Latest news with #PGATourEnterprises
USA Today
a day ago
- Business
- USA Today
Lynch: The PGA Tour's new boss started work today. So what headache does he tackle first?
Brian Rolapp is so little-known that we can't hazard a guess whether he's the type to have brought along a desktop calendar of inspirational quotes for his first day on Monday as CEO of PGA Tour Enterprises. You know, boilerplate bullshit about new jobs being like blank books and that you, Brian, are its author. Or that old banality about doing the hard jobs first and the easy ones will take care of themselves. Chances are that even before he shouldered his backpack and headed off to the GloHo this morning, Rolapp understood that, for now at least, he's less the author of this book than its editor — tying up loose threads, trimming excess, erasing gaffes — and that his inbox doesn't actually contain many easy jobs. So other than booking a lesson package at the TPC Sawgrass Performance Center, what does Rolapp's priority list look like? Since he's not a product of the golf executive ecosystem — nor even really a golfer — he'll want to start forging relationships. He signaled as much in his first day social media post about being 'excited to listen and learn.' (Lesson One: it's a capital offense to wear apparel not emblazoned with Tour logos, so ditch the plain polo and get measured for your branded gear, though you should demur if Jay Monahan offers a local tailor recommendation). Who is Brian Rolapp? 5 things to know about the PGA Tour's new CEO There are plenty who will want his ear, but Rolapp should be selective in whose ear he wants. Start with meeting Jack Nicklaus to better understand the statutory obligations of his role that aren't explained by spreadsheets. Move on to stakeholders who need to be heard — sponsors, not least FedEx; tournament organizers; Tour members, current and veteran; broadcast partners; and the most important but least heeded constituency, the fans. These groups aren't always aligned in what changes they'd like to see, but time spent with each will help Rolapp grasp the fundamental chasm hurting his business. His partners all have the same end user in mind — the golf consumer — but Tour HQ prioritizes a different end user of its services: players. That gap has been woefully exposed in recent years and needs to be bridged. What undermines the ambitions of most CEOs (other than the kiss cam at a Coldplay concert) is a lack of investment capital to support their vision. Rolapp's dilemma, though, is a welcome one — how to deploy the $1.5 billion Strategic Sports Group poured into the PGA Tour 18 months ago. Not a dime of that money has been spent, and he will immediately be reviewing whatever proposals exist for its use and deciding on an investment strategy consistent with his goals. Some of that slush fund ought to be allocated to consolidating relations with the DP World Tour, building gradually toward a more global footprint, as Rolapp did at the NFL. The Tour's annual cash obligations to the European circuit are unpopular with the SSG investors, but he needs to balance the long-term health of the professional game against short-term balance sheet concerns. One of the more delicate challenges facing Rolapp is addressing the Tour's power imbalance. Some (but not all) players on the board think they are executives and some (but not all) investors fancy themselves day-to-day managers. Those two constituencies won't always agree on what is best for the Tour and neither can be trusted with ultimate power. The whiz kids of Greater Fenway think they wield it because they sign the checks, while players believe they're in control because they have the board votes. Rolapp needs to reassert executive function at headquarters, an authority that was diminished when Monahan signed the Framework Agreement and thereafter had to constantly placate his members. Attention will predictably focus, however, on how the new boss navigates the quagmire that bogged down the old boss. Talks with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia are non-existent, and the deal outlined in the Framework accord is not close to consummation, thanks to Saudi intransigence, rampant ambivalence among Tour players, and the obvious fact that any deal would involve compromising the PGA Tour product simply to save the blushes of LIV's underwriter, Yasir Al-Rumayyan. While negotiations are seen as ongoing, there will continue to be a perception that the Tour is missing a critical element that only LIV can provide, which isn't true. If Rolapp wants to emphasize his organization's momentum and flip the narrative to innovation and progress, he should cut bait and sail on. A good faith effort has yielded nothing for two years. Stop treating LIV like a serious threat and dismiss it with the derision it deserves. 'Uncertainty's not good for anybody,' said Roger Goodell, Rolapp's old boss at the NFL. As inspirational quotes go, it makes up in simplicity what it lacks in sentimentality. Still, it's not a bad one to start a work day with.
USA Today
14-07-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Lynch: New LIV boss Scott O'Neil sounds a lot like Greg Norman. That's not a compliment
Like most visitors to the Open at Royal Portrush, Scott O'Neil will probably pick up a few choice phrases particular to Northern Ireland. He may already be familiar with some given that his employees as CEO of LIV include several players and caddies from these parts, though it's doubtful they've told him to 'wind your neck in.' Translation: give it a rest, zip it, just hush. Like his predecessor, Greg Norman, O'Neil sounds like a man energetically trying to manufacture for his organization a reality that doesn't exist and suggest a momentum it doesn't enjoy. On a recent podcast hosted by one of his paid supplicants, O'Neil said that LIV will be the dominant global force in golf. 'I think the PGA Tour will always have the stronghold in the US … and I think we'll be the dominant player in the world.' His assertion went both unchallenged and unexplained. If there's a single metric that points toward such a rosy future, evidence of it was neither offered nor requested. About the only yardstick O'Neil did cite was marital harmony. 'We had a lot of wives — I'd say, no fewer than a dozen — come up independently, unsolicited, and say, 'My husband's never been happier. Whatever you're doing, keep doing it.' That's nice.' Pay and perks do make guys happy about having dropped anchor, as it were. O'Neil went on to mention that he's friends with Brian Rolapp, the newly appointed CEO of PGA Tour Enterprises and Jay Monahan's de facto successor. He said Rolapp would likely be unable to accept his invitation to attend a LIV event because it would become too much of a circus — understandable since LIV tournaments are known for a sober focus on competition — but he expected they'd catch up at the Open, which Rolapp isn't actually attending. By the time O'Neil added that he and his opposite number 'go to the same church' (as in Latter-day Saints, not as in the same structure), the sweaty desperation for relevance was all too apparent. Which is wholly on brand for LIV these days. Take the circuit's decision last week to resubmit an application to be recognized by the Official World Golf Ranking. When LIV's first bid was rejected in October 2023, the OWGR made clear that field size, the lack of a cut and playing only 54 holes weren't barriers. It was the absence of meritocracy — limited pathways and players being exempt from relegation, no matter how execrable their performances — and the staging of team and individual events simultaneously. 'LIV Golf is committed to working together with the Official World Golf Ranking and its board to ensure the very best players are competing in the game's most prestigious events,' O'Neil said in a statement. 'We are confident our application addresses the outstanding questions that exist to support a more global, all-encompassing, and accurate ranking system. We are hopeful the review and approval process can progress ahead of the 2026 major season.' Nothing about specific material changes by LIV to address non-compliance, more a haughty call for the rules to be rewritten and quickly. An absence of particulars is typical of LIV announcements that are intended to simulate success that doesn't exist by any commercial measurement. Like last week's deal with HSBC, a company with significant interests in Saudi Arabia. HSBC will become LIV's official banking partner — just totting up the league's losses should guarantee employment for many — but there was no detail on the deal's duration (other than 'multi-year') or a suggestion that money was changing hands. HSBC will be a 'presenting partner' of a segment in LIV broadcasts which, the press release noted, 'has a potential reach of over 875 million households across more than 120 international markets.' The 'potential' in that claim is working harder than Donald Trump's haircare product. O'Neil declined to be drawn on LIV's player contracts, some of which expire later this year, notably Dustin Johnson's. His obvious lack of motivation notwithstanding, expect Johnson to be re-signed with much fanfare. It will be yet another purely performative exercise, a sleight of hand designed to create a narrative that LIV is doubling down when it's really just trying to buy time in hopes that Rolapp and the PGA Tour's board decide to compromise their product by incorporating LIV's as part of a deal they don't need. Anything to imply a lengthy runway ahead for LIV that isn't supported by economic tailwinds. As the locals might say in Portrush, catch yourself on, Scott.
USA Today
28-06-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Lynch: Dusting off, reinventing a long-forgotten event could boost both PGA Tour and LPGA
As incoming leaders of organizations that face significant challenges, Brian Rolapp and Craig Kessler — respectively, CEO of PGA Tour Enterprises and commissioner of the LPGA Tour — will, by necessity, take a heuristic approach to problem solving, choosing pragmatic solutions since perfect options don't exist. Rolapp's tasks include stalled negotiations with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, right-sizing the schedule and eligibility amid player opposition, and delivering a return for the investors of Strategic Sports Group, who hand-picked him for the job. And Kessler ... well, he'll have lots of burdens when he assumes his role in a couple of weeks. Too little revenue, too few resources, securing sponsors, adjusting schedules, monetizing media rights, all while the Saudis lurk for a chance to leverage the LPGA for sportswashing and players who'd happily allow them to do so. Hazarding a guess at the landscape either man will preside over a couple of years hence calls to mind a pithy line from the late management theorist Peter Drucker, who likened trying to predict the future to driving down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window. But Drucker also said that the best way to predict the future is to create it. While Rolapp and Kessler will work their own sides of the street, there's a way in which they can be useful to each other. Since Rolapp is only nominally a golfer and Kessler is barely out of short pants by the silvery standards of golf administrators, neither may be familiar with the World Cup, an artifact of a bygone era that has long languished in the vaults of Ponte Vedra. A two-man team competition, it began as the Canada Cup in 1953 and for a half-century was a missionary vehicle for the sport, contested in disparate places like Argentina, Thailand, Venezuela, Greece, the Philippines, and China, and in underdeveloped regions like South Carolina and Florida. It was staged sporadically after 2009, and not at all since 2018. (A women's version existed from '05-'08). The World Cup is technically owned by the long-dormant International Golf Association, but it gave the PGA Tour perpetual license to operate the event. In a ranking of Rolapp's priorities, resurrecting the World Cup probably ranks below taking emergency lessons at the TPC Sawgrass Performance Center but well above replying to the latest filing by Justine Reed's attorney of the week. But therein lies an opportunity. 'My goal as CEO is to honor golf's traditions but not be overly bound by them,' he wrote in an open letter on the day of his appointment. The World Cup has tradition, albeit largely forgotten, but it has potential, if the Tour chooses to rethink the value of a shelved asset. A template worth imitating was on display last month at Congaree Golf Club in the Palmer Cup, which pits the best college players in the United States against their International counterparts. Unlike other team events, the Palmer Cup has men and women partner in an alternate shot format. Thus, Tour-bound Jackson Koivun played with Kiara Romero, and World No. 2-ranked amateur Mirabel Ting paired with Justin Hastings, the Latin America Amateur champion. The World Cup should be reimagined as a mixed team tournament with the PGA and LPGA tours' best playing best ball and alternate shot formats. The advantages for the LPGA Tour are obvious. Instead of continuing a chicken/egg debate about how to draw new eyeballs to the weekly product, it presents a fresh product to new eyeballs by partnering with the guys on a prominent stage that isn't a silly season hit and giggle. Doing so can help organically grow fan interest and support for women's golf by giving it equal billing in a competitive environment. (It would also demolish the lingering prejudice — still popular among the crypto-incel fraternity — that the skills of the top women can't compare to those of the men.) But this wouldn't be just a feel-good giveaway for the PGA Tour. Rolapp has global ambitions, and Ponte Vedra needs products that will aid international expansion into markets both robust and emerging. The Presidents Cup won't serve that end. It's held too infrequently, too many top players are ineligible, too few top players are willing to travel far afield in the fall, it's too much a facsimile of the more popular Ryder Cup, its venues are too commercially safe and convenient, with the last international match held within walking distance of the U.S. border. Having countries field teams comprised of their best man and woman in a reinvented World Cup — operated by the PGA Tour, the LPGA and the DP World Tour — would be a more promising, progressive and portable vehicle for international growth in golf's less traveled precincts, and create opportunities to stage adjacent events around the tournament. And as a fresh new product, it might also enable Rolapp to test the market for streaming services globally. There are challenging times ahead for Rolapp and Kessler, and they're certainly not obligated to elevate each other's business. But there exists an opportunity to do so while advancing their individual agendas and improving the lot of the entire sport. They ought to heed Drucker's caution that the greatest danger in times of turbulence isn't the turbulence itself, but the tendency to act with yesterday's logic.
USA Today
21-06-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Lynch: PGA Tour's new boss has fresh opportunities, but the same old problems need answers
It's probably a testament to Jay Monahan's one-on-one popularity that he managed to remain leader of the PGA Tour for two years and 10 days after announcing the controversial decision that foreshortened his commissionership, but the recent announcement of his successor finally draws to an end the Gethsemane hours of his tenure, when everyone — including Monahan and those closest to him — awaited what they knew was inevitable. The furious player backlash to the June 6, 2023, Framework Agreement with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund wasn't grounded in moral objections to doing business with authoritarians, nor in shock at the about-face Monahan performed to get there. It was the secretive manner in which he went about it, an enormous governance misstep that led to structural reforms that sharply curtailed the executive authority of his office. That altered balance of power is just one of the many challenges awaiting Brian Rolapp, the newly-named CEO of PGA Tour Enterprises and de facto head of the entire organization. Rolapp represents a departure from his predecessors at the top of the Ponte Vedra pyramid, beyond not having the commissioner title quite yet (Monahan will remain in that role through '26). He's an outsider, not a product of the Tour's conclave nor even of the broader golf ecosystem. He's barely a golfer at all, despite his game efforts to disguise that reality. None of those facts are inherently negative. While there was no doubt who Rolapp worked for in his last job at the NFL — team owners — the PGA Tour's constituencies are more complex. There's one that wants to be owners (fans), one that thinks they're owners (players), and one that are actually owners (Strategic Sports Group, which invested $1.5 billion). Rolapp's credentials, management style and innovative thinking have been widely praised, and he'll need them to navigate his many stakeholders, who are not always aligned. For example, every entity with whom the PGA Tour partners — sponsors, broadcasters, tournaments — focuses on the same end user of its services: fans. But headquarters sees the end users of its services as the players, and that's who is always prioritized. Rolapp seems conscious of the need to bridge that divide. 'What has attracted me about this opportunity is that it's unique in sports in that the players own the Tour. It's their Tour. They are the shareholders. They are the owners, so I certainly work for them,' he said. 'Having said that, and we talked a little bit about this in our player meeting, I think they know what's good for fans is also good for the Tour. "It's not that complicated. If you think what's best for the fan, it's usually best for everybody involved.' What of the stalled PIF negotiations that came to define the Monahan era? Will that prove uncomplicated too? Yasir Al-Rumayyan has been incommunicado since leaving the White House in a snit on February 20. Even if he (or H.E. to his supplicants) adopts a more conciliatory tone, is there any upside to Rolapp wading into the same quagmire that trapped Monahan? A new leader who inherits a failed negotiation and widespread player apathy about any deal could be more inclined to cut bait and move on. His comments on Tuesday hinted as much. 'When it comes to the situation with LIV, I think that's a complex situation that's probably something I should learn more about before I speak,' he said. 'But I will say my focus is on growing the Tour, making it better, and really moving on from the position of strength that it has.' When pushed on the PIF negotiations, he didn't slam the door, but nor did he sound like a man eager to wait around until Al-Rumayyan's ego is sufficiently stroked. 'Again, I'm not close enough to any of those discussions, but I will say what I saw regardless of that is a very strong Tour. I see a strong product.' It may be that the only avenues for the PGA Tour to work with PIF/LIV involve TGL, the indoor team league in which the Tour is a partner, or an international series staged in concert with the DP World Tour outside of the FedEx Cup season, from September through January. Rolapp expressed enthusiasm about golf's potential for global expansion, but he also doesn't need the Saudis for that. What he does need is buy-in from players and from SSG on spending its investment dollars. 'Where we deploy that capital, I have ideas. It's an investor group that is experienced in sports. They're smart,' he said a few days ago. 'And the player directors are bright and motivated and focused, and that was really great to see. I think what I've seen from the board have been very focused on growing the game, looking out for players, and so it was all positive.' At some point, those stakeholder interests will begin to arc in different directions. Rolapp will never be more powerful than in his first year, and he's been bought valuable breathing space by the tailwinds Monahan leaves behind, like robust TV ratings and a healthy book of sponsor business. But he's still at the mercy of the players, who control votes on the board. Striking a balance between what players are willing to do, what fans are willing to accept, and what SSG is willing to pay for will be a time-consuming task. It's a good thing he's not worried about maintaining an index.
USA Today
18-06-2025
- Business
- USA Today
With PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan stepping down, what is his legacy?
With PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan stepping down, what is his legacy? Hiring of Brian Rolapp, the NFL's Chief Media and Business Officer, announced on June 17 Show Caption Hide Caption New PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp talks LIV Golf Brian Rolapp discussed LIV Golf is his opening press conference PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan will step down at the end of 2026. Former NFL executive Brian Rolapp has been named the PGA Tour's new CEO, starting June 17. Monahan will transition his responsibilities to Rolapp and remain on the PGA Tour Policy Board. PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan will leave his position by the end of 2026 with the hiring of former NFL executive Brian Rolapp in a new position as the Tour's chief executive officer on June 17. Monahan, who became the Tour's fourth commissioner in 2017, will "transition his day-to-day responsibilities" to Rolapp, according to a PGA Tour news release, and will concentrate on his role as a member of the PGA Tour Policy Board and on the board of PGA Tour Enterprises, the for-profit arm of the Tour. Monahan said he informed the Policy Board last year that he would step down as commissioner after he completed 10 years on the job. Who is Brian Rolapp? 5 things to know about the PGA Tour's new CEO 'A year ago, I informed our Boards that upon completing a decade as commissioner, I would step down from my role at the end of 2026,' Monahan said in a statement. 'Since then, we've worked together to identify a leader who can build on our momentum and develop a process that ensures a smooth transition. We've found exactly the right leader in Brian Rolapp, and I'm excited to support him as he transitions from the NFL into his new role leading the PGA Tour.' Brian Rolapp: 'Excited about future of golf' Rolapp, 53, was the unanimous choice by a search committee that included Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur M. Blank, Tiger Woods, Adam Scott and Monahan. He said in a news conference at the TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn., on June 17, the site of this week's Travelers, that he plans on having conversations with as many players as he can. "I'm excited to grow the PGA Tour ... I'm excited about the future of golf," he said. "I'm going to talk with as many [players] as I can in a short amount of time ... I'm going to hear what they have to say." The PGA Tour management team will report to Rolapp upon his start date, and he will report to both boards of directors. "I've had the privilege of working at the NFL for 20 years, which I've loved," Rolapp said. "This opportunity stood out. It stood out because I think the game of golf is a global game. It is a game that has a tremendous amount of growth. I think the level of competition and tradition is unparalleled in a lot of ways." Jay Monahan guided Tour through COVID, LIV Golf breakaway Monahan first came to the Tour in 2008 as the executive director of The Players Championship. He was promoted to Tour's senior vice president for business development in 2010, to executive vice president and chief marketing officer in 2013, and then to deputy commissioner in 2015. Three years after he was in office, sports in America came to a standstill with the COVID-19 pandemic in March of 2020. The Players Championship was canceled after only one round but Monahan and his management team formulated a plan to return. The PGA Tour was the first major sport to resume competition in June 2020. Two years later, Monahan was faced with another crisis, the creation of LIV Golf and the defection of some of the Tour's biggest stars at the time. Monahan immediately suspended every player who became a member of LIV Golf, and those players remain under suspension. In June of 2023, Monahan stepped away from his duties for an undisclosed "medical situation," as the Tour described it, but returned later that summer. Since then he has created the lucrative PGA Tour "Signature Event" series, with higher purses, FedEx Cup Fall, a series of event events designed for players who did not make the FedEx Cup playoffs to regain their playing status and formed an alliance with the Strategic Sports Group, a collection of pro team sports owners who will invest up to $3 million in PGA Tour Enterprises. What does Brian Rolapp's hiring mean for the Tour vs. LIV battle? There was no indication whether Rolapp's hiring would be a prelude to fast-tracking a merger or other alliance with the LIV Golf Tour, which formed in 2022 in competition with the PGA Tour and lured stars such as Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith. Monahan and Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, who has bankrolled LIV Golf, announced a framework agreement on June 6, 2023. Still, little progress has been made toward an actual resolution to the split in professional golf. Monahan has had three meetings with President Donald Trump, who said during his campaign last year that he could help broker a deal between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. Rolapp said during his news conference that he is coming in "with a pretty clean sheet of paper," about the Tour vs. LIV issue. "I also come in knowing that there's a lot to learn," he said. "Everything that works in the football world may not work in the golf world. When it comes to that situation particularly, I think the fans have been pretty clear. They want to see the best golfers compete against each other. I agree with that. I think that's a complex situation that's probably something I should learn more about before I speak." Who is Brian Rolapp? Rolapp, a native of Maryland who worked a part-time job at the Congressional Country Club in high school, is a graduate of Brigham Young University and Harvard Business School. He joined the NFL in 2003 and became the COO of NFL Media and later CEO of NFL Network. He forged partnerships with brands such as Apple, X, Nike and Fanatics. He was named to the Sports Business Journal's Forty Under 40 Hall of Fame. As the NFL's Chief Media and Business Officer, Rolapp oversaw the league's commercial businesses, including broadcast and digital rights, NFL Network, NFL Films, sponsorships, consumer products and the league's private investment entity, 32 Equity. He and his wife Cindy have four children.
