"The new age of televising golf on Thursdays and Fridays has backfired."

Gary Van Sickle tries to consider the health of the PGA Tour and focuses his case against Tim Finchem on the attempts to create too many "big events."

First, I thought this was a great point:

Too much television exposure: Finchem finally realized a long-term goal when every PGA Tour event got television coverage. The new age of televising golf on Thursdays and Fridays has backfired. At best, it's oversaturation. At worst, it's a bad product. My sympathies to the TV producers who have to find some kind of story to tell while covering the tail-end of the first or second rounds with nothing more to show than journeymen and Q-school grads. Often, the leader played in the morning, and no one near the lead is even on the course when the coverage begins. Factor in a B-team broadcast squad, and you've got a product far inferior to the weekend coverge.

I suspect that while he is right, the PGA Tour and sponsors love getting highlights of great shots aired on Sportscenter during the week and will never give up these early telecasts, no matter how boring they are.

"Some players get it, and some don't."

Lorne Rubenstein talks to Canadian Open tournament director Bill Paul about Tim Finchem's recent plea to players. Lots of interesting stuff, including this:

The PGA Tour and the players have steadily resisted calls from sponsors to accept, for instance, a one-in-four rule. By that rule, every player would be forced to play each tournament at least once every four years.

But Paul said that every time this is suggested, players use the "independent contractor" definition for proof that they play where they want to play, not where they're told to play. Paul also pointed out that tournaments that always get Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, to cite the two players most in demand, object to an imposition of any such rule.

"They say, 'If I can get Tiger every year, why should I settle for one or two [appearances every four years]?' "

So it goes for co-operation among sponsors. It's survival of the fittest and fattest.

But what about when players who do show up refuse to schmooze with sponsors and fans? Where does it say players shouldn't be more sociable? No wonder, as Paul said, tournament sponsors are cutting back on hospitality events. It's no fun to give a party when few players, if any, show up.

"You have to give the tour credit for at least trying to get players to show up on a volunteer basis to the hospitality tents," Paul said of what the tour's done in the past. "Some players get it, and some don't."

Finchem Issues Video Plea To Players

Looking like he'd been kidnapped, Tim Finchem issued a plea to PGA Tour players for upbeat messaging and overall call to not act like entitled brats in '09. Lit by an Ikea fluorescant bulb lamp tilted sideways by an unnamed PGA Tour VP who made the cost-cutting suggestion, it was reported by SBJ's Jon Show that Finchem suggested the slugs add an event here or there, you know, for the effort.

"We’re asking every player to add a tournament or two to their historical schedule to assist the tournaments that historically have weak fields,” Finchem said. "We have a lot of title sponsors this year that are up for renewal. We have to put our best foot forward in terms of presenting our competitions." On the subject of showing appreciation to sponsors, whose payments range from thousands of dollars to millions, Finchem asked players to spend more time visiting corporate hospitality areas and “make your feelings known about the role of the sponsors, both publicly and in private communication to leadership of our sponsor companies."

I guess Tiger didn't pass along the video link to Stevie Williams:

He also requested that players avoid making negative public comments about the Tour. "We want players to be, No. 1, upbeat and positive about what the PGA Tour is doing and where we’re going,” Finchem said. "We want you to be excited about the competitive opportunities that you have. And third, we want you to talk about PGA Tour properties when you describe what this year, 2009, is all about. Particularly the FedEx Cup." He also asks players to be more involved in charity functions during tournament weeks. Before closing by wishing the players happy holidays, Finchem said, “I want to thank you in advance for the additional commitment that I know you’ll be making in 2009.”

Is that thanking them in advance part like a Corleone saying "I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse"?

Oh and Freddie Couples must feel good that the Commish has a painting of him on the office wall.

"It's like worrying about the weather to some extent, but you've certainly got to have your raincoat on."

Chris Millard summarizes the economic crisis' impact on golf and shares this from Commissioner Finchem:

PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem strikes a veteran tone when asked about challenges facing the tour in 2009.

"You just have to react to it," he says. "It's like worrying about the weather to some extent, but you've certainly got to have your raincoat on. You've got to work harder to deal with it. You've got to make sure that you're doing what has made you successful before, because we've been through these before, and we've come through them quite well."

Nothing like a good raincoat metaphor to start your day, eh? At least he wasn't using it in the other raincoat vein.

This next item could be why there has been no 2009 schedule release. The Commish is coming into the Sherwood cart barn to answer press questions Saturday, so perhaps this has been resolved:

The biggest question mark on the 2009 PGA Tour is the Wachovia Championship. With the impending purchase of Wachovia by Wells Fargo, the sponsorship and the championship remain in limbo. According to Ty Votaw, the tour's executive vice president of communications and international affairs, Wells Fargo can still be expected to stage the event. "They assume the contract of Wachovia," he says. "They're the successor organization."

Wells Fargo isn't so sure. Company spokeswoman Heather Schow told Golf Digest on Oct. 30, "We are still separate companies, and no decisions have been made as to how Wells Fargo and Wachovia will combine their sponsorship activities."

And about those ironclad contracts...

Broader concerns lie in the tour's overall sponsor mix. In 2008, the PGA Tour calendar had six tournaments title-sponsored by automobile manufacturers and 14 tournaments titled by financial-services/insurance companies.

"Fact of the matter is that if somebody comes up and says, 'Look, we can't pay—sue us,' that's not in the best interest of the tour," says Alexander, who foresees some negative pressure on the tour in 2009 but expresses confidence in the tour's ability to withstand it. It's the organization's lesser tours—the Champions and Nationwide tours—where he believes the greatest impact could be felt.

"We've got to assume and prepare for some slippage, and prepare for some replacement there."

It seems Reuters convened some sort of sports summit and Commissioner Finchem appeared with his posse to spin things. He did reveal a few things worth noting...

"We've got to assume and prepare for some slippage, and prepare for some replacement there."

Finchem said the PGA had already held a wide range of discussions with companies about adding new sponsors or expanding existing deals if necessary.

Finchem said Toyota Motor Corp, the world's largest automaker, could be one candidate for a bigger marketing presence in U.S. golf, while others could come from industries that "have performed relatively well during the downturn".

Such sectors include energy, the environment and retail, and Finchem mentioned the world's largest retailer Wal-Mart may be one company that could broaden its role.

More interesting was this Reuters blog item from Robert Macmillan. He either doesn't understand the Commissioner's extraordinarily, painfully dry sense of humor or the Commish is living in a fantasy world when it comes to Tiger Woods:

If there is a silver lining, it’s that Tiger downtime means that other nascent players might come to the fore, perhaps making them tomorrow’s stars. To understand how the PGA views Woods in this respect, Finchem pointed out that President-elect Barack Obama *might* be the first person in a very long time to knock Tiger off his perch as the most-recognized American.

Might? Really, you think? For the sake of our country I hope so.

"But we did notice that at this year's U.S. Open at Torrey Pines that the public authorities there in San Diego banned smoking in the public areas."

Ty Votaw, while speaking for the PGA Tour on a number of subjects, was asked about banning smoking at PGA Tour events.

"We certainly had conversations and discussions with John in the past when certain behavioral issues have come up," Votaw said. "We hope to not have many more of those conversations."

Votaw also said the tour has no plans to ban smoking at events, as has been done at the venues of some other sports.

"We play our sport on an expanse of geography that's a little bit different than contained stadium situations," he said. "But we did notice that at this year's U.S. Open at Torrey Pines that the public authorities there in San Diego banned smoking in the public areas."

And it was wonderful not to smell that rancid odor created by grown men sucking on a bobcat turd.

Seriously, the smell I and others connect with the tour stop at Riviera is not the wonderful eucalyptus scent or that distinctive acacia fragance that floats through the property in February. No, it's cigar smoke. Not a nice connection.

I'm setting 2010 in the PGA Tour bans smoking over/under. Place your wagers!

“Right now, our focus is to add to our operating reserve and be in a position to transcend this downturn"

Tim Finchem, engaged in bold adverb usage with Bloomberg's Michael Buteau who asked about PGA Tour purses in the coming years:

It will certainly flatten,” Finchem said in an interview with Bloomberg Radio’s “On the Ball” program that will air this weekend. “Whether it will go down, I’m not prepared to go that far. ‘‘I don’t see the kind of growth that we’ve had these next three or four years versus the last six or seven, and it might be a flat period.”

And...

“I suppose if the economy continues to spiral away from us, if we get significant difficulties with sponsorships, anything is possible,” said Finchem, who has led the tour since 1994. “That would be the worst-case scenario. We don’t know how this is going to play out. Right now, we seem to be weathering the storm pretty well.”

I guess this means that the second most popular sport behind the NFL scenario is out?

“Right now, our focus is to add to our operating reserve and be in a position to transcend this downturn,” he said.

Finchem's Compensation Drops; Explains BMW 5 Series Brochure On Desk

Jon Show reports:

Tim Finchem received $4.8 million in compensation in 2007 as the commissioner of the PGA Tour, a drop of about $400,000 from the previous year. His income included $1.3 million in salary, $3.2 million in bonuses and another $240,000 in benefits.

The year-to-year drop was due to an additional bonus Finchem received in 2006 for “extraordinary service in 2005,” said Ty Votaw, executive vice president of communications and international affairs. The commissioner made $4.2 million in 2005.

Extraordinary service? Was that for coming up with the FedEx Cup, Version 1? The Casey Martin legal bills were finally not on the balance sheet?

Here are the real eye-openers:

According to the PGA Tour’s tax forms, its executive vice presidents and co-chief operating officers, Ed Moorhouse and Charlie Zink, were the next highest-paid officers at $1.6 million and $1.5 million, respectively. Chief Marketing Officer Tom Wade and Chief Financial Officer Ron Price brought in about $1 million apiece. Rick George, executive vice president of championship management and president of the Champions Tour, made $628,122. Bill Calfee, president of the Nationwide Tour, made $592,992.

Rick would have been 31st on the '07 Champions money list whereas Tim would have landed 3rd on the PGA Tour list. Back to Q-School for you Rick!

Ed and Charlie would have been just outside the top 50 on the PGA Tour money list and Bill, congrats, you are the leading money winner on the Nationwide Tour by $150,000. Way to go!

"I enjoy playing where single-digits is a good winning score."

Carlos Monarrez wonders if the post-Buick Tiger will return to Warwick Hills (no!) and points out this comment from a few years ago:

After Woods' last Buick victory, he said he liked the traditional tree-lined layout at Warwick Hills and how it set up for his game. But Woods also admitted he was not a fan of the low-scoring nature of the event.

"As far as enjoying this type of golf tournament, no, it's not my favorite," Woods said then. "If you look at my tournament schedule, I usually don't play events that are like this. I enjoy playing where single-digits is a good winning score. ... Here, you will get run over with spike marks all over your back."

I wonder if such a remark about single-digits drove the PGA Tour to accentuate the higher-rough, old school U.S. Open course setup mentality?

Naw...not possible.

Working Around The NFL: A Good Idea?

A couple of items posted today remind us just how determined the PGA and LPGA Tour's are to work around the NFL season. And looking at the FedEx Cup after two years and the latest LPGA plans, it seems that the desire to work around the NFL has led the tours in a negative direction.

Consider this from Steve Elling, writing about the LPGA's disastrous dismantling of the ADT Championship and desire to move the $1 million first prize event to the season opening slot, all because it's running up against the NFL.

If there is a silver lining, a sliver of hope, it's that there are no plans to overhaul the whacky format, Bivens said. She even has a dream time frame in mind, if it can be negotiated with TV and the new title sponsor.

"Ideally, I like that weekend between the (NFL) league championship games and the Super Bowl," Bivens said.

That certain sports gorilla with the oblong ball is one reason she wants the ADT relocated to a less-congested part of the year. Even given its increasing momentum, Bivens felt the tournament was underappreciated and overshadowed. The PGA Tour season is over, and there's no competition for viewing eyeballs on that front, but still.

"The NFL is the property and you cannot compete," Bivens said.

Golf doesn't compete with many major sports in the ratings department anyway, so why dismantle an event that had a quality sponsor, unique season ending format and solid host course with a supportive host in Donald Trump?

Okay, I understand that the LPGA is tired of underwriting television production costs and all that good stuff about equity for the players, but is this really the time to be taking such risks with one of your proven events?

The more nuanced dilemma involves the PGA Tour and the decision to create the FedEx Cup so that the season ended earlier and gets out of the way of football. Nearly every observer now concedes that Tim Finchem's vision was well-intentioned but severely blurred, because golf's "playoffs" run up against season-opening college and NFL games when optimism and interest is highest. Instead of say, now when the mid-season blues are kicking in.

Check out Cameron Morfit's Q&A with Steve Flesch on the FedEx Cup. Morfit clearly isn't buying the direction the tour is headed and neither is Flesch, though as a PAC member he half-heartedly tries to defend the idea of a points system and that all-important, buzz-killing obsession of the tour to "protect" the season points leaders at the expense of a true playoff. But even more interesting was Flesch's stance on the FedEx Cup schedule and the playoff dates failure to deliver audiences.

People are starved for football that time of year, whether it's college or pro. The Tour moved it up to accommodate Tiger and Phil, who wanted the year to end earlier, but now we see that they're taking the chance to go abroad and collect appearance fees in Europe and Asia and wherever. So we're like, did we really achieve what we wanted here? Because now they're just going abroad and playing, so they're really not shutting down their year like they said they were going to. Last year Tiger played six of seven weeks in a row including his tournament right before Christmas, whereas during the year, during the regular Tour, he never plays more than two [straight weeks]. Then we threw the off-week in this year, which I don't think was very popular except with people playing in the Ryder Cup.

And Flesch offers this wise solution, which would seem to counter one of Tim Finchem's main rationale's behind the cup structure (and therefore, makes it dead on arrival).

SF: I think if you don't see Tiger or Phil for a couple weeks after the PGA, you let football start and run its course for a couple weeks. God help me I'm a Bengals fan, living in Cincinnati, and I'm jacked up to watch 'em play the first couple weeks. But when they're 0-3 and 0-4 I'm back to watching golf in October or early November. So August, September, you let the hype of pro and college football die down. That's our big problem and I don't know why we battle that.

Neither do I.

Safe To Say: "Value Proposition" A Must On Any MBA-Speak Bingo Board

Here I was just getting comfortable with value modulations when I come to learn it all comes down to value propositions.

Randell Mell reports that ADT actually might have liked to have stayed on as the sponsor of a year-end, must see, ultra cool event on the LPGA Tour. But the LPGA's increased asking price is the real culprit.

I think the countdown clock just started ticking for the Brand Lady.

Tour pros were informed by the LPGA one month ago that ADT chose not to renew because the company was pursuing different marketing objectives.

"The explanation ADT gave us for not renewing was that its marketing objectives and means of going about attracting customers was changing and the ADT Championship didn't fit into its future plans," said Mike Nichols, LPGA vice president of tournament business affairs.

ADT President John Koch said there was more to the decision.

"Basically, the change in the renewal pricing caused us to re-evaluate the value proposition of the overall program," Koch said. "You will hear various takes on that, but it is inaccurate for anyone to state that our decision was based on any form of cost cutting by our company. In fact, we have increased our marketing budget."

The LPGA made various proposals to ADT, including making ADT the umbrella sponsor of a series of LPGA events. The proposal the LPGA favored most was moving the event to the start of the 2010 season, where it would no longer compete against football and would be more appealing to TV as part of a potential package that the LPGA could sell to networks.

While ADT officials expressed concern about altering the nature of the event with a big payoff at season's start, Koch said it wasn't an overriding factor in his company's decision not to renew.

Koch would not reveal what ADT paid for its title sponsorship in the latest two-year contract extension that ends this year, but industry insiders estimate the company paid $3 million per year. While Koch also would not divulge the LPGA's asking prices, an industry expert said the tour was asking a substantial increase, prices beyond what adding weekend network TV coverage would require.

Koch said his company enjoyed a "great relationship" with the LPGA, a "good dialogue" and carefully considered all the LPGA's proposals, but ultimately decided not to accept.

"At the end of the day, there wasn't any reason other than value proposition," Koch said. "They have the right to think what the value of their tournament is. We respect them for that."

But just think, they won't have to compete with football now! Oh wait, there's no sponsor. Or course. Or date set.

Why take an established attention-getter--albeit one in November running up against the NFL--and exchange that with a year-starting $1 million event (?!?) that might happen?

And even the master negotiator himself isn't expressing much admiration for the Commissioner's work.

Donald Trump, who has been an unofficial host of the event for its entire eight-year run as owner of Trump International, was disappointed the LPGA didn't make ADT a better offer.

"Outside the U.S. Open, this has been the most important event on the ladies' tour," Trump said. "It is sad it has to end, and perhaps the tour should have made some concessions."

Perhaps? Who said The Donald isn't a kind soul?

And this from Juli Inkster:

"ADT and their people have been nothing but very supportive of the LPGA Tour and its players," said Hall of Famer Juli Inkster, a member of the LPGA's Board of Directors once sponsored by ADT. "They've done so much for us, and I was just very disappointed to hear we were losing them.

"But I don't want to point fingers. I don't know the ins and outs of what happened or what went wrong, but something went wrong. If it didn't, we would still have ADT as a sponsor. Hopefully the tour knows what it's doing and this will work out for the best."

And if they don't?

But back to value propositions. Larry Dorman takes a look at all sectors of the golf industry and frankly, I came away less bummed out than I thought I might based on his talks with various retailers. Of course, the PGA Tour's $5 million man stayed on message...nearly verbatim to previous statements. Though this value proposition business has thrown me for a loop.

Finchem runs the organization of players that many golfers aspire to become, or at least to emulate. As such, he knows the importance of sustaining what he calls the PGA Tour’s “value proposition.” That, he said, is the formula for success that includes “the demographic of decision makers that we reach, the quality of the branding we deliver, the quality of our TV platform, the business-to-business opportunities, and our long-term relationships with our customers.”

"Now, who knows?”

Katie Thomas lays out scenarios for the sports business world in a post-GM bailout era. Two things jumped out as it pertains to golf. The first item revolves around bankruptcy vs. a bailout.

On the surface, organizations with existing agreements with G.M. may consider a bailout a preferable outcome, because under a bankruptcy, the company could ask a court to void contracts. But because a federal bailout would also very likely lead to significant restructuring, some said G.M. could be compelled to try to renegotiate active contracts anyway.

“With the bailout probably comes strings attached, and what those strings are, who knows?” said Greg Brown, the president of Learfield Sports, which handles marketing for 50 university athletic programs. Rather than seek to cancel existing contracts, several sports executives said G.M. and other companies were more likely to scale back promotions and focus on initiatives that led directly to a sale.

“If you’re on the verge of bankruptcy, then you want to find out how to get the money now, rather than how do I get the 15-year-old to start thinking about the car they want to buy in the future?” Shropshire said.

As for pro golf...

But for now, marketers at a variety of sports organizations say they are in for some tough times.

“In this environment, autos are going to be off across the board,” said Tim Finchem, the commissioner of the PGA Tour. Two of its tournaments are sponsored by Buick through 2010, and others are sponsored by Chrysler, BMW, Honda and Mercedes. “They’re doing, in varying degrees, terrible,” he said. “The U.S. automakers are really struggling. Now, who knows?”

Finchem, however, said he was confident the companies would remain in business, which meant “they’re still going to be selling cars and, again, we have a good platform from which they can promote.”

Wow. "Terrible." "Now who knows?" "Good platform." Is this the new, more humble Commissioner? Certainly an improvement over earlier last week.

"Bankruptcy is another matter, however."

Steve Elling makes a case for why it'll be hard for companies to justify spending government bailout money on PGA Tour sponsorships.

But even more interesting was this item, which may punch a hole in the PGA Tour's "ironclad" contract status and gloating.

Six automakers sponsor events on the PGA Tour, including two by Buick, which is hemorrhaging money so quickly, it might not make it to the end of the year. Bankruptcy is an increasingly likely scenario, according to the automaker, which could and should jeopardize the two Buick stops on the '09 tour calendar.

Understand that when the tour signs a deal with a title sponsor, it is written in blood. Just because Wachovia and Buick are in hot water doesn't mean the tour contracts are void or that financial details will be changed. The suits at tour headquarters play hardball. Tournaments must buy their way out of deals if they wish to escape before the contract term runs its course.

Bankruptcy is another matter, however.

"That would really be the one scenario where we would consider (voiding a contract)," tour communications chief Ty Votaw said two weeks ago at the Ginn sur Mer Classic, an event that is on life support because of the swan-diving real-estate market. "And if that was to transpire, we'd be standing there in line along with all the other creditors." 

"All dollars being equal, what exactly does lucrative mean?"

While Greg Norman is talking about the dim prospects for PGA Tour purses in the coming years (thanks to reader Jim), Doug Ferguson makes a pretty strong case that even a decline would only then bring the purses in line with the European Tour.

Much is made over some of its players - none named Tiger Woods, by the way - spending more time in Europe, even though that amounts to playing only five extra tournaments overseas. Ridicule is aimed at the FedEx Cup, even though its bonus pool is $35 million (27 million euros), which is 3 1/2 times more than what the Race to Dubai offers.

All dollars being equal, what exactly does lucrative mean?

The HSBC Champions, for which Mickelson is the defending champion, is among the richer events on the European Tour with a $5 million (euro4 million) purse.

That's $400,000 (312,000 euros) more than what is offered at Disney, the final event of the Fall Series.

What this doesn't take into account is golf course setup and architecture. Some of the players leaning toward the European Tour have made clear they are either fed up with PGA Tour course setup, bored with the architecture, or in some cases, searching for more week-to-week diversity as a means of honing their games.