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USA Today via Reuters
Aug 22, 2023; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan addresses the media during a press conference in the Clubhouse Ballroom at East Lake Golf Club prior to Thursday?s start of the TOUR Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
![](https://image-cdn.essentiallysports.com/wp-content/uploads/2023-08-22T142308Z_2090041161_MT1USATODAY21248217_RTRMADP_3_PGA-TOUR-CHAMPIONSHIP-JAY-MONAHAN-PRESS-CONFERENCE.jpg)
USA Today via Reuters
Aug 22, 2023; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan addresses the media during a press conference in the Clubhouse Ballroom at East Lake Golf Club prior to Thursday?s start of the TOUR Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
You can almost hear Jay Monahan shouting ‘Eureka!’ One of his players has casually handed him the solution to a problem that he was stewing over for the last few years. The PGA Tour has long faced criticism because of the broadcasting issues. But Michael S Kim might just have found a solution in what the NFL will do in the Los Angeles Chargers and Buffalo Bills game.
Joe Pompliano, who recently talked about Tiger Woods’s $300M impact on Nike, tweeted that the fourth quarter of the Bills-Charger game will be commercial-free. Instead. sponsors, Walmart, Hyundai, and Capital One will “receive a shoutout from the broadcast crew at the start of the 4th quarter.” Kim takes inspiration from there but takes it a notch further which might solve another problem for the PGA Tour as well.
The NFL approach might work for the PGA Tour
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Michael S Kim wondered what if the PGA Tour also removed the commercial from the back nine of Sunday’s final rounds. Instead, he asked fans, how it would be if the Tour had “a small Aramco sign the entire time, would that be a big turnoff for you? Or would the better TV experience make it better? Did Rolex do something similar at an event?”
If the PGATOUR did something like this where the bank nine on Sunday was commercial free but had a small Aramco sign the entire time, would that be a big turnoff for you? Or would the better TV experience make it better? Did Rolex do something similar at an event? https://t.co/edglTFx9bx
— Michael S. Kim (@Mike_kim714) December 24, 2023
The mention of the ‘Aramco’ sign is significant. Because Yasir Al Rumayyan, the Saudi Aramco chairman, is also the governor of PIF, the financial dynamo that powers LIV Golf. As the PGA Tour looks to bring PIF on board, bringing Aramco as a sponsor might solve two problems in one shot.
Furthermore, Pompliano revealed that Peacock is planning to do the same in the playoffs as well. NFL fans will have to watch 20-25 fewer commercials during the game. As a result, fans are expected to get an “additional ~12 minutes of game content.”
Tonight's Bills-Chargers game on Peacock will be the first NFL game with a commercial-free 4th quarter.
Instead, Walmart, Hyundai, and Capital One will serve as sponsors and receive a shoutout from the broadcast crew at the start of the 4th quarter.
Peacock is also doing this… pic.twitter.com/DZMoUeyf4k
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) December 23, 2023
Interestingly, LIV Golf offers more game time as the breakaway league has yet to find any big-money sponsors. While the Tour doesn’t boast the riches of PIF that they can go ahead without giant sponsorships, the fact that one of their players accepts the overload of commercials as a problem should prompt the Tour to do a course correction.
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More golf, less commercial
Golf fans repeatedly slammed the Tour and its broadcasting partners for giving more importance to ad revenue than showing the game. Notably, it compelled the PGA Tour and NBC to make some amends this year.
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At this year’s Sentry, the final one hour was shown commercial-free. Instead, NBC announced the presenting sponsorship from Callaway Golf. Earlier, the broadcasting giant said the option of commercial-free presenting sponsorship was there. However, not all sponsors are ready to accept it. LIV Golf’s uninterrupted broadcasts and Kim’s novel idea might just provide the right impetus to the Tour at the right time.