Potential Goodell Successor Brian Rolapp Leaves NFL for PGA CEO Job

NFL chief media and business officer Brian Rolapp is leaving the league to become the PGA Tour’s new CEO, Front Office Sports confirmed.

The news was first reported by ESPN on Thursday afternoon, after multiple reports from other outlets earlier this week suggested Rolapp was the favorite to land the new PGA Tour role. The PGA Tour declined to comment.

Rolapp was largely seen as the No. 2 executive at the NFL, and a likely successor to commissioner Roger Goodell, 66. Goodell’s contract runs through March 2027, but he is already in discussions about an extension beyond that. This contributed to Rolapp’s decision to leave now, multiple sources told FOS.

One NFL source told FOS that the PGA Tour made Rolapp a “great offer,” and that he “will help them a lot and he will run his own shop.” Taking the PGA Tour job, a separate source told FOS, does not necessarily remove him as a candidate to be the next NFL commissioner after Goodell.

As the hands-on architect of the NFL’s 11-year cycle of media-rights deals worth $111 billion, Rolapp is one of the most powerful and influential sports media executives in the world. Under his watch and Goodell’s, the league has expanded beyond its usual reliance on linear broadcast/cable TV partners such as NBC, CBS, Fox, and ESPN to add giant streamers like Amazon Prime Video, Google’s YouTube TV, and Netflix to its roster of media partners. 

Rolapp and the NFL were also savvy enough to add “opt-out” clauses to those deals that were signed in 2021 and run through the 2033 season. The league is almost certain to exercise these opt-out early clauses with most of the media partners after the 2029 season, and with ESPN after the 2030 season.

With Rolapp headed to the PGA Tour, sources say the NFL will rely on a coterie of powerful executives to fulfill his duties until a successor is named. They include: Hans Schroeder, EVP of media distribution; David Jurenka, SVP of NFL Media; and Mike North, VP of broadcast planning. Fox’s telecast of the Eagles’ victory over the Chiefs in Super LIX set a record, averaging 127.7 million viewers.

“We have spent some time planning for this change and are confident we will successfully manage the responsibilities while we align our structure to meet our long-term strategic goals,” Goodell said in a memo sent to team owners on Thursday.

The PGA Tour’s TV ratings have largely rebounded this season after a down year in 2024. Jon Rahm was the last major player to leave the PGA Tour for LIV Golf in December 2023. The tour has increased prize money in an effort to compete with the $20 million individual purses offered by LIV events, and many golfers have called for the competing tours to merge.

Multiple sources told FOS that new LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil, who took that job in January, is excited by Rolapp’s hire, as the two men have known each other since they were in Harvard’s business school together in the late 1990s.

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan first announced the search for a CEO in December. “We’re bringing new perspectives onto our team to help us realize the incredible opportunities ahead for our sport,” he said in his end-of-year message. For now, it’s unclear exactly what the official reporting structure will be for Rolapp, as most professional leagues do not have both a commissioner and CEO.

The PGA Tour is still negotiating with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, which financially backs LIV, about investing in the for-profit entity, PGA Tour Enterprises. Last year, the Strategic Sports Group, a conglomeration of professional sports franchise owners, invested $1.5 billion in PGA Tour Enterprises, with an option to double that to $3 billion. The PIF is considering a similar arrangement, but it has so far been unable to reach a deal.

—Eric Fisher contributed reporting.