When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
Alan Pittman's annual Golf Digest look at executive salaries in golf really is a thing to behold. Those 21 PGA Tour execs account for a staggering $19,727,308 in pay, and that's not including the $1.3 million from three World Golf Foundation incomes.
Mark Herrmann and Yancey Roy break the story, and because it's behind a pay wall we'll defer to Brendan Prunty for the detail that most people are wondering about: the relationship with the USGA.Chris Fedor with a nice summary of Rory's appearance on the Dan Patrick Show that has been talked about quite a bit by those who heard it. On whether if he thinks his performance at the U.S. Open was as good as Tiger’s in 2000:
I shudder to think how many meetings the underlings conducted with the fuddy-duddies at the top of the PGA Tour BMW 7 Series chain to convince them that this social media thing combined with the gambling thing can draw Americans to certain sports (eh, the NFL).
Anyway, somehow the fun-lovers in Ponte Vedra emerged victorious and this week the PGA Tour debuts Matchups, what I think could be a very positive move in the direction of making the tour more interactive and fun each week. Only quibble: as with their fantasy league excursions, the prizes are still a little underwhelming, but this is a solid start.
I've entered and also started a group under the highly original title, GeoffShackelford.com.
I found the interface and sign up very easy, so if you're on Facebook, join in and let's test this thing out!
There are a couple of good reads today about the continued decline of American performances at majors following the U.S. Open where Kevin Chappell and Robert Garrigus were the low Yanks (though it should be noted that Chappell, a former NCAA champion, playing his first U.S. Open finished T-3).SBJ's John Ourand asks how high rights fees can go after another stellar Olympic rights battle and recent deals with college conferences, but does not mention the PGA Tour other than a chart valuing the average annual value of the PGA Tour television contract at $491.7 million.
“The market is very, very robust,” said CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus. “Each of the parties that’s spending this money must be figuring out a way to justify the rights that they are paying.”
The huge increases may have the feel of a market bubble, having grown so much in such a short amount of time. But veteran sports media executives believe the prices accurately reflect the value of the rights and have room to grow.
“Have sports rights peaked? I don’t think they have,” said NHL Chief Operating Officer John Collins. “What you’re seeing is that sports are becoming more relevant to more people.”
And it's all about cable.
Cable TV channels view sports programming as the easiest way to increase ratings and the license fees that distributors pay. Today, several cable networks actively are trying to add sports to their schedules, which, sports media executives say, is the main reason why media rights fees are rising so quickly.
Comcast wants more sports on Versus. Fox is putting more sports on FX. Turner is trying to build up truTV’s sports assets. And, of course, ESPN needs reams of sports content for its multiple TV channels, broadband platforms and mobile applications.
And great news for the PGA Tour, they...oh wait, what? Oh that's right they're locked into Golf Channel exclusively over 15 years, unless NBC wants to re-write the deal and throw some programming to Versus.
Doug Ferguson asks a question that needs to be asked frequently of the world golf ranking: "What's the value of being in the top 50?" Apparently, it's worth more than winning.
William Weinbaum previews ESPN's Sunday morning Outside the Lines episode by recapping the PGA Tour-Casey Martin battle that ended up in the Supreme Court. It makes for a nice recap of one of the real low points in PGA Tour history. And in light of this sidebar, you realize what a failure of common sense the fight to keep Martin out of a cart the saga proved to be.
A PGA Tour spokesman said that in the 10 years since the Supreme Court decision, the tour has reviewed a few applications for golf carts, almost exclusively in qualifying competitions. Other than Casey Martin, only Erik Compton -- twice a heart transplant recipient -- has used a cart in an actual PGA Tour or Nationwide Tour event. He was granted the use of a cart for a six-month period during his recovery phase. He now plays without one.
Jeff Bradley profiles the former Stanford golfer and now Oregon golf coach.
The preview:
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
