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As the PGA Tour moves forward with a new two-series scheduling model beginning in 2028, there will be more money in its top circuit of tournaments than ever before.
PGA Tour Championship Series events will have purses of at least $20 million. There are expected to be 15 of those in the regular season, in addition to the four major championships and the PGA Tour-operated Players Championship, which will continue to have an even higher purse ($25 million for the past four years).
But the rising cost for companies to financially back one of these new Championship Series events moving forward raised some concerns for one of the PGA Tour’s most popular players.
“There’s going to be certain events that might lose their stature if a sponsor doesn’t pony up $30 million,” Rory McIlroy said at the U.S. Open, citing the most commonly reported number for a top-tier annual tournament naming rights deal, which typically covers the prize money and includes a minimum media ad spend, among other guarantees.
PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said he was “very confident” that those $20 million-plus purses can be sustained in this new economic model.
How the funding for each Championship Series event comes together will remain fluid, though.
“From my perspective, there’s no specific number that we’re looking for,” PGA Tour chief commercial officer Dhruv Prasad tells Front Office Sports. “It’s going to be market-by-market dependent.”
That could be good or bad, depending on the market.
Tournaments in smaller media markets like Hilton Head, S.C., and Hartford, Conn., the site of this week’s Travelers Championship, have hosted $20 million signature events in recent years, and appear intent on continuing on in the Championship Series.
The PGA Tour is also exploring new major markets like New York, Boston, and Chicago—which could garner even more lucrative hosting deals, especially if multiple companies enter a bidding war to attach their name to a tournament.
“Every event is a little bit different in this regard,” Prasad says. “And it’s going to be about building the best schedule for our constituents, partners, brands, and players.”
While no specific sites have been announced, the PGA Tour has confirmed that 10 of its 15 Championship Series markets are set for 2028, while talks remain ongoing in existing tour markets and new ones for the remaining five.
What’s In A Name?
The Championship Series and Challenger Series are working titles for the PGA Tour’s new top two tiers, Rolapp said this week, leaving the door open to a company or brand paying big bucks to re-name one or both of those circuits.
“The options for commercialization are all on the table,” Prasad, also a former NFL executive like Rolapp, tells FOS. “And we’ll try to make the best decisions about branding and commercialization that we can.”
The PGA Tour has never had an all-encompassing naming rights deal, but its lower circuits have. The second-tier Korn Ferry Tour has had a variety of names over the years, including the Web.com Tour, Nationwide Tour, and Nike Tour.
“It’s important for the future of our system that we build our IP, as well, and that there’s a balance that we find between partner IP and our IP,” Prasad says.
All options remain on the table for FedEx, too. The company has backed the PGA Tour’s FedExCup since 2007, but that deal expires after the 2027 season.
“I actually think there are more opportunities for FedEx in the future in how they work with the tour than there are today, given some of the changes that we made to the model,” Prasad says. “The reality is there are more commercial opportunities going forward on the tour than there are today.”
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