It seems a moment of “sense and sensibility” has finally arrived amidst all the “(false) pride and prejudice” in golf. A leading media outlet reported that Brian Rolapp has emerged as the front-runner to lead the newly formed PGA Tour Enterprises, the for-profit entity that will be formed after the $3 billion PGA Tour-PIF negotiations come to fruition. Rolapp, currently the Chief Media and Business Officer in the NFL, has long been considered a natural successor to Roger Goodell.

However, Goodell shows no sign of stepping down soon, which makes the top brass hopeful of roping Brian Rolapp in. Although the Tour has yet to make a formal offer, his stellar records in his 20-year stint with the football juggernaut have made him the first choice. Rolapp, should he like to be the chef de cuisine in Golf’s Hell’s Kitchen, will have a platter full of pickles in the buffet of squabbles and skirmishes. How has he performed in the past?

Brian Rolapp – the jewel in the crown of the NFL

Rolapp’s CV ticks almost all the boxes that the Tour and its investors would want. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell named him the Chief Media and Business Officer of the NFL in 2017. Currently, the Harvard graduate oversees the NFL media business and also leads the negotiations and implementation of the Football juggernaut’s content rights. 

If all the parties come under one umbrella, Rolapp will have a $7 billion worksheet to deal with. But that shouldn’t pose a stiff challenge for the 50-year-old, as the NFL roughly struck around $19 billion in revenue last year. Moreover, Rolapp steered the football mega-ship to the shores of $120 billion in media rights.

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Speaking of which, both the Tour and LIV Golf have faced massive backlash over shoddy broadcasting coverage. The NFL, meanwhile, implemented a novel strategy last month that even caught one PGA Tour pro’s eye.

Furthermore, Brian Rolapp was the brain behind the Black Friday game’s trip to Prime Video from TV. It was an expansion of the NFL’s deal with the streaming giant, a move that raised a few eyebrows but delivered a 6% jump in NFL viewership. The NFL also notched its best viewership since 2015, averaging 17.9 million viewers each game, a 7% bump over last year.

Seemingly the only fly in the ointment is that the NFL executive is not known to frequent golf courses. That, even though odd, would not be a dealbreaker, as the Sports Business Journal reported after speaking to the insiders.

All in all, Brian Rolapp’s primary mission, should he choose to accept it, would be to keep all parties’ interests, including golf fans, aligned. Of significance here is the involvement of Strategic Sports Group, a consortium of big-money investors, that includes Arthur Blank of the Atlanta Falcons. So, Rolapp’s key function would be to keep the golf ark steady amidst the hurricane that threatens to throw everything into disarray.

Where is golf headed in 2024?

Obviously, everything depends upon the outcome of the impending negotiations between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and PIF, the financial arm that powers LIV Golf. SSG, a late joiner, is slated to be a third-party investor. Surprisingly, Keith Pelley, the European Tour CEO, bowed out yesterday, tangling the Gordian knot even further. If that was not enough, Martin Slumbers, the sitting R&A chairman, also announced his decision to resign after this year.

Top 3 Takeaways as R&A’s Martin Slumber Makes an Unexpected Announcement

However, the fact that the top brass is actively looking for a new executive for the future entity indicates that the talks are going in a positive direction. Whispers inside the Tour also suggest that the parties are considering Sean Bratches, who oversaw F1’s global growth, for the position as well. Bratches, notably, was overseeing the commercial operations of LIV Golf Investments before resigning in May 2022. The framework agreement is expected to reach a breakthrough in March, before the first Major of the season.

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