Terry Duffy in June on the World Golf Corridor of Fame induction ceremony.
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NAPLES, Fla. — Terry Duffy, whose firm sponsors the LPGA’s season-ending occasion and is liable for its file prize fund, says ought to different companies be desirous about an analogous transfer, no, he wouldn’t inform them something.
He’d present them.
The CEO of the CME Group stated he’s even finished so earlier than.
“I’d been requested when Mike Whan was nonetheless the commissioner of the LPGA — and I talked to Mike yesterday; he’s a terrific good friend — he requested me, he had a sponsor that was desirous about dipping their toes in,” Duffy stated. “And he stated, will you speak to them? And I stated, no, however I’ll let you know what I’ll do: I’ll host them. And I introduced them right here and I confirmed them what we had.
“And typically while you take a look at it and see it and have a touchy-feely versus simply somebody telling you, that is actually good, your shopper goes to adore it, and also you go, it appears like I’m being pitched by everybody else. That’s not what that is all about. I feel that is considered one of these occasions that you must expertise.”
Ought to anybody, although, be fascinated about watching Saturday’s third spherical of the CME Group Tour Championship on dwell tv, they will’t. Protection can be proven solely on tape delay, from 4-7 p.m. ET on Golf Channel — and when the choice was introduced up by a reporter, Duffy’s first thought was each unsurprising and 4 phrases lengthy.
“That’s bulls**t, isn’t it?”
Speaking to a small group on Wednesday, a day earlier than the beginning of the match, Duffy then continued for about 5 minutes. He stated he voiced his frustration to the LPGA’s commissioner, Mollie Marcoux Samaan, and hoped that she would “make that not be the case.” He additionally stated he understood offers lengthy in place (in 2020, the PGA Tour and LPGA agreed to let the lads’s tour negotiate their home TV contracts collectively) and admitted he’s not “overly exercised” concerning the transfer and — however “I might hope that individuals would acknowledge that should you’re going to proceed to construct ladies’s sports activities, you must give them the identical billing as males and cease — cease — the nonsense of claiming that, effectively, we have now to point out a males’s match as a result of they’re the lads.”
So what does Saturday afternoon’s dwell TV schedule seem like? From 1-4 p.m. ET, Golf Channel will present the PGA Tour’s RSM Traditional, whereas on NBC, a Golf Channel companion, there’s a Premier League Soccer match from 12:30-2:30 p.m., adopted by a post-match present and two ladies’s faculty basketball documentaries which can be operating as a part of a preview for a 4 p.m. recreation. On Sunday, the match will obtain three hours of broadcast time, from 1-4 p.m. on NBC. (Notably, Saturday’s play will be seen from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. on ESPN+ and from 2-5 p.m. on nbcsports.com.)
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For readability, under is many of the back-and-forth between Duffy and a reporter, with the reporter’s questions in italics.
“The third spherical right here is on tape delay.”
“That’s bulls**t, isn’t it?” Duffy stated.
“Might extra have been finished? Was time spent with that? Was there — may it have been …”
“I can do plenty of issues and cash can treatment so much, however it could actually’t treatment sickness, it could actually’t treatment sure issues,” Duffy stated. “I checked out that tape delay and I don’t prefer it. I agree with you. I feel that that’s inappropriate for a match of this magnitude to be on a tape delay. I’ve advised Mollie that I don’t like that. I’ll go away it in her palms the place that in the end finally ends up and hopefully she will work with the oldsters on the Golf Channel and others to make that not be the case.
“What’s essential to me, I don’t know anyone that watches 4 days of golf, to begin with, besides the Masters, perhaps the U.S. Open and the British. I don’t know anyone that watches the PGA 4 days in a row. And I don’t imply to say that sarcastically, it’s just a few individuals catch snippets of it or else they’ll watch it later. And the rationale I’m not overly exercised is due to what I stated earlier. I’m in 200 nations all over the world. Golf Channel’s all over the world. Individuals can watch my occasion of their time zones, too. In order that’s additionally useful for the delays on sure issues. I’m not a fan of it, as a result of they will re-run it once more clearly like they do. However on the similar time, I might hope that individuals would acknowledge that should you’re going to proceed to construct ladies’s sports activities, you must give them the identical billing as males and cease — cease — the nonsense of claiming that, effectively, we have now to point out a males’s match as a result of they’re the lads.
“And I do know why they do it due to the connection and the deal they’ve with the lads. And I get it. So I’m not attempting to have them violate an settlement they’ve and I’m not asking for the Golf Channel to be put in a nasty spot. However there’s plenty of alternative ways for content material to be distributed on the earth that we dwell in at the moment. I had my expensive good friend Vince Vaughn right here yesterday at my convention. And we talked concerning the proliferation of synthetic intelligence and the proliferation of streaming and what’s happening with the film theaters versus streaming. There’s so many various methods to get content material at the moment. So I’m not suggesting we go a unique route. However I don’t suppose Golf Channel is the one recreation on the town anymore. There’s plenty of methods for individuals to get content material. …
Methods to lastly resolve gradual play? Oh, do Nelly Korda, different professionals have ideas
Might you will have …
“I didn’t attempt to affect the method,” Duffy stated. “I didn’t ask to affect the method.”
Notably, Duffy has beforehand voiced displeasure on the match. As reported in a narrative written by Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols — which you’ll learn in full right here — the CME Group had requested LPGA gamers to attend a dinner, however none got here, main Duffy to query LPGA management.
“I’m exceptionally disillusioned with the management of the LPGA,” Duffy stated in Nichols’ story. “They higher get their act collectively as a result of they’re going to lose individuals like me over stuff like this.”
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