The PGA Tour Champions has been quite the same for years. Professional golfers who turn 50 become eligible to compete on the senior circuit. However, senior circuit members and analysts think that things are about to change. It was bound to make some strides with Tiger Woods becoming eligible for the 2026 season. And Miller Brady & others are ready for when and if that happens. But golf veteran Tom Pernice Jr. says things won’t be the same when Woods joins.

It can potentially be an independent tour by then. Jay Monahan is stepping down after 2026, and the new CEO, Brian Rolapp, will lead the board. Stewart Cink, a member of the PGA Tour Champions, feels that Rolapp is a “move-fast-and-break-things” type of dude. This means he will eventually want to make the senior circuit more profitable, which could drastically change things.

“So, are we a burden to the PGA Tour? We could be done. If they’re for-profit and they have venture capitalists that are going to come in and if you’re not making a profit, they’re going cut you. So there’s people out here worried that this could be done in three or four years. And then, what’s our value? Can we go to someone else to see if they want to take it over? It’s a good question,” Tom Pernice Jr. said about trying to make the circuit profitable.

Currently, the PGA Tour is a non-profit organization. And since the PGA Tour Champions falls under the PGA Tour umbrella, it is also a non-profit. However, the PGA Tour launched PGA Tour Enterprises on January 31, 2024. It is a new commercial organization to receive investments from the Strategic Sports Group (SSG). SSG has initially invested $1.5 billion in the new organization, with another $1.5 billion possibly coming in later.

“Today marks an important moment for the PGA TOUR and fans of golf across the world,” said Jay Monahan, Commissioner of the PGA Tour and CEO of PGA Tour Enterprises. “By making PGA Tour members owners of their league, we strengthen the collective investment of our players in the success of the PGA Tour.”

As the PGA Tour goes for profit, the senior circuit will follow suit. And if that happens, the investors will ask the PGA Tour Champions to become profitable. In fact, the senior circuit members already got a glimpse of this.

“I personally think this Champions Tour could go away with our new board that we have and our new CEO. They already took $2 million away from us out of our pension fund just out of the blue,” Pernice said. “They told Miller Brady basically, ‘You need to figure out a way to be profitable.'”

However, Tom Pernice Jr. feels that it would be challenging. Any revenue the senior league earns from TV rights goes to the PGA Tour under their deal. Besides that, the PGA Tour Champions doesn’t have any other TV contracts. So, to become profitable without the PGA Tour, the senior circuit will first need TV deals.

It costs around $800,000 each week to get on TV. So that’s around $25 million just in operational costs.

“The initial feel out here is the Tour feels that we’re not making a profit, we’re a burden and they’re going take away our retirement points out here. Why do we need the Tour? That is our question,” Tom Pernice Jr. said. One way Pernice says out of this is if an umbrella sponsor can absorb the TV and pension costs with $35 million.

“It’s a great product for our sponsors. Our sponsors like our product to entertain their clients with all the pro-ams we play in and social functions. It’s way better than on the regular tour, as far as entertaining clients. Now, TV-wise and big names, obviously not, but big names only are playing in the elevated events anymore. Is our name recognition better than it is going to play in the John Deere? Maybe so. So things are going to change. Anybody think it’s going to be the same, it’s not,” Tom Pernice Jr. explained.

And it is certainly a possibility. Viewership demographics show that the older audience is the largest. This audience knows the members on the senior circuit better than many who are currently playing on the PGA Tour. While the digital media has brought in more young fans, TV viewership largely depends on this senior demographic. Thus, the PGA Tour Champions can seek a sponsor to cover expenses and prevent the tour from being sacked altogether.

While investor involvement fuels concerns about being sacked, many factors can prevent it.

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Reasons the PGA Tour may not sack the PGA Tour Champions

One of the primary reasons the PGA Tour may want to continue with PGA Tour Champions is that the league carries its logo into unrecognized territories.

The PGA Tour hosts its events in about 25 different cities. Although fans can watch matches on TV, there’s still minimal access to live matches, especially for seniors who cannot travel much. This leaves many markets untapped.

The PGA Tour Champions can take the PGA Tour’s logo to these markets. In 2026, the senior circuit will schedule 22 of the 28 events in markets where the PGA Tour doesn’t play.

Another important reason is that the golfers on the Champions Tour have built their reputation among fans over the years. Some of the popular names on the senior circuit are Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Bernhard Langer, Tom Watson, Fred Couples, Colin Montgomerie, Lee Trevino, and others. In fact, golfers like Gary Player have won over 100 titles on the Tour Champions. And to top it all, Tiger Woods will become eligible to play on the PGA Tour Champions.

Although there are concerns about his health, if he decides to play on the senior circuit, it will completely change the dynamics.

Woods even has the power to give a new life to the sinking tour. With him in the mix, there are chances that fans will prefer to watch Woods on the PGA Tour Champions over Scottie Scheffler or Rory McIlroy on the PGA or the DP World Tour.

The senior circuit now sits at a crossroads, caught between rising pressure to turn a profit and the value its veterans believe they still offer. The next few years will show whether leadership sees that value the same way. If not, the tour will have to redefine its future on its own terms.