From NFL to PGA Tour: How Brian Rolapp Could Reshape Golf

The PGA Tour hasn’t officially announced Brian Rolapp as its new CEO, but when it finally does (potentially as soon as next week), it will mark the start of an unprecedented shift in how the golf league operates.

Since publicly announcing the CEO search in December, the plan has been for the new executive to focus heavily on leading PGA Tour Enterprises, the for-profit entity that has already received a $1.5 billion investment and could get a similar one from the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. The PGA Tour itself still operates as a 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization.

PGA Tour Enterprises encompasses business operations like media rights, sponsorships, and other revenue-generating operations, while charitable efforts still fall under the nonprofit PGA Tour arm.

That’s where Rolapp’s expertise as the NFL’s chief media and business officer comes in. “There’s no better choice for a senior executive who can drive media distribution and exposure,” longtime sports media consultant Lee Berke told Front Office Sports.

TV Time

The PGA Tour’s media-rights deals with CBS Sports, NBC Sports, and ESPN run through 2030. Rolapp has strong relationships with those three companies, since they are major NFL rights holders, and many other networks and streamers that could vie for future PGA Tour rights.

“From a PGA Tour standpoint, that’s why they created this position,” Berke said. “He’s there to really build their business, and he’s got just the best possible track record for doing that.”

The PGA Tour CEO search was headed up by Falcons owner Arthur Blank, who is one of the backers of Strategic Sports Group, the firm that pumped $1.5 billion into the Tour. So, it’s not surprising that Rolapp was a top target, given his NFL experience and relationships.

Still to be determined is how Rolapp will coexist with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan. There are separate boards of directors for the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Enterprises. Currently, Monahan sits on both, but it’s possible Rolapp could take his seat on the PGA Tour Enterprises board.

LIV Golf’s Future

Rolapp has a longtime relationship with LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil, as the two went to Harvard’s business school at the same time in the 1990s. 

The PGA Tour has been negotiating with PIF leaders, not LIV execs like O’Neil, about an investment deal that could reunify the fractured men’s professional game. But Rolapp’s relationship with O’Neil should be a positive sign nonetheless. 

Monahan and former LIV commissioner and CEO Greg Norman did not have a good relationship, which severely complicated efforts to bring PGA Tour and LIV players back together.