A $30 million annual financial commitment may be too much. That’s the view of Josh Carpenter of the Sports Business Journal, who questioned the requirement set by the PGA Tour for its Championship Series, scheduled to launch in 2028 alongside the Challenger Series. Appearing on Brendan Porath’s The Shotgun Start, Carpenter suggested that the hefty financial requirement could put some existing events’ places on the schedule at risk. 

“Rolap has said that, [for] some events, there’s going to be some hurt feelings with some of these sponsors,” he said during the podcast. “I mean, look at FedEx, for example. I heard that FedEx was offered a championship series event for St. Jude, but FedEx’s feeling was now they’re a playoff event. They felt like they were kind of above championship, we’re FedEx… “So that event’s going away unless they can find another sponsor to come in and maybe be a challenger event. So I think the 14 number is certainly a mix of prospective new sponsors, but also other events that have submitted a bid.”

FedEx’s partnership with the PGA Tour, which includes sponsorship of the FedEx Cup, the playoffs, and the FedEx St. Jude Championship, is set to expire at the end of 2027. Meanwhile, the Memphis-based FedEx St. Jude Championship has already been confirmed as being outside the top-tier Championship Series. This means that if FedEx is unable to meet the $30 million financial commitment, the Memphis event, as Carpenter suggests, could be left out of the Championship Series, at least.

Despite that, FedEx and the PGA Tour remain in discussions about the company’s future involvement. Both sides have indicated that all options are on the table, leaving the door open for FedEx to remain involved in some capacity. That could include sponsoring a Challenger Series event or taking on a different role within the Tour’s revamped structure. Regardless, nine of the expected 15 regular-season Championship Series events have already been publicly sold to new sponsors. 

Those include the RBC Heritage, Truist Championship, Cadillac Championship, Travelers Championship, Arnold Palmer Invitational, Memorial Tournament, The Sentry, GO by Raymond James, and a Sompo-sponsored event. Sponsors for two additional regular-season events have also been identified, while the PGA Tour has received 14 bids for the remaining four spots.

The American Tour will now go through its evaluation process, with a final decision on the remaining Championship Series events expected later this year. The revamped schedule will feature 24 events, including the four major championships, The Players Championship, and international team events. The PGA Tour is expected to unveil the schedule on Golf Channel on February 22, while the Challenger Series events are also set to be announced this fall. 

In the meantime, the PGA Tour has also announced who will be able to play in the tournaments starting in 2028. 

What are the PGA Tour’s eligibility criteria for the two-tiered system?

The PGA Tour’s new two-tiered system will simplify eligibility by reducing the current 34 categories to seven. The Championship Series will primarily consist of the top 90 players from the previous season’s Championship Series points list, while the top 20 players from the Challenger Series will earn promotion to the top tier.

Championship Series winners, including major championship and Players Championship winners, will receive two-year exemptions, while career money and medical exemptions will provide additional routes. The No. 1 player on the PGA Tour University list and the top three players from the fall Last Chance Series will also earn Championship Series status.

For the Challenger Series, eligibility will include players ranked Nos. 21-90, relegated Championship Series players, the top 20 from the Korn Ferry Tour, Nos. 2-5 from PGA Tour University and the top five Q-School finishers. The Challenger Series will feature 144-player fields and at least 20 events, with promotion and relegation creating a direct pathway between the two levels.

Having said that, Josh Carpenter feels FedEx’s exit from PGA Tour’s schedule is a direct effect of PGA Tour’s $30 million demand.