U.S. Open Week Television Coverage

As an avid golf fan, this time of year is exciting to me. It is U.S. Open Week! On Thursday the players will be teeing off on a quest to become the 113th winner of the U.S. Open (well, if the weather holds out...)

At the beginning of the week, coverage of the U.S. Open started. In total the Golf Channel and NBC will be delivering over 70 hours of coverage for the tournament. Included in the coverage is news, live chats, features, highlights, live coverage and more. The Golf Channel will have about 56 hours of coverage and NBC will have about 19 hours.

Included in the Golf Channel's coverage will be Live From the U.S. Open which will air before and after live coverage to show highlights and bring any breaking news stories. A popular Golf Channel show, The Golf Fix, will also be airing from the driving range of Merion. The Golf Channel will also be airing a feature titled "1971 U.S. Open: Lee Trevino an American Champion." This documentary will look at Trevino's shocking victory over Jack Nicklaus in the 1971 U.S. Open at Merion.

NBC's coverage will focus on live action. NBC plans to bring live U.S. Open coverage on Thursday and Friday from 3:00pm to 5:00pm. On Saturday and Sunday coverage is expected to take place from 12:00pm to 7:30pm. For NBC it will be interesting to see how many viewers tune in. Last year's U.S. Open saw final round coverage that earned a 6.6 overnight rating. This was up 29 percent from the final round of 2011. The increase in viewership last year can be somewhat contributed to the location of the tournament. The U.S. Open's that take place on the west coast (like last year) typically see higher television ratings because of the ability to broadcast in primetime on the east coast.

Final Thought
As a golf fan any major is exciting. This year brings a little extra excitement because they are playing so close to home. All I can ask for is an exciting tournament that has my eyes glued to the television on Sunday afternoon.... A Tiger victory would be nice too.

@dmrosen7

Dollars & Sense - PGA Tour is Thriving

Tiger Woods has not won a major since 2008, but the PGA Tour is thriving financially and in the area of sponsorship stability.  The transition from the years of Woods’ dominance to an era of much more competitive balance was an intriguing one for the Tour with fluctuating television ratings and an overall confusion on how to continue reaching the younger demographics.  Rory McIlroy is a great player and one worthy of grabbing the proverbial torch, but he certainly has a long way to go to reach the golden-Woods standard.

According Michael Smith’s article “Title sponsors in hand, PGA Tour eyes digital international growth” in this week’s Sports Business Journal, the PGA Tour has sold all but one of its tournament title sponsors.  45 of 46 ain’t too bad.  The lone tournament without a title sponsor is the Tampa Bay Championship held from March 14-17 at Innisbrook Resort.  Transition Optical was the previous title sponsor but was the only company out of 11 not to renew their deal.

The most sought after title sponsor ships are those for tournaments that are televised on either CBS or NBC as opposed to the Golf Channel.  Sponsorship for these types of events runs for $6 million to $8 million per year.  Part of this money goes to the television network and part of this money goes directly to the tournament.  Tournament money could potentially go toward paying the exorbitant purses.  The title sponsor-less Tampa Bay Championship has a total purse of $5.5 million with last year’s winner, Luke Donald, taking home $990,000 of it according to the PGA Tour schedule.

Furthermore on the PGA Tour’s stable sponsorship assets is the fact that only Hyundai’s title sponsorship deal expires after the 2013 season.  With FedEx’s recently extended deal, Web.com signing on as the sponsor of the old Nationwide Tour, and broadcast deals with CBS and NBC that run reportedly through 2021, the PGA Tour is able to leverage their current deals further and look for a product more global in nature.

Aided by the established World Golf Championship events including the uniqueness of the Accenture Match Play Championship, the PGA Tour has been looking towards global growth for a while.  Now with PGA Tour Canada under their control and a new tour in Latin America, the PGA Tour continues its expansion

. 

Digital media growth is what ultimately caught eye with the article because typically when you think golf, you think older generations and older generations are not particularly digital media savvy.  Here are a few key digital media points that the PGA Tour is doing in the upcoming season:

-          - Streamlined Apps – Currently apps are on a tournament by tournament basis, but with the PGA Tour undertaking a single aggregated platform, apps will have much greater consistent quality.

-         -  Internet Simulcasts – The PGA Tour plans to simulcast CBS, NBC, and Golf Channel broadcasts on their website as an added viewing platform in hopes to add sellable advertising inventory and drive site traffic.

-          - Digital Division Growth – After taking over control of their digital division from Turner Sports, the PGA Tour looks to grow their digital division and expand on Turner’s successes.

(Quick aside on golf television broadcasts: Golf is often criticized by its haters for being slow and boring, even on television.  Personally, I think that assumption is way off base.  Golf broadcast productions always bring the viewer straight to the action.  How often do you see a guy walking the fairway as opposed to hitting a shot in the middle of a round?  Virtually never.  Golf broadcasts have an element of NFL Red Zone to them that was there before the thought of NFL Red Zone was even conceived.)

The PGA Tour is in an incredible position going forward.  In the United States we have seen unrest and instability in our major sports over the past few years.  Golf and the PGA Tour has remained strong.  Just imagine what a dominant American-born player could do for television ratings!

(Read the SBJ Original Article)

Follow Kevin Rossi on Twitter @kevin_rossi.

Oakley Agrees to Deal With Bubba

Oakley has welcomed Bubba Watson to the family.... in a big way.

The video says it all.

The fit seems natural and almost perfect. Watson is known for his colorful attitude in a sport that can often be... well.... boring. Oakley who specializes in eyewear, apparel, footwear and accessories is known to be a fun company. The match of an outgoing player and a fun company will be a great fit.

Watson isn't exactly a scrub when it comes to golf either. Bubba won the 2012 Masters in remarkable form. Watson hit a huge hook shot in a playoff hole that essentially won him the tournament. Golf fans will not forget that shot anytime soon.

Although signing Watson is a huge move for Oakley, the reason for the signing most likely has a lot to do with who Oakley lost. Rory McIlroy agreed to a deal with Nike, which means that he most likely will be leaving Oakley. McIlroy is a rising star in the game of golf and for companies, he is the ultimate golfer to sponsor. It is no surprise that Nike who also sponsors Tiger Woods made the big move to acquire Rory. I wrote about the Rory move to Nike in an earlier article. Oakley will obviously be taking a big loss with Rory's pending departure, but Bubba is one of the best signings they could have made. Watson's popularity is not on the same level as Rory, but Oakley had no way to replace a golfer as special as Rory McIlroy.

Watson was very excited to be joining Oakley. When asked why he made the decision to join, he said "Simple. Oakley gets it. They love the game and they never stop pushing technology to make the game better. Whatever they can do- whatever can be done- Oakley will do it. I respect that."

Final Thought
This is a great move for Oakley. It is very difficult to bounce back from losing the best golfer in the game today (not officially). Oakley stepped up by signing a player that not only is good at golf but a player that fits the Oakley brand. Bubba Watson is a respected golfer and person and will fit perfectly with Oakley.

@dmrosen7

Dollars & Sense - Nike Signs McIlroy and PGA Schedule Announced

For years, the top golfer at Nike was Tiger Woods.  Now after last week’s slew of signings, Nike may not have found a name that’s bigger than Tiger Woods, but they sure opened their checkbooks.  Nike signed a trio of PGA Tour players last week: Kyle Stanly, Nick Watney, and Rory McIlroy. 

Given McIlroy’s current position in golf, he garnered a good deal of media attention with his move from Titleist to Nike.  Many were skeptical of the move away from the Titleist brand that McIlroy has seen some much success with over the past few years, but a reported $200 million-plus payday is hard for anybody to pass up. 

The McIlroy deal with Nike represents a changing of the guard on the golf scene.  Tiger may be the biggest name in the game, but McIlroy is sneaking up there.  Tiger is aging and may never win another major, while McIlroy is still only 23 and entering the prime of his career with two majors already under his belt. 

Signing Stanley and Watney can also benefit the Nike brand.  Watney has shown flashes with two wins in 2011 and one in 2012, and he is only 31 years old.  Stanley is another up-and-comer who is only 24 years old.  He got his first win on the PGA Tour in 2012 and also showed some flashes of being able to win some smaller tournaments.

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The PGA Tour has also recently released their 2013 schedule. New Years Eve will mark the start of the Tour’s schedule with the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Kapalua, Hawaii.  Tour majors will kick off with the Masters from Augusta National on April 8 and then continue with the US Open on June 10 from Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, PA right outside of Philadelphia.  Players will travel across the pond to Scotland for the Open Championship (British Open) starting on July 15.  The final PGA Tour major of the year, the PGA Championship, will be start on August 5 from Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, NY.  

New Nike signee Rory McIlroy will look to repeat at the PGA Championship and also at the Honda Classic (Feb. 25 – Mar. 3), the Deutsche Bank Championship (Aug. 26 – Sep. 2), and the BMW Championship (Sep. 9 – Sep. 15).

Follow Kevin Rossi on Twitter @kevin_rossi.

Big Pay Day Coming for Rory

At the end of 2012, Rory McIlroy will end his endorsement deal with Titleist/FootJoy. At the age of 23, Rory has shown great promise in the sport of golf. He has won two major tournaments and is near the top of the list of most marketable athletes. Working to Rory's advantage is the fact that he is a global athlete. The sport of golf allows athletes to be viewed in a wider spectrum than in most sports.

Speculation over who Rory will endorse in 2013 and going forward is heating up. Rumors have surfaced saying Rory may join Nike in an unprecedented deal. Some rumors say Rory may receive a 10 year contract with a value of $250 million. In comparison, the deal that Tiger Woods signed with Nike in 2001 was a 5 year deal worth a reported $100 million.

If these rumors end up being true, the deal would be huge for both Rory and Nike. Rory is at a time in his career when he is still very young. A decision to sign a long term contract could help to shape Rory's career. Rory McIlroy's prime in the sport of golf is likely to come within the next 10 years, Rory's endorser could benefit greatly from having him a part of their brand during this time. This also comes at an interesting time for Nike. For years, Tiger Woods has been the face of Nike golf. Turning 37 years old soon, Tiger Woods is most likely past his prime in the sport of golf. It is time for Nike to get on board with the next big thing in golf, and as of now that looks like Rory McIlroy.

There is a significant risk for Nike in signing a long term contract with so much money committed to one player. Rory seems to be the best young golfer with a very promising career ahead of him yet there is no guarantee on his success. If Nike agrees to a long term deal with Rory and his play doesn't meet expectations, Nike may be caught having to deal with a lackluster face of Nike golf for many years.

Final Thought
Although there is some risk, I think a potential long term lucrative deal would be beneficial for Rory McIlroy and Nike. Rory is most likely going to be the face of golf for a long time. It is a worthwhile risk for Nike to sign Rory. Nike has proven that they are interested in having the best player in golf as the face of the Nike brand. This is a good decision. Who would not want to have the best player in a given sport as the face of their brand? Rory is about to get PAID.

@dmrosen7