PGA Tour Layoffs

[ChillyDipper]

Tron Carter from NLU posted on his twitter today that there have been a substantial round of layoffs at the Tour today. One wonders how that is possible with all the commercials, advertisements, and brand activations happening week to week on TV. In light of another thread recently about PGA Tour golf not appropriately capitalizing on non-Tiger players, maybe this signifies a death knell for the Tour and a shot in the arm for the PGL?

 

[rafal]

There have been layoffs everywhere and more are to come, many more. We're entering a transformation period, hardly anything will remain unchanged.

[tiderider]

"death knell for the tour" ... yep ...

 

 

ain't the internet great? ...

 

 

 

 

[Tasals]

probably a major amount of customer support and community support staff. Tour is pretty much going no fans until next season right? From a business stand point, not worth keeping those people on your payroll for another few months if they arent going to be bringing any value in.

[MattyO1984]

Terrible news for those affected, as others have said, it is unlikely to be the last of that kind of thing. Kind of sickening that the Tour can afford to throw $100k at Pro’s who tested positive for Covid19 and weren’t able to play but they can’t afford to keep the guys earning a fraction of that a month.

#LiveUnderPar

 

[Guest]

The tour has lost a substantial amount of revenue with no fans allowed. No surprise they don’t need as much staff to put on a tournament. No corporate tents, fewer food vendors, few porta-potties, and no grand stands to set up.

[Hawkeye77]

LOL, wonder how that is possible after all that has happened since March?

PGL already dead, PGA Tour will be fine.

[ChillyDipper]

I think the PGL is very not dead in fact - it's just been quiet. My original post maybe overstated my thinking - I think the Tour will live on for a long time, but the way it is run now does not seem sustainable without continued growth, which I do not see happening.

[Sixcat]

#LiveUnderABridge

[Holy Moses]

All things considered the PGL isn’t paying much more than the PGA Tour. The Tour has a ton of money with the new TV deal to raise purses if they need to. Only way PGL could get guys to come over is unhappy, older players like Phil who have a ton of money saved or the PGL substantially increases their payouts.

[ChillyDipper]

I think there is potentially substantially more guaranteed money from what I've heard (primarily from the NLU podcast). I also think the overall business model of the PGL may be more attractive for some, especially those who are in the wane of their career like Phil, as you mentioned.

[Hawkeye77]

Come on. That’s just a conclusion based on no real insight into their contracts, numbers, plans and on and on.

[Darth Putter]

Has this been confirmed by a legitimate news source? I really just can't the word of a fictional Dave Chappelle character on twitter.

[Golfer4Life]

But, but, but, Jay Monahan is a genius.....

[ChillyDipper]

haha. I hear you. I would consider NLU to be "golf insiders", so that is legitimate enough for me, and their history of being restrained with big news I think also bears some consideration. However, i haven't seen any articles about it in the NYT or WaPo or AP.

[jdowning111]

It is sickening but you have to wonder how deep the PGA Tour's cash reserves are to pay players that test positive like this....it all adds up and at some point something should have to give? Or will it? Let's face it the PGA Tour is a multibillion dollar industry....

[MattyO1984]

Sadly, something has given with these people losing their jobs. The Tour is obviously there for the players, no question about it but as the players say, they can’t do what they do without the support the Tour has.

[Hawkeye77]

Looks like the Tour cut 50 staff positions - many offered early retirement packages. No fun to be on the receiving end of that, but hardly the beginning of any end or sign of any apocalypse for the PGA Tour in any sense. One estimate suggests there are still 1100 employees of the Tour, so a little efficiency gained which was unfortunate but corrections happen all the time for all sorts of reasons. Any suggestion this helps the silly PGL is just wishful thinking and ill-informed.

[Man_O_War]

yeah..that's all that needs to be done...."focus on no Tiger players"

[anth]

Don’t mean to thread jack but I’m interested to know why you think the PGL is silly

[ChillyDipper]

same here.

[ChillyDipper]

are you suggesting that the Tour has properly capitalized on non-Tiger players? I didn't say there weren't other issues at hand.

[cdnglf]

 

Little-known fact: the P stands for Preposterous

 

[gvogel]

Two reasons that I can think of. The best players want to be able to play where and when they want to. Second: the money is suspect.

[ray9898]

You are surprised there are lay offs? What world have you been living in?

[anth]

Counterpoint: players love guaranteed money more than they love autonomy.

And, if the money is indeed suspect, it can be made to look less so.