Tour Negotiations Tougher Than We Thought

Larry Bohannan (one of my favorite golf writers) writes in the Desert Sun that PGA Tour negotiations are much tougher than thought.

ABC was reported to be out of the negotiations last week. Bohannan says that the USA Network also has bowed out, and that ESPN is having second thoughts.

Bohannan says:

That leaves Finchem and the tour negotiating with NBC and CBS as networks, without ABC as a bargaining chip. And if ESPN is gone, the tour loses more leverage in talks with The Golf Channel, OLN and perhaps TNT for the cable rights to some events.

This is also going to have an effect on sponsors for tournaments. It may be harder to get big name sponsors if the tournaments are relegated to second tier cable networks like OLN.

The PGA Tour may just have to get used to the idea that—like most of us—the future is going to mean less money, not more.