Brian Rolapp of the NFL is expected to be announced soon as the PGA Tour’s new CEO, sources confirmed to The Athletic. Jay Monahan, the current commissioner of the PGA Tour, will remain in his role, but Rolapp, who has held various executive positions at the NFL since 2003, will lead the tour’s new for-profit arm, PGA Tour Enterprises.
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Roger Goodell announced Rolapp’s departure in a memo Thursday sent to team executives and presidents, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Rolapp has most recently served as the NFL’s Chief Media and Business Officer, helping the league achieve significant growth in its media rights and sponsorship contracts. He was the chief negotiator for the NFL’s $110 billion media deals with ESPN, NBC, Fox, CBS and Amazon. He has held his current role since 2014, and many believed he could be Goodell’s successor as NFL commissioner.
Goodell’s contract has been extended again, as The Athletic reported last month, making it a logical step for Rolapp to seek experience elsewhere and demonstrate his ability to direct the future of a major sports organization. The PGA Tour CEO role is a newly created position.
Rolapp will arrive at the tour during a period of flux for the men’s professional game: The PGA Tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund, the backer of LIV Golf, agreed to work towards unifying the fractured sport two years ago. But there is no real solution in sight, with negotiations between the two parties stalling in recent months.
PGA Tour Enterprises, which Rolapp is expected to run, was a product of the recent divide in the game. Strategic Sports Group, a private equity group of major American sports owners, invested $1.5 billion into the new for-profit entity of the tour, which has plans to give players access to those funds in the form of equity. The plans allow for the Public Investment Fund to come in and match that investment, if negotiations eventually come to fruition. LIV Golf recently brought on a new CEO as well in Scott O’Neil.
Despite Rolapp’s expected hire, Monahan will remain the PGA Tour commissioner and presumably will continue to sit on the PGA Tour Enterprises Board. Monahan has been criticized heavily for his and the tour’s refusal to communicate with the PIF as LIV Golf launched. Many players vocalized their lack of trust in Monahan after he seemingly reversed course on his word and went behind players’ backs to strike a deal with the Saudis. Since the framework agreement between the PGA Tour and the PIF was announced two years ago, Monahan has conceded that the rival LIV Golf league has pushed the PGA Tour to evolve.
The PGA Tour, which typically avoids making off-course news during major championship weeks, declined to comment.
(Top photo: Nathan Ray Seebeck / USA Today Sports)
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