It's All About Capacity...

Who says there's no Christmas in February?

After Commissioner Tim Finchem thanked more people than an Oscar winner, he took a few questions from the assembled scribblers:

Q. The commitment to Tucson, how long is that for, is that through the sponsorship? 2010?

COMMISSIONER TIM FINCHEM: Virtually all our agreements are linked to our cycles, a sponsorship cycle and television cycle. All of our agreements dovetail; in this instance they dovetail in four years.

Judge, can you direct the witness to answer yes or no. 

Q. The other part, do you think the World Golf Championships are meeting the stated aim of developing developed to enhance the competitive structure of World Golf worldwide?

COMMISSIONER TIM FINCHEM: Yes, I think the first and primary reason for the World Golf Championships was to create a vehicle whereby the fans could enjoy the opportunity to watch all of the best players in the world assembled, a more frequent number of times during the course of the year. Heretofore, that was primarily the major championships and THE PLAYERS Championship.

Heretofore? Mr. Commissioner, we're not dictating a memo to Candace. You are talking to people. Well, members of the media. Please, continue...

Today we have, with the World Golf Championships, another group of tournaments where all the best players in the world play. There are others, as well, but as a constant flow with Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup competition included in that. And that was the primary mission.

The secondary mission was to continue to grow interest in the game by focusing on the International and global aspects of the game. And that's why we've had such a great relationship with a company like Accenture, because they have a global focus. And I think that secondary mission is being met, as well.

See, Accenture has a global focus, so the events have had a worldly flavor! That answers the question, right?

Nope, it's about to get awwwwkwaaaarrrd.

Q. I think 39 of the 64 players in this week's field come from overseas. Can you part one of my question, can you explain why so many of these championships are played in the United States? And part two is don't you think that you have a responsibility to take these tournaments elsewhere in the world and to grow interest in the game elsewhere in the world?

COMMISSIONER TIM FINCHEM: Where the players come from is frankly not of too much import. Our system is such that from the start of the system...

Q. I'm trying to point out that it's a global game, golf is a global game.

COMMISSIONER TIM FINCHEM: I understand that. I'm remarking that I had questions during the course of the week, and they're disturbed that over half of the field is not from the United States.

Q. That was not my question.

COMMISSIONER TIM FINCHEM: I understand that. To the second part of your question, yes and no. We would like to see World Golf Championships played around the world, and we have seen that the first eight years. I think we've played on five different continents. Today the World Cup continues to be played this past year in Portugal, and this coming year in Barbados as part of the World Golf Championships. We may add another World Golf Championship. That is a nice thing to do.

That is a nice thing to do? Uh, let's back to the MBAspeak...

I think the fundamental, however, is not that. The fundamental is to bring to the world via incredible television capability, to 145 countries, all the best players in the world playing. The reality is that frankly Sergio Garcia is seen who is not here, is seen when he's played in a World Golf Championship by more people than typically any other event he plays, regardless of where it is, whether in Europe or Asia or anywhere else.

See, it doesn't matter where you play. It's about the television capacity. This is why they should just build one golf course in Orlando with stadium seating and a big parking lot. Construct a 6,000 foot runway (for the G5s, of course), some player housing, and just play all of the events in one place. You can maximize margins and just let that television capacity do its thing! 

Ernie Els gets more global television exposure when he plays here this week than he does when he plays in China or Hong Kong.

Imagine if he won a match how much capacity he would have maximized!

But I think the important thing is not that, it's that who are we reaching through World Golf Championships, are we reaching just as many people, and we think the answer is absolutely. Not to say we won't continue to work with having tournaments around the world. We are proud of the fact that we play on five different continents, and we will continue to play somewhere around the world, as well.

I think he meant the past tense there, "played on five different continents." But hey, we're going to throw an event to China so we'll still be playing around the world. Quit your complaining!

And now it's time for the Commissioner's intermission so the Accenture suit can out-MBA the Commish (the audacity!):

Q. Mr. Murphy, was Australia that much of a failure for you when it was played down there? If you were to continue your relationship with this World Golf Championship, would there be any scenario in which you'd be willing for one year to take this tournament abroad?

JIM MURPHY: The Australian tournament in many ways was a huge success for us, because we relaunched our new brand from that place. And Australia happened to be the major continent in the world where our brand was new, because in the time zones that's how it worked out. We changed our name from an older name to what we have now on midnight that day, and we played that week.

Ah those fond memories of the brand relaunch. Amazing how these WGC's just warm the heart.

But it's not all about relaunching the brand for Mr. Murphy...

From a timing point of view, it worked out great. We were somewhat disappointed in the field; some of the top players didn't come. The television coverage was great, we had great client entertainment there, and we saw it as a plus.

Would we do it again? Well, we'd consider it. Certainly we'd talk to the PGA TOUR about it. The PGA TOUR and other Tours drive this process, and we're sort of in a reactionary mode.

A reactionary mode? Scribblers, was Finchem making a note of that one? That's a peach, hon!

We can influence what happens, but they're the experts on golf, and we're experts in managing and selling technology services. We recognize our roles.

Oh, nice, subtle plug. I was wondering what the heck Accenture does.

Okay, enough of him. Back to the Commissioner...

Q. Based upon your knowledge of The Gallery, what were your impressions of the course specifically, and anything you feel The Gallery needs to do to be fully prepared for that event next year?

COMMISSIONER TIM FINCHEM: We've been engaged for months, and our team has, with everyone related to The Gallery, many of whom are here today. We have a good, solid working relationship on the short term and long term planning that will relate to the conduct of the Accenture Match Play in Tucson. There are, obviously, in any instances like this, a lot of things that need to be done. We're very, very comfortable with the working relationship we have.

Uh, that's a no, he hasn't seen the course.

Q. What's your feel for the State of golf worldwide at this time, is it growing or is it receding, both in terms of the PGA and in terms of..

COMMISSIONER TIM FINCHEM: I gather the question is what is my perception of the state of the game in terms of its growth globally; is that correct? Well, that's an interesting question, because it's an interesting question, the answer of which has been perhaps many times in the media misanalyzed to some extent.

Pausing here to allow you to go back and read that one more time. After all, it's an interesting answer to an interesting answer.

And by that I mean here in the United States, for example, there is a focus on the total number of rounds played as it relates to golf courses. And in today's society the regular golfer is playing a few rounds less than perhaps he played he or she played five or ten years ago.

On the other hand, there's been each and every year an increase in the number of participants in the game. So from a total participant standpoint we've seen regular growth here in the United States.

More people playing less. At least he's honest about it. 

Q. I realize it's not done yet, Commissioner, on the FedEx Cup points, but where do you see the World Golf Championships positioned with that series going on next year?

COMMISSIONER TIM FINCHEM: It would be premature for me to say. We're evaluating different processes. It will be a process that goes to June. But whether or not it's a process that relates to strength of field or a process that relates to purse or a process that relates to stature of events, under any of those scenarios World Golf Championships will fare well, and fare well in that configuration.

And it's a process that we'll be processing for quite some time since no one can really process how this FedEx Cup process is going to be processed.

Going West?

Doug Ferguson reports that the PGA Tour is about to create two fall "Quest for the Card" events in California, starting with a tournament in Fresno on a still under construction course, followed by an event in San Jose.

Also in the works is a tournament near San Jose, Calif., that would be sponsored by Fry's Electronics on a private course called The Institute, which is owned by Silicon Valley mogul John Fry. During the American Express Championship at Harding Park last October, a few players took part in an outing at The Institute. Fred Funk was said to have shot the lowest score (75) on a course that measured about 7,900 yards.

Wow, fun.

Meanwhile, Golf World reports that the Honda Classic may become a Jack and Barbara Nicklaus hosted event.

Tait on WGC's

Alistair Tait calls the PGA Tour's original pledge for the World Golf Championships "hogwash" while looking at the power struggle won this time by Tim Finchem.

Tampa Troubles

Mick Elliott writes that the Tour's decision to move the Tampa event to the spring, hasn't been viewed as such a great idea by the Innisbrook people, nor does the event have a sponsor. Other than that, everything's good.

More WGC Talk

An AP story on the lack of world in World Golf Championships.

 "We're in the planning process," Finchem said. "We would like to play a full-fledged World Golf Championship in the fall in Asia. It's premature to say where, but our intent is to do something next year."

This might be the only avenue Finchem has to Asia, a market he covets.

Covets it so much that I understand from a reliable source that they've already signed on with a site in Asia.

So why are they waiting to announce it? 

Priority Oversight: How is the FedEx Cup Going To Work?

John Davis talks to players at the Scottsdale event and no one seems to know how the FedEx Cup will work. Or if it will work.

Els: "...called the World Golf Championships, aren't they?"

I wonder about it here, it comes out over there. Paraphrasing Albert Brooks's character in Broadcast News of course.

It seems that the lack of "World" in the WGC is on the minds of European Tour players too. 

James Corrigan in The Independent: 

Cue outrage, and not only at the European Tour Players' Committee meeting here at the Emirates Golf Club on Tuesday, but also, more intriguingly, from Woods yesterday. "Of course, the WGCs should be held in other places rather than just America," said the world No 1. "It's our responsibility to play around the world and grow the game as much as we can." Ernie Els, the world No 5, concurred. "It's crazy," said the South African. "They're called the World Golf Championships, aren't they?"

So what can the European Tour do about it? Nothing much, or so it seems if their gloomy statement is anything to go by. "We have communicated our disappointment," it read, "and can confirm that we did offer to host one of the World Golf Championships, but this was rejected."

Update on 2006-02-02 14:52 by Geoff

Thanks to Tuco for this more extensive follow up on the WGC's, which says the sponsors have stipulated that the existing three are played inside the U.S., while the World Cup is still definitely alive and well. The story also includes a few more quotes from players critical of the setup.

WGC's and World Cup of Golf

A thought/question.

In all of the 2007 PGA Tour schedule hoopla, I don't recall any stories about the reduction to three World Golf Championship events with the apparent elimination of the World Cup of Golf.

The World Cup had been played every year (but one) since 1953. Granted, it had not been much of an event lately, but it's another longtime event given back burner status in the new setup. More importantly, it offered a format other than 72-holes of individual stroke play, which is way too common in professional golf.

The WGC's were considered one of Commissioner Finchem's brilliant moves. The only casualty to date appears to be the loss of Greg Norman from Champions Tour events, otherwise they have served their purpose.

Yet, in the new deal the Tour appears to have gone from four WGC events to three, and more importantly, the remaining WGC's seem anchored in Miami, Tucson and Akron for the foreseeable future.

Did anyone write about this? Notice? Care?
 

Kostis: Tiger, Please Talk To Me

Okay he didn't write that, but Peter Kostis' subliminal attempt to reach out to good ole buddy Tiger contains just the kind of raw emotional soul-bearing that will keep Kleenex in business (and maybe cost Mike Hulbert a job...if Tiger were to be as moved as I was).

Well it wasn't that moving. And Kostis won't win the GS.com promised award to the first golf writer daring thinking to suggest that the new TV deal was a wake-up call about the "product." However, he gets a big honorable mention for a noble suggestion (and I just know Peter'll be adding it to his resume!).

But first the subliminal message to Tiger:

If the tour and television truly are partners, then the players have to do their part. Tim Finchem evoked the success of NASCAR in creating the FedEx Cup points race, which begins in 2007. But the success of NASCAR isn't only derived from a season-ending points race. It's also from drivers willing to share comments with television viewers while in the final stages of strapping themselves into their seats and risking life and limb at over 200 mph. Most tour players, however, are reluctant to talk to television hours before they play or warm up because it might ruin their mental state! It only takes a matter of seconds to lend some insight, so no more of this "I'm too busy to talk" stuff on the range.

Paging Dr. Freud? Dr. Freud to the CBS compound please.

And here's where Kostis takes himself out of the equation and makes a great point:

Variety is a good thing, whether it's in the form of fast, firm greens, slow, soft greens, long rough, or hardly any rough at all. This would also allow us to return to a time when practice rounds at courses meant something, because you learned about the individual characteristics that made that week's venue different from last week's.

Easy there Peter. If they play more practice rounds, and that means less time on the lesson tee with you! 

The point of these suggestions is not to look back on the way things have been done with a hypercritical eye. It's to point out that golf is an exciting sport for television spectators, and can be made even more so with a few alterations.

Right, it's all good. Oh, but you better take a hard look at the product Mr. Commissioner. 

Kratzert: Losing ESPN Was A Step Backward

Garry Smits talks to Bill Kratzert about the new TV deal and as expected, the reality is setting in: "Losing ESPN was a step backward," he said. And...

"You can say what you want about ESPN, but when guys travel, and get to the hotel room, or when they go into a bar, ESPN is on," Kratzert said. "They've got almost everything now -- Monday Night Football, college football and basketball, the NBA, Major League Baseball -- and golf was right there."

But Kratzert did agree with the Tour's stance on what was obviously the deal killer, and understandably so: 

Several published reports since the Tour's contract was announced said one stumbling block was that ESPN was demanding the best players in events it covered be given afternoon starting times in each of the first and second rounds. The Tour balked, according to the reports, because it would be a competitive disadvantage for those players to get late starting times two days in a row. By starting in the afternoon both days, they would likely get more mercurial weather conditions (such as the afternoon sea breeze in Ponte Vedra Beach for The Players Championship) and greens spiked up.

"I had heard that," Kratzert said. "If that's the case, it was the right thing to do for the Tour to tell ESPN they couldn't have their way. I understand a network wanting to showcase the top players. But you can't penalize those players by making them putt on spiky greens and windy weather both days."

"Golf tourney gets help from Tiger's agent"

Thanks to reader Jay for the heads up on this Justin Catanoso story from The Business Journal, dated January 13th (hey, no one ever said blogging had to be timely):

For a while last year, the future of the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro was bleak, at best. Golf's biggest stars avoid it. TV ratings aren't great. And even with vast improvements, the course and setting, fairly or not, are often criticized as less-than-optimal.

But PGA officials have been giving Greensboro a serious second look. They've been impressed with a newly constituted board of directors made up of the city's most affluent and influential corporate leaders, from VF Corp., United Guaranty and Jefferson-Pilot, among others.

And those leaders have pulled a coup of sorts, leveraging the clout of one of the most influential people in professional golf to lobby on their behalf -- Mark Steinberg, a top executive with sports-consultant giant IMG. He is best known as Tiger Woods' agent.

Since last summer, beginning at the British Open, Steinberg has been talking up Greensboro and the seriousness of its new board to top PGA Tour officials. Not surprisingly, they've listened.

"We hired Mark Steinberg," says one board member of the four-month-old Greensboro Jaycees Charitable Foundation, which now controls the Chrysler Classic, "because he has a special relationship with the PGA. He has access; he gets in front of the right folks."

You may recall that after the FedEx Cup was announced, John Hawkins revealed (and it was posted here) that Steinberg was also a consultant of sorts to Tim Finchem.

 "There are going to be two sides to this," said IMG's Mark Steinberg, Woods' agent and a key player in the shaping of the tour's revisions.

Leigh Steinberg, eat your heart out! 

Huggan On TV Deal

John Huggan weighs in on the 2007 schedule and PGA Tour TV deal.

Even with the world's most famous sportsman - Tiger Woods - as part of the package, professional golf in the fall cannot come close to competing with the NFL and NASCAR for the ever-shortening attention of America's increasingly overweight and couch-ridden populace. Watching enormous men in silly uniforms running into each other to no obvious purpose, or logo-festooned cars going round and round in seemingly endless circles apparently holds more appeal than the sight of Tiger majestically ripping a drive down the middle. 

He also looks at the European Tour ramifications and also the possibility of the Tour going global at some point.  

McCleery On ABC

Peter McCleery remembers the contributions ABC has made to televised golf and considers what golf will be like without them. I loved his comments about the old ABC openings with Jim McKay building excitement for the round.

And as I read the column, all I could think was, "can they re-open negotiations? Please?"

Player Reactions To TGC Deal

Thanks to reader C for the heads up on Doug Ferguson's notes column from earlier in the week. A few eye opening comments:

"If we're trying to reach out to non-golf fans, how you leave out ESPN is beyond me." - David Duval, on the PGA Tour giving exclusive cable rights to The Golf Channel in a 15-year deal. 

And... 

"It would be nice to know what's going on," Brent Geiberger said. "It seems like we find out just like everybody else. And it's our tour."

The tour has a 16-man Players Advisory Council and four players on the nine-member policy board.

"But when those players get in the room, they're already outnumbered 5-4," Paul Azinger said. "I wish the players had a little more say."

"That's Not A TV Contract, That's Alimony"

Rex Hoggard peels off a series of funny one-liners before getting to some of the serious issues tied to the new TV deal.

Fifteen years? That's not a TV contract, that's alimony.

"The Golf Channel brings a lot," Finchem said. "The reason for 15 years is that it sets the table for us to protect our position in the long-term as the television marketplace continues to evolve."

The F5s in the movie "Tornado" didn't spin like that. It was a bright and shiny day in Ponte Vedra-ville. Everywhere else, however, folks were on pins and needles last week waiting to hear details of the new deal.

If the Nixon White House would have protected secrets like Finchem & Co., "Tricky Dick's" face would be on Mt. Rushmore right now. Just ask any one of a half-dozen tournament directors who sat by their phones last week waiting to hear their fate.

He then talks to several tournament directors about the fate of their events. The fate of Doral turnaround man Eddie Carbone as well as events in Hartford and Washington are brought up.

But it boils down to this: the Greensboro and Tampa Bay stops are happy, everyone else is either lukewarm or downright upset about the new deal.