The cannabalism of the PGA, or: Coke gets rewarded

No doubt, last week's Deutsche Bank event was a thriller, anytime you have the two most popular players on tour duking it out Mano-a-Mano, it's gonna bring drama.

That's the problem.

Thanks in part to the Fed Ex Cup, the PGA is creating a situation where they are conditioning the golf fan to be interested only when there is a lot riding on the line (vis-a-vis Majors), or when Phil or Tiger play each other.

Take this week's BMW event...it was reported that less than 200 fans lined up to see Tiger tee it up Thursday, and with the combination of rain impacting the event...and Phil not playing...the BMW is looking more like The Ramblin' Wreck of Georgia Tech, instead of the show-stopper it was intended to be.

It's not that golf fans don't love golf, it's that the PGA is undermining their own popularity by giving the fans a reason that they have the power to prioritize what they watch (can you say hello football).

It's the reason baseball and football Unions have leverage. Unions know that if the players go on strike, fans will figure out new ways to occupy their time, and lose focus of the implied importance of every game. It makes it that much harder for team owners to recapture the audience.

So the PGA is left with this huge problem, and really no way out of it. It will mean a lot less money to fringe events (50% of next years' tournaments), and a lot more money to whatever event is on Tiger's schedule (with the implied guessing-game that Phil will be there too). The imminent danger is that the PGA is losing it's brand image, and it is becoming a bunch of individual brands (think NFL, and how they go to unbelievable lengths to protect its brand so the name is larger than the players). The PGA needs to look at all the problems the NFL players have had this year, and it won't even touch the NFL brand. It's masterful.

One tournament that is going to reap absolutely gargantuan rewards from this PGA gaffe, is next weeks Tour Championship in Atlanta. That event will be the most watched, most talked about, most exciting tournament this year. Thanks to last week's taste the fans were given of that Tiger/Phil duel, The Tour Championship will be pulling out all the stops to showcase its premier match-up.

The events big sponsor Coca Cola, will get a muche deserved redemption from last years' abrupt pullout of Tiger.

Coke's new ad campaign is all about the consumer getting rewarded from buying coke products.

But next week Coke will get rewarded...and, as the vintage ad goes: in perfect harmony.


Thanks for reading. Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB

The diss

Prom night was the night for seniors. When my rite-of-passage came oh-so-many-years-ago...I was primed, and ready for action...heh-heh.
Yep, I was gonna woo the little lady right off her feet. Starting with the corsage, leading into a romantic dinner at Bern's Steak House, sweeping her off her feet at The Dance, then capping the night off in my car doing the tongue cha-cha.

Oh...my heart aches at how it really turned out. Everything went as planned...except for the car part. We got out of the car and (I remember this vividly) she nearly knocked me down getting to the door. She opened her screen door...turned around and said..."thanks for a great evening"...gave me a peck on the cheek, and...no sooner did her lips peel off my cheek...wham...the screen door grazed past me with a resounding clanggg.

I was dissed.

But, being a high testosteron-ed teenager...I eventually got over it.

Tiger Woods...aka...golf's Golden Child is being used as the newly-born Fed Ex Cup's fodder. all the media has been talking about since the start of this soon-to-fail marketing folly, is how The Golden Child is going to "grace us with his presence for each-and-every-one of these grand events"...capped-off with its $10 million dollar prize.

BTW: How ironic is it that Barclay's and Deutsche Bank are financing the first two events? I'm sure the suits at these firms are wondering how they are going to pay for these "shows" after the sub-prime blow-up. "Uh, Larry...got any change? we're pulling it in for the Fed ex cause...Geez, no Frank...I just had to re-up with my no-interest loan to an 8% jumbo fixed...I just don't know what I'm going to do...hey, that ledge looks awfully tempting..."

...but I digress.

So, here's Woods, all primed..winning the Firestone, then the major..the PGA Championship...all in 100 degree heat, creating an orgasm with the Fed Ex marketing guys and the media. Do you think they blink? "Hey Tiger...are ya too hot? can we get you some Kool-Aide?" No, Tiger's their date, and they're riding him to the Fed Ex prom. Hey Tiger...here's your corsage...here's your super-fine dinner.

Friday, Tiger decided to skip the dance...The Barclay's event. The first in the PGA's grand plan of resurrecting a TV-tired sport. Saying his body was "spent".

...hear that sound?...it's the marketing geniuses Mont Blanc's falling on the floor.

Tiger isn't spent..he's Superman. Tiger is providing us with two bits of information here that transcend him. One, he is telling us that a major is still more important than this homogenized gimmicky Cup deal...and two, that he is the reason that golf is surviving. No Cup is going to change that perception.

Tiger just shut dissed-'em.

Clangg!


Thanks for reading. Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB

The couch

I love a good couch. A couch is always there for you when you're ready for a nap. It never leaves...it doesn't wonder where you've been...it's always ready to cushion your body for a nap, remembering the slightest indentations of your shape. My last couch lasted me 15 wonderfully napping years.

We recently upgraded...a traumatically manly event, and it was literally an expedition to find one that I felt deserved the merit to replace it. My wife and I would trundle through furniture shops, darting through the slobbering salespeople to find the rooms labeled "Couches". As I laid down on the ones that met "the paint color scheme", my poor wife would have to feign ignorance to wondering shoppers as I laid down on the selected "part-time beds" she'd tell them: " I think his beta-blockers just kicked-in." As I'd be snoring away.

Suffice to say, we found our new couch, and it matches the paint on the walls. The best part though, is that it has 3 supportive cushions, and is long enough for those mid-nap stretches.

Tiger Woods shot a freakin' 62 1/2 Friday at the PGA Championship...he's holding his own today, and he will win Sunday. This is great news for me...why?

I've had both kid's this weekend while my wife worked...she's off tomorrow and is taking them to our pool. I offered a weak..."oh-I-can-take-them"...as a suck-up move which she bought by saying "oh that's okay honey...you just rest". So it's just me, and the residue of the last 2 days of screaming kids, with an average of 6 hours of sleep. I've got more collateral damage than the Bush Administration.

This PGA Championship win is worth 27,500 FedEx points. I'm going to click on CBS, pronate myself on our new couch...sling my leg over the top cushions, and count to 27,500.

So, thank-you Tiger, for making my Sunday an exceptionally relaxing one...

...and allowing me to bond with my couch.


zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

JFB

He's the daring young man in the....

...helicopter.

That's right, for my Fathers' day gift, my wife (being of sound mind and body), gave me a certificate for a 1/2 hour helicopter ride with Air Atlanta Helicopters at the local PDK airport.

Now, I've never been in a helicopter before, so I had trepidation at first...

...but then I thought of all the MyDailySlice readers who would love to see an aerial view of a famous golf course here in Atlanta! So I donned my headphones and strapped into the copter provided by Air Atlanta Helicopters , and I was off to...

East Lake Country Club

Yep, home of The Tour Championship. This year being of extra importance for the golf tournament as it is the culmination of the FedExCup. It will be held here Sept 10-16th.

Some interesting notes about this course. In 1925 Bobby Jones beat Watts Gunn at the US Amateur Championship at Oakmont. Both Jones and Gunn were members of East Lake during their historic meeting. Marking the only time in history that 2 members from the same club played in the finals of The Amateur.

Okay...I know what you're saying..."that's cool, but...a fly-over video would put this post over the top!"

How's this:

If you're coming to Atlanta and want to do something very cool, rent a helicopter...buzz over the course as well as downtown, and then schedule a tour of East Lake...they have tours on the 3rd Sunday of every month at 3pm.

Tell 'em MyDailySlice sent ya.

Thanks for reading. Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB

Ticketreserve.com

Flipping through my recent Newsweek magazine yielded me a great new website I want to tell you about. It's not golf-related...yet...I think though it will be, as it will revolutionize high-demand events.
The website is www.ticketreserve.com. The site allows you to buy options on your favorite team, with the hopes of either reselling the option at a higher price, or buying them at face value.
Let me give you an example: Next month is the holy grail for college basketball- the NCAA Final Four tournament. You can go to www.ticketreserve.com, and right now buy an option on your favorite team, with the guarantee you will be able to buy the real tickets for face value if your team makes it to the Final Four. The higher your team advances, the more your option is worth. If your team makes it to the Final Four, you can purchase these tickets (March 31st) for the event at face value. If your team doesn't make it...well, you've just been given a lesson in Options 101.

If you extrapolate this concept, you can see where this will work for all the golf Majors...even the FedEx Cup. You pick your golfer from the field, if he makes it to the third round, you can buy the ticket at face value.
This is the most revolutionary ticket concept I've seen in a long time, and I believe www.ticketreserve.com will be huge. A couple factors will contribute to this: the ability to seamlessly "flip" options, and the ultimate-being able to make a prediction...its an inherent trait in all of us: the ability to pontificate your prognostication.

I'll tell you my pick after I buy my option!


JFB

The PGA's transcendental problem

I recently saw the documentary "Word Wars", which follows a few men through the early stages of Scrabble (yes, the board-game) competition...leading up to the penultimate showdown at the Hasbro Championship.
The seriousness in playing the game at that level is truly an amazing thing to see. But it was when one of the competitors rated another by saying that "he is the Tiger Woods of Scrabble" that I then began to realize something:

That the PGA (in terms of popularity/viewership) is in for a long decline.

There's an old saying in Wall Street, that when the cab drivers start giving you stock tips...watch-out.

That's the way I look at the PGA (for example). If you've got regular Joe's that far down in the food chain comparing themselves with a major sports figures, then you have saturated that specific sport.

Remember when Michael Jordan transcended sport? I mean, if I had a nickel for every time I heard someone say "he's the Michael Jordan of blah...blah...blah.." I'd...well...be playing a lot of nickel slots. But it's interesting to note that the NBA fan base didn't appreciate after he'd reached that level...in fact they decreased, and had been decreasing all the way through his retirement...and, until recently (because of new faces stepping up as the new "face of the NBA") have the metrics started inching upward.

The same thing has happened to the PGA by no fault of its own. If it weren't for Tiger, the golf world would still be looking for it's next face to replace Nicklaus and Arnie. But in it's good fortune, golf not only has its face...it got the face that everyone uses as a measuring stick. So now, the PGA is sitting at the top of the mountain wondering where to go next. An unfortunate double-edged sword when there is no where to go but down.
The FedExCup is an obvious ploy to get viewership up...and yes, they'll give it the ole' college try, but it won't increase viewers.

What the PGA needs is a new superstar to beat Tiger on a regular basis...be as PR-friendly and emotionally-charged as Tiger, and be so much better than Tiger in every way, that he is replaced as the litmus test for ranking of others by your average Joe. From where I sit, that ain't happening anytime soon...


Obviously, whomever does change the direction of the PGA's viewership problem will be the Tiger Woods of underdogs.


Thanks for reading. Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB

Change is good

The PGA yesterday reported that they are tweaking the current version of the FedExCup format.

Before: the 3 "playoff" tournaments leading up to the final Tour Championship would consist of the top 144 players....up until the Tour Championship, when the top 30 start.
Now: the 3 playoff tournaments (Barclay's, Deutsche, and BMW) will be reduced from 144...to 120...to 70 in that order. Then, as before, you would have the top 30 compete in the Tour Championship.

Incredibly, the 2007 Tour schedule has gone from ho-hum-TV to compelling-TV in one fell swoop.

Maybe they hired the PR-spin-master guys from Borat.

The inside scoop is that this change will increase the player participation in the early season tournaments so they gain Cup-points...something the Tour has been trying to address since coming up with the FedExCup idea.
That might-well happen, but I think the 3 playoff tournaments and their sponsors just scored a Yahtzee!
Now we have a true playoff system where these guys get eliminated after each tournament. The idea of elimination creates drama...drama is something the Tour gets a glimpse of 4 times out of a year: The Masters, The US Open, The British open, and The PGA Championship. The other regular-season tournaments barely get a heart-monitor going. And that would have continued under the old format.

Funny how corporate money changes things.

Less than 2 weeks ago King Finchem declared that the way the current system was set up was great, with no holes in it.....that was until the Big 3 playoff sponsors put there collective feet down and did there own declaring by telling King Finch to make the format more compelling, or they would significantly reduce their presence.

My guess is they were watching major sponsor Coke throw-up on itself after Tiger pulled a no-show at the Tour Championship in Atlanta.


Thanks for reading. Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB

Step right up to the money machine!

If you live in a small town like I did, then you're familiar with county fairs. Well, in my youth, I couldn't wait for them. Usually there was a radio show sponsoring the fair, and as a promotion they would have a Money Booth with some lucky raffle-winning shlep flailing away inside it, trying like mad to stuff $100 dollar bills in his pockets. Alas, I was never that lucky raffle-winning shlep.

The same type of money grab will be going at next year's FedExCup...but the powers that be haven't quite figured out how to divvy-up all that loot.

According to SI , the debate whether to pay the $10 million in a lump sum or in deferred compensation to the winner, will have the Tour players' financial consultants pouring over the statistical pros and cons during Thanksgiving Dinner...."Lord bless us as we break bread and carve-up my 10% cut....er...I mean...this turkey."

Meanwhile....back at Tiny Tim's house....last week a court ruling upheld the PGA's stance that the Tour's rules officials are exempt from overtime pay. It seems that these officials and their legion of administers have been working 12-hour days (albeit part-time) without a contract since 2003! These guys are still working on the honor system when it is clear that honor has taken a backseat to greed.

So while the Tour officials might be buying those raffle tickets to get their shots in the Money Booth....it's the Tour players who will be the lucky schleps inside.

Stuffing their pockets full of millions.



Thanks for reading. Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB

The art of cannabalism

The news this weekend was mortifying to anyone associated with The Tour Championship at East Lake CC in Atlanta: Tiger Woods backs out of end of year tournament. Not only is his face plastered all over every clubhouse pass and banner...but Coca Cola, and every major sponsor in the event can't help but think this Halloween that they have been "rolled" without the toilet paper.

It's really not surprising that this year more top 50 money leaders have been no-shows for the Fall Finish than normal...it all comes down to a simple marketing rule:

Marketing 101: Never introduce an improved product without reducing the inventory of the old product.

...Lest you will be running blue-light specials.

This Cardinal Rule is in full effect for this Fall Tour. Your top pros know that this is the last year for a long break...to take time off to spend with family for that once-in-a-lifetime October trip to Punta Cana....or wherever these Uber-rich guys go.

I can't blame them, these guys are not only good...they're fiscally responsible! If you knew that next year you could make an additional $10 million, but this year playing the same tournaments doesn't count towards it (more importantly it's not in their contracts to play....but it will be next year)...why in the world would you play? Would it not be more fun to sleep in late, have a noon tee time in (insert ultra-exclusive resort here) with your buds, and play for some scratch whilst drinking a few "sodas"?

...I'll hang up and listen.

Yesterday, at a local golf event, I won a couple tickets to this week's tournament. I had no sense of urgency to go, plus my current schedule was actually a better option. I traded them for a set of beer glasses instead (thank you LMTT!).
I don't know where these tickets will ultimately end up...could be, they go to an interested party.

But they will probably end up on a table marked "Blue-Light Special".


Thanks for reading. Keep it in the short-grass,

JFB