Sunday, January 29, 2023

Weekend Wrap - Conference Championship Edition

If the Tour wraps on Saturday, you'll be expecting my trenchant insights on Sunday, right?

Fortunately, your humble blogger has been preparing for this eventuality since Friday, when I began drafting the non-game story items below.  My friends at Open Snow had me on alert for snow this weekend, and we awoke yesterday to a surprise 10" of freshies, which were dutifully shredded.  This morning remains in doubt, as we await the snow report and assess the state of your humble blogger's quads....

The good news for you, Dear Reader, is that blogging puts almost no stress on said quads....

Synchronicity - When CBS stuck an Air Pod into Max Homa's ear on Friday, he was hanging around the leaderboard, though emitting no vibes that spoke of actually winning this thing.  We do have more on CBS and Homa below but, while the interview is drawing raves for CBS, it didn't seem to actually help Max's play, although we are parsing the smallest of sample sizes:

He was also asked about how to decide whether to go for the green in two or lay up and what would go into his decision.

Homa decided to go for it in two, and he pulled his ball left, saying he hit it off the toe. When he got up by the green, Homa called for a rules official when his ball became embedded and he got a free drop. His second shot landed above the front left bunker by the green.

“I’m sure this is just in a peach of a lie,” Homa joked when walking to the green. And one he got to his ball? “I’m not going to touch it.”

He hit a pretty dreadful shot, which is amusing only because we all know how much he wanted to hit a great one with the eyes of the world on us and that Air Pod in his ear.  That last bit has been deemed a piece of comedy gold, given the embedded ball follies at this very venue by a certain man who shall not be named, at least for now.

On Sunday Max seemed focused completely on business, although CBS deserves credit for more of that synchronicity involved.  One question Trevor Immelmann posed on Saturday was about his attentions span, to which Max admitted that he couldn't focus on golf for 5- 5 1/2 hours straight, though the joke he threw in about coveting Trevor's accent won't win any improv awards, the bit about his young son was more genuine.

So, what was he thinking about Sunday.  The expected and the unexpected, first the latter:

It could be said that the Torrey Pines golf complex now represents something of a life-and-death
circumstance for Max Homa when he's competes in the Farmers Insurance Open. Not literally, of course. But on the same grass, the popular Californian has both absorbed the loss of his childhood idol, NBA star Kobe Bryant, and the joys of cooing at his 2-month-old baby boy, Cam, as the newly crowned tournament champion.

As Homa fiercely battled a handful of major champions and a hopeful journeyman late in the fourth round of a Saturday conclusion on the Torrey Pines South Course, he said his mind did drift to thoughts of Bryant, of Kobe's competitive tenacity, and of his tragic death three years ago this week in a helicopter crash. That day, on Sunday at the Farmers, news of the Los Angeles Lakers great’s passing drifted out to players either during their rounds or when they’d signed their cards.

“This place … I have a weird feeling towards it,” Homa said. “I love it, and it has like a weird sadness to it.”

OK, didn't see that one coming, but Max is a SoCal guy, as you heard ad nauseum during the broadcast.  But this might strike some as over-sharing, although I think it makes him an even more appealing for it:

Homa became a first-time parent on Oct. 30, but it was not without its fretful moments. Lacey
underwent complications during Cam’s birth, Homa has said, requiring multiples surgeries and time in the ICU.

“She had a horrendous birth, it did not go well,” Homa said during his winner’s press conference. “It was the scariest – hard to say because it was an amazing day, get a new son, Cam. It was the worst day ever at the same time.”

Homa credited his wife for being “a rock star” as a mother, allowing him to practice and focus on his play, and he wanted to pay back her for those efforts.

“I feel like I’ve almost worked harder for this because I want to spend as much time as I possibly can helping her and being with Cam and doing all the cool things, catching some smiles here and there and getting screamed at,” he said. “But I also want to be the best golfer on the planet and she knows that and she just does an amazing job letting me do both…I work hard at two things now, so it feels a little bit more difficult but it’s a million times more rewarding.”

There's an inherent decency in Max that folks seem to pick up on, and I think is a big positive for the Tour.  That simple gratitude for the blessings that life have bestowed on him has, have you noticed, been in short supply in our game for the last year.  

As for the golf?  This header is a bit over the top:

Max Homa’s heroics lead to Farmers Insurance Open win

Said "heroics" being limited to that 16th hole birdie, though that is the nature of Torrey's South Course.  Of course Homa deserves all sort of credit for putting himself in position, though the dispositive event was more Sam Ryder's predictable collapse, which is always hard to watch.  

We've covered Max's Friday participation on the broadcast, but am the only one that thought the more important walk-and-talk was the one with Sam's mother, who seemed to be way too far ahead of the facts on the ground.  You've heard of the announcer's curse, well was the outcome a result of his Mother's curse?  

A couple more possibly amusing bits.  I've sampled some of the Twitter trash talk between the revolutionaries and the republican old guard.  This one just struck me as fairly feeble:

It was a weird final day, for sure, but that no-name leaderboard included Rahm, Finau, Morikawa, Bradley and young talent such as Theegala and Im (not to mention a Rickie sighting, without his trademark orange outfit).  For a non-elevated event, that's pretty good news for Ponte Vedra Beach, methinks.  

But laugh-out-loud funny for them to criticize the viewership numbers because they seemingly appear clueless to the inconvenient fact that no one watches golf.  Rather a significant omission in that McKinsey Report, but not an issue as long as the checks clear.

If you sense a callous indifference to Mr. Ryder's fate, you are spot on.  I have little knowledge of the man's career, although he's apparently demonstrated a startling mediocre consistency.  But life is harsh, and the man deserved to implode for one very simple reason:


You show up with 4" of ankle exposed, your place in golf oblivion is assured....

This opinion uncomfortably aligns me with a man with whom I've not shared much common ground lately, though he fortunately went where he shouldn't have:

Two words: Mizzen + Main!

Dubai Doings - We had teegate to amuse us earlier in the week.  There was a report floating the premise that Rory and Reed were to be paired, though at least this bot admitted that they got it wrong:

Actually relived for Rory to not have Patrick given that kind of platform.  They're not going to finish until Monday, but there is a pairing that's in a certain way even better than Rory-Reed:

Until the dispute between LIV Golf and the DP World Tour is settled in court, tension will riddle the range at most events throughout the season.

Exhibit A: Henrik Stenson, who lost his position as European Ryder Cup captain once he joined the Saudi-backed LIV Series, will be paired with Tyrrell Hatton, a Ryder Cup veteran, and Luke Donald, the man who replaced Stenson as captain, on Sunday for the third round of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.

Deliciously awkward, no?  Whatever will they talk about?  Uniforms?  Captain's picks?

When the day of reckoning comes for the LIVsters, Henrik is unfortunately due quite the harsh penalties.  He's always been one of the more likeable personalities out there, but he did sign that contract committing to not do what an hour-and-a-half later he went and did....  Sorry, Henrik, but you chose badly.

The Squeeze - Deep Throat is no less of a journalistic scandal than Russiagate, though his alleged guidance to "Follow the Money" is never a bad call.  Sean Zak tells us that the PGA Tour has finally heeded this advise and is going after the paymasters:

In a significant legal move, the PGA Tour is pivoting the focus of its countersuit against LIV Golf to the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund and its governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan.
According to court documents filed Tuesday, the Tour is moving to add Al-Rumayyan and the PIF itself as counter-defendants in the case.

Why? The Tour argues that instead of LIV Golf and Greg Norman having autonomy, it’s Al-Rumayyan and the PIF that have ultimate power over LIV’s business, inclusive of recruiting players, approving contracts, determining payout structures and even promising to indemnify them from financial responsibility in lawsuits. (LIV Golf is a subsidiary of LIV Golf Investments, which is funded entirely by the PIF, which owns 93% of LIV.)

All of these alleged actions, the Tour argues, are tortuous interference of the contracts the defecting players signed with the PGA Tour, as well as the contracts between the Tour and players who stayed (but LIV actively recruited).

Ask yourself a simple question: would you trust Greg Norman with $2 billion?  

The lawsuit at hand is a countersuit waged by the PGA Tour against LIV Golf in response to a separate antitrust suit LIV filed against the Tour for anticompetitive practices. In short, everyone is suing everyone and we’ve reached the point where other industry leaders are being pulled into it. (On Monday, both sides filed a joint statement on whether or not LIV can gain access to communications between PGA Tour policy board directors and dozens of Augusta National members.)

As for this suit, the main point remains: The PGA Tour believes that Norman is simply an acting CEO and must retain approval for all meaningful decisions from Al-Rumayyan and the PIF. “It is Al-Rumayyan who functions as LIV’s chief executive,” the Tour alleges, adding that LIV’s leadership understands Al-Rumayyan to be “de facto CEO,” and that Al-Rumayyan micromanages “LIV’s day-to-day operations both while in the United State and abroad.”

“And even once contracts are signed and debts accrued,” the Tour alleges, “PIF holds the purse strings: none of LIV’s partners or golfers gets paid until PIF and Mr. Al-Rumayyan agree to distribute the money.”

The only curious bit is that the Tour seems to have gotten to this rather obvious legal strategy on the late side.  It obviously makes no sense that the insular Saudis would use a Westerner as anything more than a beard, keeping important decisions within the family.

But this is also a way to impose a non-financial cost on the Saudis, as they're not great on the wirness stand...

The Tour has recently worked hard to subpoena Al-Rumayyan and the PIF for various documents about its actions toward players and agents in its efforts to get a golf league off the ground. Al-Rumayyan’s text messages and emails — with the likes of Bryson DeChambeau and sports agent Casey Wasserman, among others — were included in the Tour’s presentation during a discovery hearing on Jan. 13. Presumably, those documents were acquired via discovery with players and agents, not Al-Rumayyan himself, who has evaded the discovery process to this point. Also presented during the three-hour hearing was a key document referred to as the Shareholders’ Agreement.

The agreement, as it has been shared with the Tour, was signed by Al-Rumayyan. In it, the Tour states, the PIF is “required to approve” the reported nine-figure contracts signed by the likes of DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson. During the Jan. 13 hearing LIV argued that the Tour was misinterpreting the agreement, but what’s clear is the Tour has quickly doubled down on what it believes to be the truth.

Isn't this the document that Phil boasted was drafted under his supervision?  This cheerleader, who teaches sports law at Brooklyn Law, presumably knows what of she speaks, though with an asterisk:

 Zak only hints at that asterisk:

Though wrangling Al-Rumayyan and the PIF into a U.S. court room has proven difficult for PGA Tour lawyers, if Balsam is correct, we could see swift changes in the trajectory of the lawsuits, pending an order on the amended counterclaim by Judge Beth Labson Freeman.

This will get very interesting, methinks.  It's exceedingly difficult for a U.S. Court to assert jurisdiction over foreign nationals, although in this case said foreign nationals are attempting to claim relief under U.S. law in U.S. courts, so you'd think it would be hard to hide behind sovereign immunity.  

The place to watch might well be the Biden administration.  The origin of that DOJ antitrust investigation remains obscure, as is the extent to which the Biden administration wishes to curry favor with the bonecutters.  Calling them a pariah state didn't help when they needed them to pump more oil, but I can't help but scanning back up to that photo above.  If the enemy of my enemy is my friend, what are bone saws and mass beheadings compared to that bad Orange Man?  

Slightly unrelated, but Sean adds this juicy nugget:

All of this comes following various structural changes to LIV Golf’s corporate hierarchy in recent months. COO Atul Khosla resigned from his post in the fall after LIV’s first season. According to reporting in The Telegraph, which was cited in Tuesday night’s filing, Khosla’s resignation came after a “confrontation” with Al-Rumayyan. Khosla’s role has been filled by a trio of directors from golf marketing company Performance54 — all of whom have all been tied to the idea of a rival tour for years. Then this week, Sports Illustrated reported that Majed Al-Sorour, who was a managing director for LIV, would no longer be in that position, and that Norman would now have more direct contact with Al-Rumayyan.

Maybe not so unrelated, because one assumes that deposition notices have already been served on Khosla, hopefully on Christmas Eve.  Or are they holding them for Ramadan?

The Nature of Rats - On a related note, apparently the origin if this fable is Russian, which is curious in the current moment, though not where I'm headed:

A scorpion wants to cross a river but cannot swim, so it asks a frog to carry it across. The frog hesitates, afraid that the scorpion might sting it, but the scorpion promises not to, pointing out that it would drown if it killed the frog in the middle of the river. The frog considers this argument sensible and agrees to transport the scorpion. Midway across the river, the scorpion stings the frog anyway, dooming them both. The dying frog asks the scorpion why it stung despite knowing the consequence, to which the scorpion replies: "I am sorry, but I couldn't resist the urge. It's in my nature."

Shockingly, my intention is not to apply this to Patrick Reed, however apt it may feel.

Rory had this reaction to the executive shake-up at LIV:

Earlier this week the upstart circuit backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund confirmed
a Sports Illustrated report that Majed Al-Sorour, CEO of the Golf Saudi Federation and a pivotal player in getting LIV off the ground, would leave his position as LIV Golf’s managing director but remain as one of seven LIV Golf board members. The move points to Norman having an elevated role with LIV, which has lost both its chief operating officer and director of franchises over the last few weeks.

“I mean, if the Chief Executive doesn’t have an executive team, I don’t know how strong that is,” said McIlroy of LIV’s current situation ahead of this week’s DP World Tour event, the Hero Dubai Desert Classic. “I mean, he can’t do it himself.”

C'mon, Rors, the Sharkie-pooh is a can-do kind of guys.  I understand that he's watched instructional videos on YouTube and can now operate the bonesaws himself.

Amusingly, though, that was before this additional defection:

The changes keep coming for LIV Golf’s leadership.

Golfweek confirmed Thursday that Jonathan Grella is no longer serving as the upstart circuit’s chief communications officer. Golf Digest was first to report.

Grella is the fourth member of a senior leadership position to leave his role in the three months since LIV concluded its inaugural season in October, joining Majed Al Sorour (who will remain a board member), Atul Khosla (chief operating officer) and Matt Goodman (president of franchises).

Do take a moment to appreciate the art in that opening sentence.   Those changes would seem to all be going in the same direction, no?  Though I will concede that this an especially good example of PR flackery:

“As LIV begins our second year, we are grateful to the team that helped get us off the ground and launch such a successful start-up,” said LIV Golf via a statement. “We have a group of hard-working, dedicated staffers and we understand from time to time personnel will move on or decide to pursue other endeavors. In all cases, we are appreciative and will continue to assemble a world-class team to guide us through our second year.”

Continue?  When do you start?

But just remember that those deserting are only doing what's in their nature.

Update: This not technically an update, because I hadn't published the post yet.  But the above was written on Friday, and we now find that we've understated the executive outflow:

News of the latest departures come courtesy of the Wall Street Journal, which reported on Friday evening that chief marketing officer Kerry Taylor and chief communications officer Jonathan Grella had been removed from their posts this week. Per the report, the news comes as part of an effort for the league to make changes before its second season.

Removed by whom?  Kind of important, no?

That item linked is a James Colgan item that comes with some howlers:

The news marks just the latest organizational shift for the upstart golf league before a critical second season; one that could go a long way in determining its eventual fate in the golf space. Last week, LIV announced a crucial victory — a multi-year media rights deal with the CW — ensuring a broadcast partner and some form of media revenue (likely through shared advertising revenue) for the foreseeable future.

Got that, a crucial victory.... They're not being paid for their product, but apparently Golf.com is just copying and-pasting LIV press releases.  But it gets even better:

Now comes the harder part: convincing controversy-wary advertisers to commit huge sums to LIV’s product in a lukewarm economic environment. While the departures of the latest swathe of LIV executives (along with Norman’s promotion) could represent typical startup turnover, it could also represent some of the challenges faced by the league to that end.

A lukewarm economic environment?  Yeah, that's the issue.... But there's one more:

While LIV has seen struggles generating interest from the golf industry, it has had no problem attracting talent from the professional ranks, which could be the next piece of LIV staffing news we receive. The league has committed hundreds of millions to attract pro players to its circuit, and it is expected that another wave of defections could be upon us as soon as next week’s Saudi International. To date, the Tour has granted releases to four players to compete in the event, which is funded and staged by the same investors behind LIV Golf, the Saudi Public Investment Fund.

No problem attracting talent?  Sure, they've done great throwing eight-figure sums at players whose best years are long behind them, but there isn't much talent there right now.

To your humble blogger, one surprise in the current moment is that Norman and LIV have been noticeably quiet about future player defections.  As I've been warning, the critical moment on that score is ahead of us, as Colgan notes (though I'm unclear what those Saudi waivers mean).  But James thinks there's another wave of defections ahead of us, though I've heard no one else making that prediction.  But that is rather the critical issue, because unless they can move some alpha dogs into their orbit, it's going to be difficult to push folks to the CW to watch Pat Perez and Harold Varner.

I Saw It On TV - While Eamon Lynch's accent clearly indicates that he does not hail from Missouri, but this header seems uncharacteristically credulous:

Lynch: Better PGA Tour broadcasts are here, but it shouldn't have had to be at gunpoint

Hmmm..., this is the time stamp on Eamon's piece:

January 27, 2023 6:32 pm ET

The CBS broadcast window for that day was 5:00-8;00 p.m., so he quite clearly wrote his piece without the benefit of having seen a single broadcast, which seems that which a statistician would call a small sample size.  And by small, we of course mean none.

Eamon presumably wrote this without the benefit of seeing how it came off:

One of the Tour’s fledgling efforts to start small and act now was seen during Friday’s third
round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, when Max Homa wore a microphone for a ‘walk and talk’ with CBS Sports. The only players that viewers are accustomed to hearing during tournament action are those who washed-up in the booth or hobbled into a headset, so the shock of access to someone actually competing – heck, contending – might have been enough to topple every groaning barcalounger in The Villages.

Engaging, honest and wry, Homa is a perfect guinea pig for this experiment. Regardless of how compelling the content was in the moment, it’s mere occurrence stands as evidence of two things: how little it really takes to elevate the golf viewing experience, and how long that enhancement was forestalled by the Tour’s corporate killjoy attitude.

He's making a fair point, because until very recently the Tour players were unwilling to do such a "walk and talk" because of, checking notes, reasons.  But what really makes me laugh is the absurd amount of pressure we put Max under to say something interesting or funny.  I'm not sure he actually met that test, but you should watch the video and make your own call.

But this is Eamon's killer point, and rings true, no?

This moment with Max didn’t happen now because those in charge of broadcasting golf have never considered how to better do their jobs, or couldn’t be bothered pitching fresh approaches to Ponte Vedra. Every executive involved in televising the Tour has a tale about how their effort to enliven telecasts was stonewalled. Chalk it up to a combination of factors —corporate complacency, a culture of arrogance, a milquetoast reluctance to inconvenience the very players they’re rewarding with millions of dollars annually.

I'll go with all of the above....

But I'm not sure that Eamon though this bit through fully:

Monahan has lately taken to framing the battle with LIV Golf as one of product versus product, a stance he can only adopt with confidence after the Tour belatedly grasped the extent to which it was shortchanging fans, never mind players. Even the commissioner’s loyalists know that it took a rival product – fortuitously for them, a lousy and amoral one – to force an upgrade of the Tour’s offering, both to members and consumers. Because change came at gunpoint – or, more accurately, at the point of a shamshir – it’s unsurprising that many golf fans greet progress with begrudgery and remain wholly unsympathetic to the business predicament in which the Tour finds itself.

Yes, they have a lousy product, one that actual golf fans should be revolted by.  But the measures taken by the Tout to fend off LIV have made them more, not less, like that "lousy" LIV product.  To the extent that the Tour's product has been improved for members, it's only a highly select group of such members, the implications of which we'll be absorbing long after LIV curls up in a fetal position and dies.

But Eamon, I wouldn't be holding my breath:

A time is nearing when even the biggest Tour stars will need to pump the brakes on what they think they’re entitled to and decide to be a little more like Max, giving a paltry something back to the fans who generate that revenue.

And why would they pump said brakes?  The more they whine, the more money has been thrown their way....  Nice incentive system we've created, at least if you're PIP-worthy.

Update:  The above was written before Friday's broadcast.  Having watched most of Friday's and all of Saturday's broadcast, it was the same old same old.  This piece I found unintentionally hilarious:

6 intriguing changes coming to CBS Golf in 2023

Spoiler alert:  This is another James Colgan piece and you'll be shocked to learn that he's more easily intrigued than your humble blogger.  For instance, this is intriguing why?

3. A bigger schedule

The biggest ever from a programming perspective.

In 2023, CBS will carry the FedEx Cup Playoffs for the first time, covering the three final events of the PGA Tour season. The network will also handle “designated event” coverage from the WM Phoenix Open, Genesis, Memorial, RBC Heritage and more.

In addition to the Tour schedule, CBS will continue its coverage of the Masters, PGA Championship and Scottish Open. In total, the network will cover 23 events, including two majors and four countries, in the new year.

“We have 23 events in ’23, and that’s a big deal for us,” Shy, CBS’ producer says.

 And for us?  Yeah, not so much....

You'll notice that on the subject we might actually care about there's little there there:

4. Tech enhancements

Drones and a “constant leaderboard” were two of CBS producer Sellers Shy’s most well-received changes among the golf-viewing audience. Expect to see enhancements to both properties, as well as an increased frequency of “Fly Cam,” “Boat Cam,” and Atlas super high-definition camera shots utilized throughout the course of the broadcast.

CBS will be far more watchable without the incoherent babbling of Sir Mumbles, who shall not be missed by your humble blogger.  Other than that, they do what they do.

Perhaps the broadcasts this weekend were a little tighter?  There's a bit in that article about lightening the commercial load, but I watched on tape so I've no sense of whether there was any improvement there.  But Nance seems as treacly as ever so, as the wise man once said, it is what it is.

That will be it for now.  I won't be able to blog Monday morning, hence the Sunday wrappage.  But I'd expect to be back with you on Tuesday, so lets look forward to that.  And enjoy the football.

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Thursday, January 26, 2023

Thursday Themes

Just when you think the LIV stuff couldn't get any wackier....

Teegate - By now you've heard the news from the Middle East:

Various (and vague) reports had emerged suggesting McIlroy had snubbed Reed’s attempted handshake, a move that had provoked the American reportedly into throwing a tee in the Irishman’s
direction. Or merely to the ground in frustration at McIlroy’s reluctance to engage, depending on what (if anything) you believe in this mini-saga.

“I didn't see it,” was McIlroy’s initial response. “Patrick came up to say hello and I didn't really want him to. That was it. I didn't see a tee. I didn't feel a tee. Obviously someone else saw that. I can't believe it's actually turned into a story. It's nothing.

“I was down by my bag, and he came up to me,” McIlroy attempted to explain. “I was busy working and sort of doing my practice. I didn't really feel like … I didn't feel the need to acknowledge him. And if roles were reversed and I'd thrown that tee at him, I'd be expecting a lawsuit. So no, I didn't see, it. My back was turned to him.”

Well, the Tour had figuratively turned its back on so many of Reed's antics, that who can blame the Ulsterman?  This, as no doubt you've heard, was the issue for Rors:

“I got a subpoena on Christmas Eve,” said McIlroy, receiving it from an attorney who is representing Reed in a handful of anti-defamation cases against members of the golf media. The subpoena given to McIlroy, however, is believed to be part of a separate case not involving Reed that alleges that McIlroy, Davis Love III and Tiger Woods are co-conspirators in the PGA Tour’s antitrust scheme to destroy the LIV Golf League.

“I was trying to have a nice time with my family. If someone shows up on your doorstep and delivers that, you're not going to take that well. I'm living in reality. I don't know where he [Reed] is living. If I were in his shoes, I wouldn't expect a hello or a handshake. I don't see how you can pretend like nothing's happening.”

Patrick explains: 

When Reed was found on Wednesday and asked to tell his side of the story, he noted that he hadn’t seen McIlroy or his caddie Harry Diamond yet this year so he wanted to say hello. “Because of the relationship I've had with Rory … let's be honest, we've had some great battles at Augusta and other tournaments and our friendships been pretty good up until obviously joining LIV," Reed told the Daily Mail.


Reed continued by saying Harry shook his hand but Rory just looked down there and was messing with his Trackman (device) and kind of decided to ignore us. We all know where it came from—being part of LIV. Since my tees are Team Aces LIV tees I flicked him one. It was kind of a funny shot back. Funny how a small little flick has turned into basically me stabbing him and throwing a tee at him.


"He saw me and he decided not to not to react," Reed told the Daily Mail. "It's unfortunate because we've always had a good relationship … But it is one of those things—if you're going to act like an immature little child then you might as well be treated like one.”

Well, on the subject of immature little children, we do need to acknowledge Patrick's lifetime achievement award, but still.... What had Rory pissed is not at all tied to LIV, but rather a score-settling effort from PReed that has no chance of success, but will inconvenience his peers.

While the name-calling will justifiably draw the pixels, this is the Reed comment that drew my eye, it being his signature move:

Reed claimed the subpoena had nothing to do with him.

Nothing ever does have anything to do with him, unless it's a personal slight he can whine about.  Yanno, like being paired with Tiger at the Ryder Cup..... 

Now, there does seem to be confusions about the actual underlying lawsuit.  Amusingly, Dylan Dethier feels compelled to do a forensic analysis of this issue and, while it's not Patrick's defamation lawsuit against Brandel, et.al., Patrick is in no way off the hook:

Wait. Reed’s suing Rory?!

No, but I see how you would have gotten there — especially given it feels like Reed’s suing everybody these days — but the devil’s in the details here. McIlroy was served on behalf of Reed’s lawyer, Larry Klayman, but not for one of Reed’s personal suits. This was Klayman vs. the PGA Tour. Still, it’s clear that McIlroy isn’t a huge Klayman fan. As a result, I don’t think he and Reed will be splitting a summer house anytime soon.

He really got served on Christmas Eve?

Sure did! At his house at 3:50 p.m. on 12/24, according to this affidavit — which was originally posted by Klayman himself.

Are you confused?  Yeah, so am I, but apparently Mr. Klayman has taken time from his core business of filing frivolous defamation lawsuits against Golf Channel contributors for their temerity in offering opinions, to file this on behalf of an oppressed class:

A consumer class-action lawsuit has been filed against America's main professional golf organizer, PGA Tour, for allegedly colluding with DP World Tour and other entities to restrain competition from newcomer rival LIV Golf Tour.

Chairman and general counsel of Freedom Watch, Inc., Larry Klayman, filed the lawsuit as "Klayman v. PGA Tour et. al" in the 15th Judicial Circuit for Palm Beach County, Fla.

The PGA Tour and its partners are accused by the lawsuit of "monopolization, market division, refusal to deal (aka group boycott) and civil conspiracy," according to a press release. The lawsuit also targets PGA Tour commissioners Jay Monahan and Keith Pelley as co-conspirators.

Care for a taste?

Using the phony pretext of Saudi financing of the LIV Golf Tour (as the PGA Tour and DP World Tour also significantly benefit from a huge amount of Saudi and Middle Eastern money) these defendants have, through their anti-competitive actions, harmed Florida consumers who would attend PGA Tour and it’s admitted partner DP World Tour golfing tournaments and events, by suspending and fining professional golfers who were formerly on these golf tours, simply because they signed up to play in LIV Golf Tour tournaments and events." Klayman says in his press release regarding the lawsuit.

And who brought Klayman into this mess?  That would be one PReed..... 

I was at dinner with a golf buddy last week, during which we both agreed that we'd love to be a fly on the wall at The Masters Champions Dinner, and that was before this flare-up.  I just can't even imagine the interpersonal dynamics that will be on display there, although Patrick would remind us that Rory will be dining elsewhere that Tuesday evening.

Geoff, in his Thursday Quad freebie, had these thoughts:

Reed has been invited to the 2023 Masters but it’s unclear if this guarantees a seat at the Champions Dinner table. There appears to be no precedent for asking a former champion to stay home, but then again, Herman Keiser also never hired a lawyer who was also in the process of harrassing Jimmy Demaret on Christmas eve or any other day of the week.

The least Chairman Fred Ridley can do is ask Reed to stay away from the dignified evening. That would allow Woods and other former champions to enjoy a well-deserved annual celebration where the only question about getting served will be answered when they see what’s on defending champion Scottie Scheffler’s menu.

I don't think there's any appetite for that, although Reed's defamation lawsuit would, I think, provide a logical cause.  It's truly so beyond the pale, attacking commentators and compelling the involvement of other valued Augusta participants, that I think that casus belli is there, and can clearly be separated from the issue of LIV v. the PGA Tour.  Again, I don't think Fred wants anything to do with this, but hold this thought because we have more below.

So, while Rory won't be there Tuesday night, this other guys will.  And Geoff has a funny bit about Larry Klayman trying to serve Tiger:

Reed’s attorney has been less “successful” serving five-time Masters Champion Tiger Woods. We know this because Klayman issued a press release saying so, with the process server’s notes explaining how Woods has eluded her:


Tiger's disinclination to be served will just remain one of life's enduring mysteries, along with that of why Jordan doesn't want to be Ryder Cup partners with Patrick....Of course, any concern about Patrick qualifying for a Ryder Cup has resolved itself, due both to his dreadful play and that LIV thing...

But, wait, I had already emotionally moved on, then remembered I hadn't checked to see if there was anything interesting in this Golf Digest item:

It so happens there was this one curious bit about that subpoena served on Rory:

Please tell me that’s all there is to the subpoena story?

Of course not; the name of the process server was “Shark Process,” which really is just the chef’s kiss on this mess.

Kids, you can't make this s**t up....  I myself was not familiar with that expression, but apparently it's a thing:

A gesture in which the fingers and thumb of one hand are pinched together, kissed, and then blown away, signifying that something is delicious or exquisite.

Now we know. 

LIV v. Augusta National - One interesting sidebar of the ongoing antitrust litigation is the extent to which LIV seems to be targeting Augusta National:

According to court documents released Monday, LIV Golf’s lawyers have served subpoenas to
six current or former PGA Tour policy board directors as well as former commissioner Tim Finchem. Buried in a joint statement between LIV and those figureheads were allegations lobbed by LIV against various members of Augusta National, which seems to be one of LIV’s new focuses. One of the initial requests included in each subpoena to those members was an overarching demand:

Please produce “All Communications between You and any member of Augusta National relating to a New Tour, including but not limited to LIV Golf.”

For some reason, this reminds me of this famous exchange from Casablanca:

  • Major Strasser : Are you one of those people who cannot imagine the Germans in their beloved Paris?

    Rick : It's not particularly my beloved Paris.

    Heinz : Can you imagine us in London?

    Rick : When you get there, ask me!

    Captain Renault : Hmmh! Diplomatist!

    Major Strasser : How about New York?

    Rick : Well there are certain sections of New York, Major, that I wouldn't advise you to try to invade.

It's a funny position the LIVsters find themselves in.  I'm sure they initially fooled themselves into thinking that playing on LIV vs. the PGA Tour was just like deciding whether to play the Waste Management vs. playing at Pebble, and that they'd continue to be welcome as conquering heroes.  Obviously a very naïve take, but then you turn around and suddenly a war with Augusta National is being waged in your name.  Saying you have nothing to do with it just won't cut it....

This seems to be the flash point with LIV v. ANGC:

Much of the allegations in the statement remain confidential, but ANGC members Condoleezza Rice — the former Secretary of State — and Warren Stephens were listed by LIV as having “apparently attempted to influence the DOJ (Department of Justice) to not investigate the [PGA] Tour.” Whether or not that is true — the complaints flying back and forth are highly contested by each side — the DOJ has launched an investigation into the PGA Tour for potential anti-competitive practices, as it has also done with both the USGA and Augusta National.

To this observer, the initiation of that DOJ antitrust investigation remains one of the most curious and unexplained threads in this story.  The timing seemingly was tied to Biden begging the Saudis to pump more oil, but we all know that the "pariah state" told him to pound sand.  But, given LIV's ties to Trump, why would Biden's DOJ seek to help LIV, other than the need for more of their evil carbon-based energy?

But the charge that Condi attempted to influence the DOJ seems to this observer crazy, if only because I can't imagine that Condi would have any juice with the DOJ.  

You can sort through all of the ANGC members whose communications are being sought, though this seems rather relevant:

The lawsuit is an antitrust case wherein LIV has accused the PGA Tour of organizing a “group boycott” with other governing bodies like Augusta National, the DP World Tour, the PGA of America, the USGA and the R&A. Within its initial complaint, LIV alleged that representatives from Augusta National launched an anti-LIV campaign, threatening to disinvite LIV players from future Masters tournaments if they joined the upstart league.

The PGA Tour policy board directors made their case as well in the joint statement, led by Mary Meeker, a venture capitalist and partner at Bond Capital. LIV’s theory that the Tour “seeded doubt” among top golfers that they’d be banned “is entirely baseless as demonstrated by the fact that the Masters has allowed LIV golfers to compete in the 2023 Masters,” Meeker’s statement read. It was just one month ago that Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley announced that any players already qualified for the 2023 tournament would be invited to play.

I wonder where LIV is going with all this.... Yeah, there might be some useful nuggets in these e-mails, but the larger issue is the timeline.  These discovery battles all take time, and time is the one thing LIV is short on (OK, not only thing, as they're quite obviously short on golfing talent as well).  

And then there's this remind from Geoff about that executive reorganization at LIV:

We also learned from Harig’s report that Greg Norman is assuming an even greater role in LIV operations after Golf Saudi’s Majed Al-Sorour was demoted to a board seat.

These guys say a lot os stupid things, not least this from Al-Sorour:

The “time” became right following Al-Sorour’s infamous remarks to The New Yorker’s Zach Helfand. That’s where he said he would “create my own majors for my players” if the championships banned LIV players.

Hard to see why the folks at Augusta National wouldn't cotton to these folks.  As is usually attributed to Machiavelli, If you're gonna take a shot at the King, you better kill him.

But by far the most amusing part of this is that those taking the shot at the King, expect to be warmly embraced for their efforts.  The will more likely find themselves pariahs, which seems to come as quite the shock.

I've got more of everything except time.... I will probably not blog tomorrow, as I have a call scheduled, but there could even be some weekend blogging depending upon snow and my skiing schedule.  Always good to check back early and often.

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Wednesday, January 25, 2023

Midweek Musings

Back at Unplayable Lies Western HQ where the snowfall has dwindled to a mere trickle, at least for the moment.  There is some cause for optimism in the forecast, but that's typically as reliable as election exit polls...

Shall we check in with the LIVsters and see what those crazy kids are up to?

Houston, We Have a Schedule - I think we can agree that it's completely normal to not release your schedule until an hour-and-a-half before your opening day.  We do have one take on that maneuvering to share, although Occam's Razor would point towards incompetence and lack of demand, in either order.

You'll want to get these dates in your Dayminder soonest:

Feb. 24-26: El Camaleon Golf Club, Mexico

March 17-19: The Gallery Golf Club, Tucson, Arizona

March 31-April 2: Orange County National, Orlando, Florida

April 21-23: The Grange Golf Club, Australia

April 28-30: Sentosa Golf Club, Singapore

May 12-14: Cedar Ridge Country Club, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma

May 26-28: Trump National Golf Club, Washington, D.C.

June 30-July 2: Real Club Valderrama, Spain

July 7-9: Centurion Club, England

Aug. 4-6: Greenbrier, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia

Aug. 11-13: Trump National Golf Club, Bedminster, New Jersey

Sept. 22-24: Rich Harvest Farms, Sugar Grove, Illinois

Oct. 20-22: Trump National Doral, Miami, Florida

Nov. 3-5: Royal Greens Golf & Country Club, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

In terms of wins, they're a little thin on the ground.  They did actually announce a schedule, though that likely falls under the banner of the soft bigotry of low expectations.   Straining further to identify positives, they did grab a few notable venues from the Old World powers, including Valderrama and Mayakoba, though the one that rankles this purist is the Greenbrier and its Macdonald gem.  But the Tour treated that event with its usual passive-aggressive indifference, so hard to blame them....

Other curiosities is that they abandoned their Boston event, and the team competition will come to its dramatic conclusion in...wait for it, Jeddah.  Which would seem to ensure an audience measure in the teens.....

Though does the schedule seem back-loaded to you?  They had previously announced their intention to conduct their events in the February - September window, apparently even a bone saw being no match for the NFL juggernaut.  Seems to this observer that they were forced to push back at least a month-and-a-half to secure dates, not exactly a show of raw strength.  A better blogger than I would take the time to see which each of those events competes with on the PGA Tour, but I'm far too lazy for that, at least right now.

Bob Harig fills in some background on the delay in announcing the full schedule, as well as that curious coda:

Reasons for the delay are due in some part to the relatively volatile nature of securing venues, with limited sites available that can host a professional golf tournament.

But it is also clear that there has been some meddling by LIV Golf’s Saudi supporters, who seemingly stayed out of the day-to-day workings last year as an eight-tournament schedule was pulled off with very little lead time.

The reason likely has something to do with LIV’s Saudi bosses wanting an event to be played in Saudi—something which was not in the plans late last year as LIV Golf was wrapping up its invitational series.

When LIV Golf was playing its seventh event in Jeddah, there was no indication the league would play any of its events there this year. The feeling was that the players were already committed to the Saudi International, and that another event there was asking too much.

Hmmm, so the guys paying the piper will call the tune?  That seems highly irregular, and I remember Phil bloviating to the effect that the LIV operating agreement had been written to give the players control.  It's almost as if the Saudis are doing this for reasons unrelated to golf or economics....who knew?

When LIV Golf got to Miami for its season-ending team event in October, several players suggested that there were rumblings of a schedule change that would see them go back to Jeddah. The first such suggestion was that the first event of the schedule would be there, the week following the Saudi International. The players did not seem to be on board. Nor were they in favor of another idea that would have seen the opener played the week of Mayakoba—three weeks after the Saudi International on the same Royal Greens Country Club, pushing back an already-scheduled Mexico event.

While the Saudis pay the bills and it's certainly within their rights to want to play an event in their home country, the idea is low on smarts for various reasons, perhaps the biggest of which is events staged at the venue outside of Jeddah simply to not attract a large gathering.

LIV Golf’s motto is "Golf, But Louder" and to launch a new season amid such a subdued atmosphere would have been foolish.

Is it any less foolish to finish your season there?  Especially since those $1 billion valuations for each team would seem inconsistent with it wrapping to the sound of crickets.

But, perhaps the bigger issue is its effect on that antitrust litigation, in which we've seen the Saudis ducking depositions arguing that the Saudis are merely passive investors.  Harig does at least touch on that:

And if you want to play into the notion put forth by the PGA Tour put in one of its court filings—that the Public Investment Fund (PIF) that underwrites LIV Golf is calling the shots—this certainly gives legitimacy to those claims.

Ya think?  

Titanic Deck Chair Update - A bit of a C-Suite shuffle, wherein I'll just note that there's a long tradition of kicking folks upstairs as a means of solving an issue without an admission of failure:

Majed Al Sorour, LIV Golf managing director and Golf Saudi CEO, is no longer in an administrative role with the breakaway circuit, Golf Digest has confirmed. 

Al Sorour, who serves as an adviser to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and is the director
of the Premier League’s Newcastle United soccer club, was considered the second-in-command at the Saudi-backed circuit, behind only Aramco chairman and PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan. Greg Norman may have been the public-facing leader, but sources familiar with LIV tell Golf Digest Al-Rumayyan and Al Sorour were the two people who had final say over LIV Golf/Golf Saudi matters.

Now Norman will report to Al-Rumayyan alone, as Al Sorour moves to a position on the LIV board.

“Majed Al Sorour has been and will continue to be an invaluable part of LIV Golf, as he continues in his Board of Directors capacity,” a LIV Golf spokesperson told Golf Digest. “Majed’s role was pivotal in supporting the launch of LIV Golf. As the business transitions into its first full season with a new broadcast partnership in place, the time is right for the managing director role to transition and for Majed to focus efforts and attention on other interests.

The most curious word in there would seem to be that "alone:, no?  Didn't Jamal Kashoggi go into that Saudi consulate alone as well?

Of course, there's been no shortage of turnover:

Al Sorour’s departure continues an offseason of upheaval among LIV Golf management. In December, it was revealed Atul Khosla, chief operating officer of LIV, had left. Khosla was considered one of the voices of reason inside LIV, sources tell Golf Digest. Against criticism that LIV Golf was nothing more than a publicity stunt to improve the reputation of Saudi Arabia—which funds the golf entity through the PIF—Khosla insisted the organization’s goals were business related. Matt Goodman, president of LIV franchises, also left LIV following its first year.

Sources close to LIV Golf tell Golf Digest that Al Sorour’s managing director position will not be filled. In turn, his absence will allow Norman to play a bigger role at LIV. This comes despite calls from Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy for the two-time major champion to step down in order for a detente between LIV and the golf world. However, multiple sources say a number of LIV Golf players remain in Norman’s corner. They appreciate that he is fighting for their interests, particularly in trying to secure Official World Golf Ranking status, along with providing them cover from backlash for joining an entity with numerous human-rights issues attached.

Were Tiger and Rory playing 3D chess?  Did they intentionally call for Norman's scalp in order to induce the Saudis to expand the bufoon's role?   Or, with the rats doing what rats do, are there just limited managerial options?

And seemingly no reinforcements to be found, so I guess that Greggy will be cleaning shoes in the locker room, as well as sucking up to his paymasters?

I Saw It On TV - My new favorite LIV flak is Will Staeger, who is LIV's Chief Media Officer, my infatuation resulting form the obvious fact that he, like his boss, will say just about anything.

On the one hand, it could be argued that they don't know that we have the Internet, and can throw their nonsense back in their faces down the road.  More likely is that they cash the bonecutters' large checks, and will be on to their next gig before the you-know-what hits the fan.  Mr. Staeger has gotten a media deal done, and wants us to know how great it's going to be at some indeterminate time in the future.  The here and now?  

Amusingly, James Colgan frames the piece with the fact that these desperate negotiations took place through the holiday season and, boo-friggin'-hoo, and it was so inconvenient.  Left unsaid is the rather obvious fact that there was zero interest from any network in actually paying LIV for their content, thereby necessitating a complicated negotiation to find any network willing to even carry the product without risk.  

Shall we have our usual kind of fun with Mr. Staeger?

According to Staeger, LIV received bids from “multiple networks” at its offer deadline in the fall of 2022, though he would not say which networks were among the potential suitors or how many networks were in the running. (Over the summer, LIV CEO Greg Norman told ESPN1000 Chicago the league was in “active negotiations” with “four different networks.”)

Four that were willing to pay LIV a combined total of....checking notes, zero.  Hey, why not ten networks, as we can see your noses growing...  Back here on Planet Earth, that the CW was the best offer is a rather public humiliation but, were denial an Olympic sport, these guys would be on the podium.

There's an old saying in politics that, if you're explaining, you're losing.  There's a further corollary to the extent that you're hiding, you've probably already lost:

For a league unafraid to gas the news cycle with fodder of an $800 million Tiger Woods offer, LIV is noticeably coy about its TV agreement. The league will not divulge specifics about the deal’s financials or term, offering only that the agreement will run “multiple years,” and that LIV will not be paying the network for airtime. (The Sports Business Journal‘s John Ourand reported Tuesday that the agreement is for two years, with a one-year option based on viewership.)

“First of all, for the record, it’s not a time buy,” Staeger said. “We’ve said from the beginning that we’re not interested in doing a time buy with anybody. We don’t feel we have to.”

Staeger’s description leaves plenty of room for interpretation about the agreement itself, particularly regarding which parts of it will result in financial gain for the upstart league. No one from the league has publicly stated if LIV will receive a “rights fee,” or annual lump-sum payment from the network in exchange for the “right” to broadcast LIV’s events. Such agreements are common practice in most major sports TV deals and result in the vast majority of TV revenue for leagues. Sources told GOLF.com last week that LIV would not immediately receive a rights fee from the CW. In lieu of a rights fee, LIV’s best avenue to financial gain from the CW agreement could come in the form of a revenue-share between the two sides. Traditionally, such agreements include splitting a share of advertising dollars generated as a result of the property’s broadcasts.

Do you remember when Norman went to the Ryder Cup and tried to convince us that LIV's team competition would be just like that?  This is their favorite rhetorical trick, in which they compare themselves to other sports properties to which they are not remotely akin:

“The model I’ve liked to talk about is how NBC Sports handled the English Premier League in the U.S., and how ESPN and Formula One combined with Netflix and ‘Drive to Survive,'” Staeger said. “Those deals really grew the property’s popularity in the U.S.”

Oh right, you guys are just like F!....except for the pesky detail that people actually watch F1.  And the CW is just like ESPN.... And Netflix, well they're in bed with that other tour.  But, except for those meager qualifications, I get that it's totally the same.

And let's not forget this pesky detail:

If a revenue-share is the path forward for LIV, at least in the short-term, a separate issue arises. Per the CW’s current agreement with the audience-tracking service Nielsen, weekend viewership numbers are not tracked on the network, meaning LIV will be incapable of showing advertisers the value of their paid time-slots without a separate agreement. Staeger admitted it was early yet to know how the two parties would breach the data gap, but vowed there would be viewership metrics available for LIV in 2023.

“It’s critical to our plans,” he said.

Why isn't the CW tracking their weekend viewership?  I'm guessing it's not because they want to show advertisers how vast their audience is....

But whatever he might be smoking, I do hope he's brought enough to share:

But not every benefit to a television deal is financial. As Staeger points out, LIV’s agreement with the CW — a network that reaches more than 120 million households in the U.S. — has the opportunity to broaden the league’s reach and its viewing audience. Its new owners, Nexstar, have big plans to transform the network into an entertainment powerhouse (utilizing sports as a key part of that platform), following the outline first laid by FOX some two decades ago. The nature of the agreement is such that each party is deeply invested in the other’s success.

“There’s a strong promotional commitment the CW is going to put into place. Virtually everybody within the organization, from executive ranks on down, is enthusiastic about our products, and they expressed that really early on. They share our vision,” Staeger said. “Being their first sport, I think that enhances the situation. In a way, we’re being treated like the NFL for them. So I think that will help the ratings, and that’ll help the growth of our viewership.”

Oh yeah, it's just like the NFL...... Wait, there's more:

There are other levers to help boost ratings and, by extension, revenues for all parties involved. One avenue is through additional rights deals. LIV’s agreement with the CW encompasses its U.S.-based programming, but the league still has the freedom to shop the remainder of its broadcast rights to international partners. Staeger hinted that more news on those agreements could be coming very soon.

“We’re in negotiations in every territory in the world right now,” he said. “We were just wanting to announce this one first.”

Yes, you're always in negotiations, which is great as long as those negotiations are more successful than the ones that led to the CW deal.  But I'm quite sure they'll dominate the Saudi TV market...

It just keeps getting funnier:

Another avenue to growth is through “original programming” — an opportunity Staeger noted specifically as part of LIV’s efforts bolster support with golf audiences. That could mean the creation of a documentary-style TV show in the ilk of ‘Full Swing’, the PGA Tour-focused docuseries soon to release on Netflix. Such programming could live on the CW, Staeger said, but could also be shopped to other networks and/or streaming properties.

“Think ‘Drive to Survive’ or ‘The Last Dance,'” he said. “Programming is the sword that really ties the viewers and the space to the personalities of your stars and your league. I look at the NBA and the NFL, and we plan on following in their footsteps.”

Sure, PReed is just like Michael Jordan..... But wait, the singularly funniest bit comes here, so consider this your spit-take warning:

“We’re fully entrenched,” LIV CEO Greg Norman told Fox News. “We know where we’re going. We know what we’re doing.”

Before his first free weekend in months, Will Staeger’s vision was even more encouraging.

“We’re a rocket ship,” he said. “We’re about to take off.”

He’s right about one thing: the countdown has begun.

 Sure, i think that's spot on, it's just that they're this rocket ship.

I have no idea who Tom D'Angelo is, but writing in the Palm Beach Post he seems to be shilling for LIV, though one wonders why:

So, first we lower the bar:

LIV Golf’s recently announced television deal with the CW Network was not ideal, but was the next step in making them “legitimate,” according to an expert in sports management.

Lisa Neirotti, a professor of sports management at George Washington University, specializes in sports entrepreneurship and the importance of media rights for startup leagues. Neirotti acknowledges LIV’s partnership with CW – which is believed to be a revenue-sharing deal without a rights fee being paid – is not a “great deal,” but added oftentimes it’s necessary to give away a product to grow that product.

“We can criticize it all we want but they have been able to get themselves on a network,” said Neirotti, who has taught at George Washington for 32 years and studied LIV Golf closely the last year. “And that’s a first step for any growing sports property is to be able to get themselves on a network.

OK, but I had just been reliably informed that LIV is a rocket ship, so you'd think guys would be opening their checkbooks, no?

But then it turns comedic:

“Now it’s up to that property to bring the eyeballs to the network. The only way they are going to be able to do that is if they are able to really help promote it during different shows. So people who watch CW for news, people who watch CW for other shows, there needs to be promo spots saying tune in on Saturday at 1.”

Well, sure.  And that 16-year old girl that's tuned in for Buffy is LIV's target demo....

Remember above where Staeger was touting the personal investment of CW's entire management team.  This seems closer to objective reality:

“CW doesn’t have anything to lose and LIV has something to gain.”

To me, the key tell can be found on Friday, when CW refused to give up their Gilmore Girls reruns for live golf.  Think about that for a while, and realize the BS that Staeger threw at us.  They are all in with their weekends, where they weren't drawing enough of an audience to track.  But Friday afternoon?   

I'll excerpt the lengthy cods, but you might just notice one missing ingredient:

“You have to grab people’s attention,” Neirotti said. “How are they going to get people to come watch the show now that you’re on? And they weren’t successful in trying to get people to go to YouTube.”

And attracting sponsorship is critical and if LIV is responsible for securing some or the majority of advertisers as has been reported, it can now lure companies with not only signage and tickets and hospitality, but also offering commercial time.

“I think as they become mainstay or legitimate then more people are going to be looking at is as an advertising medium,” Neirotti said.

“It’s not a huge win for LIV in terms of financial windfall,” she added. “It’s the next step in making them legitimate. They are now on a network. The next thing now is to get people to tune in but in order to do that they have to promote it though Nexstar’s consortium.”

I hate to be the one to rain on their parade, but missing from Ms. Nierotti's analysis is one minor step, developing a product that might actually attract viewers.  Just sayin'.

I've got more teed up, but will save it for tomorrow and bid you adieu here.

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