Ending LPGA Events on Saturday May Not Be a Good Idea

…I’ve heard the thought tossed out over the last few weeks (as usual, Dottie is late to the party) about Saturday finishes. That’s how the LPGA used to do things. I’m surprised that hasn’t been pointed out more. The LPGA used to be a 3 round tour except for the majors.

The debate over the Saturday finishes hasn’t included the number of rounds. Are they suggesting 4 rounds starting on Wednesday ? Not likely to happen, since that would cut into pro-am days – a big revenue stream. Nobody is saying if they want to return to the 3 round tournaments or stay with the mostly 4 round tournaments we have today.

Women’s golf doesn’t draw huge numbers on TV or in person, and the two major tours don’t play in the same cities at the same time – so people who want to go out and watch professional golf live will do it in whatever area they are in. Those numbers are pretty insignificant compared to TV numbers since you’ll get 10,000 to 20,000 in a gallery depending on the field, the tournament significance, and the location. So it seems to me that the tournaments do better numbers at the gate with two rounds on the weekends – but it will ultimately be determined by where the most money comes from – weekend attendance or TV advertising revenue for Saturday or Saturday and Sunday broadcasts.

…are those TV percentages or attendance percentages ?

I wonder about stats like those. Most people who watch golf actually play or used play the game…except when Tiger is playing, of course. It doesn’t draw many people from other sports just to see what’s going on. You see a pretty fair number of women in the galleries – but how many are actually golfers ? A lot of women just go because it’s a nice place to go walk around outside. (and, of course, the ladies who like to go check out Camillo Villegas’ guns) :-)

It must be almost impossible to get an accurate breakdown of who is where for what reason.

unless you think that TV money is the only measure of a tour’s success. I agree with Court – the LPGA is in a different city than the guys and usually a different time zone, which has made it rather easy to avoid going head-to-head with the PGA. I documented what a good job they do with the schedule in that respect (sometime last year, can’t remember when). Any advantage gained by shifting to Wed-Sun would be lost by the smaller galleries (certainly don’t need THAT!) and the inclination that would naturally follow to shorten the events to three rounds. No, and hell no!

I don’t care if they play 3 or 4 rounds, but going to watch tournament golf is a full day committment – which, for most of us, is easier to do on the weekend. These tournaments generally only come to an area one time a year, so for the local fans, it’s pretty easy to plan a day or two at the tournament.

Has anybody seen a comparison of Saturday numbers between the LPGA and PGA Tour broadcasts ? That’s what it would come down to – TV revenue for a Saturday finish (with savings of one less day of broadcast costs) vs two days of broadcasting.