials over this year’s tournament rights.

Johnny On Crappy Shots, Phil's Booth Appearance & NBC Getting The U.S. Open Back

Adam Schupak at Golfweek asks all the right questions in part one of this chat with Johnny Miller, who, frankly is missed as analysts increasingly cheer-lead and coddle.

There was this on calling a crappy shot a crappy shot:

GOLFWEEK: Have you become softer and less critical when you watch the PGA Tour now that you’re no longer in the broadcast booth?

JM: I don’t know if the word is critical. I see things that the other guys don’t see. When I see those things, I want to share them with the public. If it’s a crappy shot, it’s a crappy shot, it’s nothing personal. If I say it is a great shot, I want people to think, dang, Johnny, thought that was a great shot.

Like in the 2006 U.S. Open, we saw Phil (Mickelson) make two mental errors. You don’t have to play it like you’re on a white horse prancing up to the green. Poop it up there with a 3-iron, hit a 4-iron somewhere around the green, up and in or worst-case scenario you’re in a playoff. That was the biggest fall apart in that U.S. Open on the last hole in history. Harrington bogeyed the last three holes to lose by two. Furyk bogeyed the last hole. Mickelson made double bogey. Montgomerie got hosed, I thought. He had to wait for like 5 minutes. I thought he got such a bad break there. Then he chili-dipped it short of the green and didn’t get it up and in. Never has the last hole had so many scenarios. It was just incredible. That course is tough. Oakmont and Winged Foot must be the two toughest courses in tournament golf.

Ah…let’s get Johnny on Zoom this week! Or Comcast Business Solutions. Or whatever it takes!

GW: What did you think of NBC reacquiring the U.S. Open broadcast rights?

JM: If I had known that, I might have gone another year. It wasn’t like I had to retire.

Oh?

I’m happy for them. I don’t know how committed Fox was, but NBC is turning out the guns to make it a fantastic Open. Tommy Roy and Tom Randolph are like savants when it comes to TV golf and they’ll make it back to where it should be.

And on Phil Mickelson’s 2020 PGA Championship whirlwind booth visit that had (most) viewers wanting more:

GW: What did you think of Phil Mickelson’s guest appearance in the booth with CBS at the PGA Championship?

JM: They asked me who do you think could do a good job the way you like to see it done, and I said Tiger and Phil and I think Phil is even more outspoken. Both of those guys with their intellect and pedigree, Phil, I thought, was fabulous on TV. He’d probably like everyone to go home and he’d do all the jobs. Phil’s an amazing guy. He can talk. He doesn’t say, ‘In my opinion,’ but he can talk. All the great players are a little that way in they think they know it all and they make good decisions, which is a mark of a champion.

Well, mostly good decisions. Outside of Winged Foot.

2.4: 2020 Tour Championship Ratings Down But In Line With Return Events

Monday’s final round of the Tour Championship on NBC drew a 2.4 rating, essentially the same as the previous week’s BMW (2.23). However, that event finished later in the day and on a Sunday. It also featured arguably the most spectacular late dramatics since Tiger’s 2019 Masters win.

But the Tour Championship is also supposed to be the culmination of the PLAYOFFS(C) and now features an easier-to-follow, if flawed, format. Drawing a number consistent with other “Return to Golf” events might be disappointing to the event backers.

Also, TV folks say Labor Day Monday is generally tougher for ratings in normal times. Yet with fewer people traveling, not as many kids returning to school and absolutely no significant sports competition that day, this year’s edition seemed primed for a large audience.

The rating could be seen as a positive given that a fan-free East Lake was even more mojo-free than normal and the event lacked certain ratings draws.

Ratings positives courtesy of NBC and Golf Channel:

Monday Final Round on NBC:

• Linear viewership (not TAD) for the final group’s back nine commercial-free stretch (3-6 p.m. ET, 4.007 million) down 9% vs. ‘19 (4.381 million).

Across four days:

• Tour Championship live coverage across Golf Channel and NBC (2.000 million), +37% vs. 2019

• Event average (Friday through Monday) on Golf Channel and NBC sees 2020 become second most-watched Tour Championship (behind ‘18) over past 20 years (2000-‘20). 

  • Most-watched with persons 25-54 since ‘12.

The Friday-to-Monday setup this year did allow Golf Channel to boast about Saturday’s second round cable ratings, even if the comparison wasn’t a perfect one given last year’s traditional Thursday-Sunday, non-pandemic situation.

The bigger question: if this is the second most-watched Tour Championship for the Golf Channel portion in twenty years, maybe the format and course still needs to be reviewed? Say, actual play-offs in the form of a 36-hole cut (with a sudden death playoff to advance) and another after 54 that injects just a bit more drama?

I realize such an idea means shaming players who have to go home early and, in normal times, giving fans fewer golfers to watch on site. But if this event wants to carry the playoff moniker, something (still) has to be done or else it will just rate like any old tournament.

2020 Masters Final Round Will Need To Start Early To Make Way For A Dolphins-Jets Mid-Season Thriller

CBS Sports President Sean McManus previewed the NFL season and Sunday, November 15th came up—aka rescheduled 2020 Masters week.

The final round sounds as if it’ll have a similar setup to the 2019 Masters when tee times were moved up to get play in before inclement weather. This time, however, the expedited start will be making room for a mash-up of mediocrity between 2019’s 5-11 Miami Dolphins against the 7-9 New York Jets.

What Clifford Roberts might have said to member/NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on that news? Maybe a passive-aggressive Heidi reference? Or a reminder that the Masters only happens once a year? Or…if you’d like to keep wearing that green jacket you’ll move this massive meeting of mediocrity?

Anyway, a 7:30-9 am or so setup, featuring threesomes off split tees, will be used again to accommodate the NFL on CBS based on the below Tweet and confirmation I received of the general window from CBS:

CBS sports chairman Sean McManus says Masters final round will end by 2:30 or so on Nov. 15 to make way for 3 NFL games at 4:05,including Fins-Jets.Also, in this ongoing call with writers,Romo explained to me why he likes how Dolphins are doing this rebuild.(More on this shortly)

— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) September 8, 2020

For those wondering, sunrise is expected at 6:59 am ET on November 15th and sunset is set for 5:24 pm ET.

Report: Moribund PGA Tour "Playoffs" To (Mercifully) End Monday

2020 has been positive in one very small sense: it has spawned some spectacular, even unprecedented “playoff” naps. We’re talking circa 2012, 2014 level melatonin injections after mere minutes of tuning into the PGA Tour’s three season-ending non-thrill rides.

While I enjoyed some drool-inducers during Olympia Fields week, nothing has come close to Sunday’s third round siesta extraordinaire.

You know the kind: wake up to a golf telecast with no idea what day it is, what year it is, or what tournament is making that background noise.

The affairs at East Lake have been made worse by a random confluence of factors. There is the soul-crushing sight of watching the Johnson brothers reading greens, Feherty buttoning up in fear of a 904 party-pooper questioning his jokes, and the traditionally energy-light venue which somehow feels even more moribund than usual. I’m almost pining for the East Lake Cup college mascots to make a cameo. Almost.

Juxtapose this stagnant $45 million snoozer against compelling NBA games, NBC’s impressive Kentucky Derby coverage (where no controversy was ignored), and Sunday’s bizarro Djokovic U.S. Open antics, and the PGA Tour’s Super Bowl seems more unimaginably dull than normal.

Good news: just one more day in the 2019-20 season remains until players regroup from the playoff stress and assorted hard-contact injuries to start all over again next Thursday in Napa.

Until then, Dustin Johnson seems primed to add $15 million to his bank account on the back of an impressive fourth-straight week holding a 54-hole lead. He leads by five. But it’s such a joyless form of golf to watch that goes beyond on the, uh, placid demeanor of the leader. Risk and reward is almost non-existent. The players rarely smile or seem remotely happy to be there. The NBC telecast looks like a show with a slashed budget and sounds like a live infomercial. A far cry from the aforementioned big-time events where the storytelling and honesty lures the viewer in. But, this is what the players and Ponte Vedra brass demand no matter how synthetic and dull.

So if your Labor Day schedule is light, then 4 1/2 hours of NBC coverage begins at 1 pm ET. And if you’re wondering, Xander Schauffele would be leading a way more compelling final round setup if this was not a net championship.

But I doubt you were wondering.

2020 BMW Ratings Up 10% Without NFL Preseason, LPGA Sunday Finish Fails To Rate

Showbuzzdaily.com

Buoyed by a strong finish spilling into the prime time window, the 2020 BMW championship was up 10% from 2019’s playing, drawing a 2.3 and 3.4 million average viewers on NBC. Jon Rahm defeated Dustin Johnson after both made unbelievable 18th green putts, one in regulation (Johnson) and the latter in the sudden death (Rahm).

The 2020 BMW was played a week later than last year and without NFL preseason competition.

The 2.23 final round rating almost won the sports weekend, falling just short of NASCAR’s Saturday race but easily outdrawing several NBA playoff games on cable.

The 2020 BMW weekend lead-in coverage on Golf Channel was essentially flat from last year (.54/.73 in 2019 vs. .64/.68 in 2020).

Meanwhile, the LPGA Tour remained in a traditional weekend finish slow and attempted to go against the PGA Tour and many other sports. Both weekend rounds of the Walmart NW Arkansas on Golf Channel aired from 5-7 pm ET and failed to land in the top 150 cable shows.

To beat the drum for the 913th time: why try to compete with so many viewing options, particularly when fan-free events should free up Monday or Tuesday finishes?

Azinger, Brandel See Romo-Like Qualities To Phil's PGA Booth Audition

During a media call to promote the upcoming playoffs, Paul Azinger and Brandel Chamblee swooned over Phil Mickelson’s brief CBS/PGA Championship stint.

From Alan Bastable at Golf.com:

“I listen to every word that’s said on air and check it and cross-check it, and I find myself pulling for the commentators as much as I do the players,” Chamblee said. “I want them to tell me something I don’t know. I want them to tell me something nobody else has thought of, and it’s hard to do that because the whole world is kicking and scratching for the same information and they all have the same information, and I thought Phil did that.”

And while Phil has no plans to retire to the booth anytime soon, the two NBC stars are anxious to see where his TV career goes.

“I thought it was hilarious; some of the most compelling golf I watched was watching Mickelson in the booth,” Azinger said. “I loved it. “

Don’t love it too much, gents. He’s a free agent.

Vin Scully Auctioning Off His Clubs And A Whole Lot More

An unbylined AP story sent to me by reader Steve details legendary broadcaster Vin Scully’s plans to sell off much of his memorabilia, including golf items right down to his clubs.

Vin Scully sat outside watching two sets of his golf clubs being loaded into a truck. He thought of afternoons teeing off at Bel-Air Country Club or with President George H.W. Bush.

Those left-handed clubs had produced a lot of shots over many rounds, some good, some bad. Traipsing the fairways was a way to relax and swap stories away from the ballpark through the years. Seeing them go stirred emotion that surprised the 92-year-old Hall of Fame announcer.

"Wow, there is a chapter of my life that really hurts," Scully told The Associated Press, "but at my age and after some physical problems, I knew I'd never be able to hold them again. I heard a door close in my life."
Scully took a bad fall in April at the end of his driveway while retrieving the mail, breaking his nose and ribs and suffering a concussion.

"It was a learning experience," he said. "I hold on to my walker."

Scully is spreading the proceeds between family members to pay for home schooling and to UCLA for neuromuscular research.