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PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said Sunday that he is hopeful new television deals will be completed in the relatively near future, but the agreements have not been finalized.
Reports have indicated the tour has settled on extending existing agreements with CBS, NBC and Golf Channel with a significant increase in revenue. The current television contracts expire after the 2020-21 season. The PGA Tour, Monahan said, has more hours of live network broadcast coverage than any professional sports league other than the NFL.
“We have more work to do, probably more work than has been suggested, but I’ve been bullish on our prospects before we entered the process and I’m as, if not more bullish as we get through it,” said Monahan (above). “In terms of timing, I’m hopeful this quarter is the quarter we will complete the process but we still have more work to do.”
Declining to discuss specifics, Monahan said viewers will continue to see much of what they’ve viewed in the past but the presentation will continue to evolve as the television and media landscape moves forward.
“You will see us continue to innovate and test,” he said. “Understanding more completely the player and how the player is thinking, how the player is preparing, not just what’s happening inside the field of play but the time that precedes it, that’s our opportunity.
“I think the way we present our sport in the near future will be far different than it is today.”
Monahan said the tour’s new pace-of-play policy will be announced at the American Express tournament next week at La Quinta, Calif. The year-long process of crafting the new policy has involved the players since it began and Monahan said the focus is not strictly on time.
“Slow play is like driving distance, a lot of dimensions to it,” Monahan said. “We stepped back and really studied it and our policy has been focused on if a group gets out of position it gets back in position. What you’ll see us do as we go forward is focus more on individuals and the elements that contribute to slow play and take some steps there we think will help address that and contribute to an overall better product and faster pace.
“I think we’ll be reasonable and fair.”
With the announcement that Sentry Insurance has signed a 10-year extension to sponsor the Tournament of Champions, Monahan said the tour now has 11 tournaments with 10-year sponsorship contracts. Until recently, the tour had no events with 10-year contracts, he said.
Ron Green Jr.