Thursday, November 21, 2024

Thursday Themes - Ski-Season Edition

Perusing the near-term weather forecast yields one obvious conclusion, to wit, that yesterday's installment of the Wednesday Game™ is like the 2024 golf season's coda, all thirteen holes of it.  If golf has gone dormant, that means it's ski season...  My mountain opens Friday and I'll be on skis in less than three weeks.

So, what shall we talk about?  Good news, Shack has a rant up that will amuse.....

LIVification Proceeding As Ordained by St. Patrick - Our entitles touring professions don't do introspection or nuance, so they'll be rolling their eyes at Geoff's framing, if not his header troll:

News of reduced field sizes gives the impression of an insular enclave getting away from pure competition. Plus, Comcast is set to announce a spinoff of its major championship-hosting cable channels.

Shall we do the Community Notes thing?  To be clear, the PGA has done nothing to actually make the majors better, though they certainly have made them look and seem better by comparison.

But while PGA Tour events are a shell of their former selves that existed a mere three years ago, Geoff fires up the Wayback machine:

The peculiar-but-beautiful sport of professional golf kicked off 162 years ago with a mission to present an “open” competition.

At a time of outhouses, monthly baths, salt in lieu of ice and courtesy cars for no one, those wily Scotch-infused visionaries were more concerned with integrity than comfort.

“It was unanimously resolved that the Challenge Belt held tomorrow and on all future occasions,” said the closest thing pro golf has to scripture, “until it be otherwise resolved, shall be open to all the world.”

Until it be otherwise resolved, has arrived in 2024.

Shockingly, the game has grown since the above (the photo is of notes of a Prestwick meeting about the Open Championship from 1861, without the benefit of a cap or tam for Patrick Cantlay.  Hard to see how that could have happened....

On the surface, the reduction in PGA Tour field sizes and cardholders from 125 to 100 makes sense. But dig deeper and the moves appears to reduce competition all so a few players can continue taking their sweet time AimPoint’ing a two-footer.

Sorry, Geoff, there is no such surface.... It looks like an outrageous money grab from any vista I've found.

For a host of reasons once unimaginable to the golf world prior to LIV coming along, the PGA Tour is doubling down on something inching ever closer to exhibition golf. Since the all-exempt Tour started in 1983 with 125 cards, the organization has used the same general format and approach as the major championships: a field composed of stalwarts, journeymen, invites and qualifiers playing 72-holes with a cut.

While Tuesday’s announced changes remain far from emulating LIV’s 54-hole shotgun and advance money approach, the PGA Tour Policy Board’s approval inched the org farther away from something chock full of competitive sizzle. Reducing fields, eliminating Monday qualifiers, and keeping those pesky cuts away from “signature” events move the organization even farther away from the egalitarian nature of full-field golf tournaments. Tournaments where the occasional Cinderella story or a local upstart takes on a star, gives a global event something rich in character that no other sport can offer.

Continuing to chip away at the fundamentals may give fans the same sense they get watching the equivalent of best-of-three sets pro tennis. Just four times a year, (men’s) professional tennis plays best-of-five sets. Those two-week extravaganzas are seen as history-making tests. Not coincidentally, those are the only times large audiences still pay attention to tennis.

Our fishbowl is slightly different, in that ratings for our majors, while better than week-to-week events, are still pretty dreadful....  But the point remains that those four weeks (maybe with the Players Championship thrown in for good measure) represent the only remaining tests of golf.

The announced PGA Tour reductions were sold as a necessity due to offset slow play and competitions compromised by the inability to finish rounds before sunset or even to start them in the sunlight. But the idea that a smaller field will make things better for all lost credibility when Billy Horschel explained on the Monday Q podcast how increasingly longer days cut into stars doing proper post-round ice baths, massages and physio sessions.

Smaller fields should get around courses faster. But as Lucas Glover, Matt Fitzpatrick, Charley Hull and Nelly Korda have all vented in recent days, fundamental changes to tournament golf are coming without attempts being made at tougher pace-of-play enforcement. Perhaps the players who drove this shift are correct that a more leisurely tournament day will stave off additional LIV defections. And maybe the players—Woods, Scott, Cantlay, Simpson, etc. even feel bad shedding access to dreamers and upstarts. But how would we know? No one from the PGA Tour feels a need to speak publicly about the moves besides Horschel. And he often makes things worse.

To some extent this latest news is a red herring.  Don't get me wrong, that you would limit field sizes and Tour membership because these guys (and gals) can't get around a Florida golf course in much less than six hours is shake our fist at the heavens maddening, but the true evil is in those eight signature events.  That's where Patrick said "This is all mine", and seems to be getting what he wants.

Most fans may not initially sense the competitive erosion of reduced-field/no-cut events. (Even though we have the generally unsatisfying WGC model to remind us what happens with smaller fields and no cuts). With multiple metrics already hinting at a dwindling fan base caused by a wide array of factors—some out of the PGA Tour’s control—anything that chips away at a competitive edge in the name of comfort and cash seems shortsighted. Having their “product” seen as competitive and legitimate should be essential in the business of pro sports. Major League Baseball’s uptick in 2024 can be tied to speeding up, fine-tuning, and restoring lost elements of the game.

That’s the best news for PGA Tour fans who might be dismayed by a few players appearing ignorant of what inspired the idea of professionals gathering to play for money. It would not take much of a change in board structure or profound thinkers to realize a certain brand of golf ball is not the Hope Diamond. With a few tweaks and cattle prods for slow players, the PGA Tour could quickly restore tension, charm, and character in a fashion reminiscent of MLB’s renaissance.

This (former) fan does.... We can also dive a little deeper and note that the absence of a cut makes Thursday/Friday viewing relevant only for the players' immediate families.... 

As Geoff notes in his rousing coda, we'll always have Paris:

For now, fans can expect four weeks a year to deliver a worldwide gathering. One featuring a full field* of players who earned their way into the proceedings playing for history. There will be a cut. Stars. Dreamers. Surprises. Tension. Gratifying storylines. Four intense rounds to glory. More than ever, those weeks are called majors for good reason.

*And yes, I know the Masters field is not as large as the other three majors. Thank you.

Hey, at least they have a cut.  Unless you're a fan of watching direct deposits hit checking accounts, what is there to watch?

Media Upheaval - This had been hinted at, but apparently it's on:

Golf Channel is getting a new home.

Comcast announced Wednesday that it is creating a new publicly traded company comprising a portfolio of NBCUniversal cable networks, which include USA Network, CNBC, MSNBC, E!, SYFY and the Golf Channel. Several other digital platforms—which includes the tee-time aggregation site, GolfNow—will also be lumped into the venture.

The news isn’t a total surprise, as Comcast leadership had signaled to investors this was a potential move, although industry leaders remained surprised that the move came to fruition so quickly.

Although still profitable, cable networks have seen a sharp financial decline since the advent of streaming services like Netflix. According to the Wall Street Journal (which first broke the story), breaking off the cable channels into their own organization allows for future growth of the NBCUniversal brand.

The story is more about the reordering of the media landscape, the spots properties being an afterthought.  Amusingly, MSNBC (and NBC being in their name will likely become embarrassing, as they seem to have misplaced half their viewers since Nov. 5th) is more the issue, but here's a precis of the golf rights held by Golf Channel:

What this means for Golf Channel’s immediate outlook is unclear. Golf Channel and NBC (which is not moving to the new company) have PGA and LPGA media rights until 2030. The networks also have U.S. rights to the R&A’s Open Championship until 2039. In 2020, NBC also acquired the U.S. Open and other USGA championship rights from FOX that run until 2026.

However, Golf Channel has undergone serious cuts on production over the past several years. Additionally, the PGA Tour—which just opened its studio department this past season—has taken control of some of the broadcast for tour events. Under the newly-created for-profit PGA Tour Enterprises, the tour and its private-equity partners, the Strategic Sports Group, are looking to gather other golf-related properties. The tour purchasing Golf Channel has long been discussed, and this move will likely reopen those rumors. Two industry sources tell Golf Digest another media conglomerate could attempt to partner with or purchase the Golf Channel brand.

In 2020, Golf Channel moved from its Orlando, Florida headquarters to Stamford, Connecticut, sharing space with other NBC Sports properties. It will be marking its 30th anniversary next year.

Seems like Rachel Maddow is likely to be calling golf next year, no?

I haven't put much thought into this, but isn't the bigger issue where this leaves NBC?  Their contract also runs through 2030, and they have the two Opens as well.  But without Golf Channel to help amortize the cost structure, not to mention a place to throw the broadcast when it runs late, will they want to renew?   Jay did well to renew those contracts early, but they might want to focus on drawing an actual audience between now and then.

State of the Tour, Distaff Edition - How are the ladies doing?  Well, they've always been the3 gang that couldn't shoot straight, but there's pushback:

Did LPGA capitalize on women’s sports boom? Or did it fall short?

Is there a women's sports boom?  I mean that seems more assumed than proven by this:

Women’s sports is perhaps in its biggest boom. Clark has brought millions of eyes to the WNBA,
along with millions of dollars, and maybe most important, she’s had extended staying power, with her name being talked about for the better part of two years now. There were also the ever-popular Olympics this year. In golf, Korda has ascended into rare air. There are the wins — seven now, the most by an LPGA player since 2011, and the most by an American woman since 1990. But there’s her celebrity, too. Korda was at the Met Gala. She’ll be in the latest Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition. She’s potentially reaching the point where your non-golf friend has at least heard of her, and your golf pals could call her by just one word: Nelly.

Question is, then, did her tour capitalize on that moment, as Clark’s league did? Maybe you saw a WNBA game, maybe you didn’t. But at the very least you heard about Caitlin Clark, somewhere, somehow, along with some of the league’s other stars and teams.

The Caitlin Clark boom I see, it just seems limited to the one girl....

Our girls themselves give a more muted response:

Lydia Ko

This year, there’s been a good rise in interest in women’s sports, with Caitlin Clark, with your success, with Nelly Korda’s success, a lot more broadcasts. My question is, do you think the LPGA tour did a good job of capturing that moment?

“I think it’s going to be an answer that’s different for everyone, to be honest,” Lydia Ko said during a one-on-one interview after her press conference. “I don’t turn on and watch the coverage when I’m not playing, but I’m always looking at highlights. I obviously follow the LPGA social media so I see it with that, but I do believe that we’re getting better, and obviously within our tour, there’s just been so many great stories that have been shown. Yeah, I think with anything, nothing is perfect. We can always get better and improve. But I would never say that they did a bad job.”

I'll take that as a "no"....

No one writes more about the LPGA than Beth Ann Nichols, who has this about the Commish:

Nichols: At what feels like a tipping point for the LPGA, a closer look at the rocky tenure of commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan

 I'll skip the Caitlin hoodie misfire, but this is the case for MMS:

Yes, purses on the LPGA are at an all-time high. Major championship prize funds alone have
more than doubled since 2021 to nearly $48 million. Total prize money in 2024 topped $125 million, up more than 80 percent since 2021.

It might be tempting to underline those numbers and deem LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan’s tenure thus far a success. The sport, after all, seems to center around money these days.

Except that’s not the whole story. Far from it, in fact.

Do tell, Beth Ann, first revisiting that Solheim cock-up:

Coming off the dreadfully public transportation disaster at the Solheim Cup, which quickly escalated into a crisis-management catastrophe, it’s appropriate on the eve of the LPGA’s season-ender to dig a little deeper and attempt to answer a simple question: After more than three years at the helm, how is she doing?

First, it was always going to be hard to replace Mike Whan, a master communicator. The current USGA CEO, Whan announced his decision to step down as LPGA commissioner in January 2021 after a successful 11-year stint. Hired in May 2021 as the tour’s ninth commissioner, Marcoux Samaan didn’t actually get to work in her new role until August, and the first thing on her 100-day agenda was to listen and learn.

She'll segue to the bigger-picture issues, but the LPGA is ill-served demonstrating the same contempt for their fans we see from the4 PGA Tour.  When you have one job, you might want to focus on that one job...

Those bigger picture issues are far harder to assess:

Failure to breakthrough to the mainstream

At the 2023 CME Group Tour Championship, Marcoux Samaan called this a period of transformational growth for women’s golf. And yet, there’s little evidence that the LPGA has broken through into the mainstream at a time when female athletes are experiencing an unprecedented amount of exposure.

Even when World No. 1 Nelly Korda got off to an historic start to the 2024 season, her fame didn’t exactly explode. Domestically, the tour still lacks a bona fide household name.

Sure, but they never have broken through to the mainstream, and it's quite the hard sell.  I think they sometimes are so desperate for the trappings of mainstream success, that they often ignore the actual fans they have.

Then there's the issue of over-promising to get the job:

Promise of growth not being achieved

It’s not that the LPGA is struggling to stay afloat – which has been the case in the past – it’s that the tour’s not experiencing the transformational growth Marcoux Samaan preached.

The departure of Cognizant, a Fortune 100 company that was bullish on the LPGA from the start – signaled a red flag. The hope was that Cognizant’s leadership would sing the LPGA’s praises to other blue-chip companies and lead to organic growth.

Instead, they’re out after title-sponsoring four editions of the event, leaving the tour scrambling to back its own Founders Cup as the LPGA celebrates 75 years.

Always going to be a tough sell in a jammed sports calendar, but perhaps you might want to have actual busses for those actual fans that actually showed up at the Solheim Cup.  See what I did there  All the grandiose plans are great, but take care of business.

But here Beth Ann approaches the actual issue:

Players appreciate the focus on missed-cut money, free hotels and an increased health insurance stipend. But there’s a common refrain among many in and around the tour that they can’t articulate Marcoux Samaan’s overall vision. And when it comes to big-picture issues – such as the tour’s Gender Policy or its dealings with Golf Saudi and the potential of an LET merger – the tour lacks transparency and is slow to act.

Beth Ann wants the best for the ladies', and perhaps is pulling her punches here, because what she's describing is clear in this from presser:

Gender policy

Hailey Davidson, a transgender golfer from Florida, went through the second stage of LPGA qualifying this year, but missed the cut by six shots at Plantation Golf and Country Club in Venice, Fla. Forty-three advanced to the final stage next month.

Davidson, however, does have limited status on the Epson Tour for 2025. She’s the second transgender golfer to earn status on that tour, after Bobbi Lancaster did so 11 years ago. Lancaster never competed in an event.

The LPGA voted to drop its “female at birth” requirement in 2010. Marcoux Samaan has said that if there were updates to the policy they would come by the end of the year.

“I think we've made that clear that we've been using sports medicine experts, legal experts to analyze our policy over the course of the year and review our policy,” Marcoux Samaan said. “We're completing that review, and we'll make any updates for the policy by the end of the year, which is what we've told our players, and we've told them throughout the course of the year. We told them in the player meeting. We will make any updates to our policy by the end of the year.”

She's a leader for the current zeitgeist, in that she would rather be dead than rude.  That bit about allowing biological males into women's sports is an existential threat, but she'd rather ensure her welcome at all the fashionable cocktail parties.  Do her members see the train coming at them?  But she's hiding behind "medical experts", so is quite obvious not the leader that the ladies need.

Today In Global Warming - Since very hurricane and storm is used to support the spurious notion of anthropomorphic warming, I assume that this will be accorded the same treatment:

Glad to have solved global warming for y'all....

Dornoch is blessed with a famous microclimate in which golf can be played year-round.  And while I'm old enough to remember when we were sufficiently mature to treat weather as miserly weather,  those are no longer the rules.  

That's it for this week.  See you down the road.

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