LPGA Commissioner Bivens out by next week

Written by: Tony Korologos | Thursday, July 9th, 2009
Categories: LPGA Tour
Tags: Carolyn Bivens • LPGA Tour

The rumors have been flying for a while. Now there are headlines surfacing saying that Carolyn Bivens, LPGA Tour Commissioner, will be either fired or will quit by next week.

The so called “death sentence” was a letter submitted by some top players on the LPGA Tour asking for Bivens to resign.

Many have said that Bivens has not been good for the LPGA. I’m not informed enough to really make such a call. I just don’t follow the LPGA much.

All I can say is that it won’t necessarily make things any better with her out. The economy stinks and the LPGA Tour is a 3rd or 4th tier product.

I want to watch the best, like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Ochoa is incredible, yes, but I want to watch THE best golfers in the world and they’re not on the LPGA Tour.

3 responses to “LPGA Commissioner Bivens out by next week”

Old Man Par says:

July 10, 2009 at 8:02 am

There is room enough in the summer sports landscape for a successful LPGA, and having one is good for the game.

While Lorena Ochoa, or Anneka Soremstam may never be Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson, they are incredible golfers in their own right who can and do score in tournament conditions. Moreover, they do have the ability to draw in a powerful emerging market segment in the world of sports: women. There, the LPGA can be wildly successful, and if one doesn’t think that that has appeal to marketers, take a look at a typical women’s magazine and how thick it is — thanks to the plethora of advertisements directed towards…women.

That considered, a well-run and financially effective LPGA can survive and prosper. It may not be the equal of the PGA Tour any time soon, but neither is the Euro Tour either and it is doing just fine.
Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru says:

July 10, 2009 at 8:08 am

Great comment Old Man Par. Keep ’em coming. I did say that Ochoa is incredible. I’m not commenting on the quality of their play as women. Now you do know that “Annika” is retired, right? 🙂

As far as how thick a women’s magazine is, I’m not sure that is relevant. We’re not talking about Oprah or Cosmopolitan are we?
Old Man Par says:

July 10, 2009 at 7:05 pm

Yeah, actually, Cosmo, or any of the fashion mags geared to women – even in the recession they are still heavy with 150+ ads, and not all for clothes, shoes and makeup like we might think and guys who don’t read those things. Mainline companies like Proctor and Gamble and others are still there.

As a married guy, and one married to someone in the advertising business to boot, I see and hear about that stuff all the time. It kind of goes with the territory when you live in your wife’s house!

Anyhow, I know you said that Ochoa is incredible, and yeah, I know that Annika is retired and is starting a family. Thing is, *we* aren’t the market that the LPGA should be pushing into and solidifying their base within. They need to shore up their 18-34 female market, and the older, more affluent women in the 40-54 range as well. I would bet my trusty putter that they can succeed there, even if you and I prefer to watch Kenny Perry and Lee Janzen duking it out in the John Deere Tractor Classic on weekends like this.

I could go on and on about the marketing mistakes the LPGA makes, and I bet I will probably do just that pretty soon over on my blog. 🙂