There’s white smoke billowing above PGA Tour headquarters.
Brian Rolapp, a longtime NFL executive and one-time heir apparent to current commissioner Roger Goodell, is expected to become the PGA Tour’s first CEO, according to multiple reports and confirmed by GOLF.com. ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter was the first to report the news.
Rolapp is expected to be confirmed as Tour CEO during a meeting of the Tour’s Player Advisory and Enterprise boards sometime next week. The Tour has traditionally held board meetings during Travelers Championship week, which overlaps with the end of the Tour’s second fiscal quarter. If things go as planned with the Tour board — comprised of six “player directors” and six “independent directors” — Rolapp will become the Tour’s first-ever CEO, stepping into a role that is expected to have considerable influence on the shape and future of golf’s largest pro tour.
Rolapp, a longtime NFL media executive, represents a significant coup for the Tour. He has been the NFL’s “Chief Business and Media Officer” for the past eight years, during which time he helped negotiate multiple landmark, multi-billion-dollar media rights deals with media partners at NBC, CBS, FOX, Netflix and Amazon. Rolapp has spent the last 22 years in various roles at the NFL, the majority of which have come in the league’s media business, which currently generates more than $10 billion annually. Rolapp’s success in the role and relationships with league insiders landed him on several shortlists as heir apparent to Goodell, the league’s longtime commissioner. Goodell, 66, has led the NFL since 2007 and recently had his contract extended until 2027.
It’s unclear how Rolapp’s hiring will effect the job status of current commissioner Jay Monahan, whose tenure with the Tour has come under increased scrutiny in the two years following the “Framework Agreement” with the Saudi PIF. A Tour source indicated that Monahan feels “really good” about Rolapp as a candidate.
“PGA Tour HQ is buzzing,” the source said. “This is a great day for the Tour. People are really positive.”
Rolapp enters the new role with several considerable concerns on the horizon: The ongoing battle with LIV Golf, the deployment of $1.5 billion in “growth capital” from the Strategic Sports Group, the continued metamorphosis of the Tour schedule and topsy turvy TV ratings.
When reached by GOLF.com, several industry contacts with connections to golf and Rolapp endorsed the hire.
“Brian is a great collaborator and a smart leader who knows how to make agendas become reality,” said one industry source.
Rolapp’s rise at the NFL coincided with a meteoric increase in the value and importance of media rights deals, which have grown to take a massive share in overall sports revenue. Today, media rights fees — paid by networks to leagues for the right to broadcast events — make up tens of billions in revenue annually for the biggest sports leagues. The PGA Tour is currently midway through a 10-year, $700 million annual rights agreement with NBC and CBS.
You can reach the author at james.colgan@golf.com.
