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Stay the course, Carolyn. The LPGA needs your moxie and unwavering will to survive. Ignore the critics, build mighty partners like Bobby Ginn, Donald Trump and ADT.
Her resolve to upgrade every department, to capitalize financially, and to institute a drug-testing policy has caused Bivens to ruffle the feathers of the Tournament Owners Association (TOA); the media; tournament organizers; and some former staff executives.
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Carolyn Bivens
LPGA Commissioner |
Danville, California: Carolyn Bivens, as the LPGA Tour’s first female commissioner in the organization’s 57-year history, has been maliciously subjected to petty criticism by the Tournament Owners Association (TOA), the media, sponsors, and dissident staff members. President Bush, move over. Like Bush, she is unyielding about her goals and doggedly staying her course.
Bivens, 53, was president and COO of Initiative Media North America (IMNA). She was responsible for IMNA’s management in 20 markets with over 1,000 employees located in the USA and Canada to become the leading media services company in the United States. It billed over $10 billion in North America.
Prior to joining IMNA, Bivens worked in key positions at USA Today where, in 1982 she was a member of the original launch team. In 1985, she was appointed vice president of national circulation sales and set new standards of success in targeted circulations and profit. Between 1991 and 2000, she became the associate publisher and increased USA Today advertising revenue by more than 165 percent. She joined IMNA in 2000.
I flew to Oakland, stayed overnight, and drove to Danville in the morning for a private 9 A.M. meeting with Bivens in a conference room at Blackhawk Country Club, host venue of the Longs Drugs Challenge. She appeared as I expected: attractive, intelligent, debonair, and chic. I should also add unafraid and confident.
After she took office in September 2005, the industry quickly learned her goals for the LPGA Tour were bigger purses; bigger pensions; the first in professional golf to institute a drug-testing policy beginning in 2008; a new $100,000 sanction fee raised from $18,000; a firm control of dates and markets; and that she will instill the priorities.
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| LPGA Commissioner Carolyn Bivens and Bobby Ginn, Founder and Chairman of Ginn Resorts & Clubs, enjoy a Welcome Reception at Reunion Resort in Reunion, Florida, near Orlando. |
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Change was not easy. She got off to a very rocky start at the outset. To her supporters, she is a godsend. To her dissenters, she is agitation. Her no-nonsense style characterized her as dictatorial and triggered a lot of controversy.
Bivens Firmly Stands By Her Principles
The LPGA went through a comprehensive process to find Bivens. They employed Heidrick & Struggles, a famous headhunting firm headquartered in Chicago, to meticulously screen and interview a number of pre-selected, highly qualified prospects—mostly male.
Bivens was offered the position of LPGA Commissioner and took charge in September of 2005. Her debut and changes caused an immediate hailstorm of criticism from the media over intellectual property; image rights and credentials; from the Tournament Owners Association (TOA) over imposing an annual sanctioning fee of $100,000 on tournament organizers; for a possible lawsuit by longtime tournament owners Ruth and Larry Harrison; and from the departure of the Wendy’s Championship for Children.
And that’s only during her first year!
“Why did you feel one of your first acts, as Commissioner, was to raise the sanctioning fee?”
“We kicked up the fee to $100,000 for several reasons,” replied Bivens. “Number one, the LPGA was losing money on just about every tournament.
“Look, Ed, the LPGA owns none of the local streams of revenue at tournaments. What I mean is we don’t have a way to recoup our losses at tournaments. The promoters own total rights on merchandise they sell, any concessions, parking, tickets, scoreboard signage—it all goes to them—and that’s fine.
“But, we also have expenses,” said Bivens. “We have rules officials, travel expenses, and people to run the media center. Our service fee of up to $18,000 does not cover it. It’s unconscionable. I don’t think there’s anybody in their right mind that would think the LPGA was getting only $15,000 to $18,000 for expenses at tournaments.
“So, yes,” said Bivens, “we kicked it up to $100,000 to cover our expenses. We must develop new ways of making a profit—and that really is not a nasty, ugly word.
“We also raised it because of market value. There are many companies that recognize the value,” stated Bivens.
“You know,” I added, ”I think $100,000 is not enough.”
“I tend to agree with you,” smiled Bivens.
“Was the ruckus caused by bad timing?”
“Well, we had to do it now,” explained Bivens. “There were 11 tournaments up for renewal this year, and they wanted to sign anywhere from three to five years. We had no choice but to address it this year. We didn’t pick the timing.”
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Betty Jane France, secretary of NASCAR, with Bivens at a NASCAR-LPGA Charity Golf Classic. |
Another New Source For Revenue
Raising the sanctioning fee was a smart move and I asked if there were any other sources for revenue the LPGA neglected to capitalize on.
“Yes,” said Bivens, “photography. We became aware the contract we had with our photographic partner was up for renewal and we had to renegotiate it. Unlike any other major sport, the LPGA had been paying six figures to its photographic partner.
“So, we began looking at media credentials. What rights did we have? How will we control the images? What was happening commercially with images taken at tournaments? We found unless we changed the credential language—we would have no rights!
“That was the reason we did not renew our photographic partner and invited bids. We also hired a great First Amendment law firm. We asked the PGA of America, the NBA, and NASCAR to share their credential language and practices with us—and they all did. Many of their in-house counsels helped us,” said Bivens.
“The phrase in the new contract said we had access to the images taken at tournaments solely for promoting the same tournament the following year. We did it for the same reason the NCAA does it. The LPGA is not big enough, nor rich enough, to have its own in-house production group.
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“As of December ‘06, Bivens had not yet signed a contract because: ‘A prescription without diagnosis is malpractice.’ Would the LPGA be stupid enough to let her get away?... Nah!”— Ed Pazdur, Chairman & CEO
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“We just recently awarded the LPGA photographic contract, and let me assure you, we are being paid handsomely for the next three years,” smiled Bivens contently. “We also own a percentage of the inventory and get a percentage on all commercial sales. This one issue alone is already making a huge difference to the financial health of the LPGA.”
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| LPGA star Marisa Baena with Bivens at the 2005 Samsung World Championship. |
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A Scenario To Achieve Goals Other Elite Athletes Get
The LPGA mandate given to Bivens was simple. She had to capitalize financially on popularity and growth. How? That was her mission. She was hired because of her business acumen and marketing expertise.
“Some of my goals,” said Bivens, “are for the LPGA to play on more great golf courses for bigger purses and for the players to have the same basic fundamental benefits that other mainstream elite athletes have.”
“Like what benefits?”
“Like pensions and healthcare.”
“How adequate are those benefits now?” I asked.
“Extremely inadequate!”
“How can you improve it?”
“With a bigger retirement fund,” answered Bivens. ”The PGA Tour Retirement Fund is over $400 million. The LPGA Retirement Fund is around $19 million. That’s unacceptable.”
“What, if anything, are you doing about it?”
“We are making plans. The way to achieve a bigger Retirement Fund is to create ways of generating revenue. It could be everything from licensing and merchandising to owning and running more of our own tournaments.
“There are a number of things we can do.”
“What does that mean?”
“There are benefit specialists who are helping us. What it means is we take the current budget and look at the moves we’ve made, from a business standpoint, and study how they have effected us financially this year. Then we project it into ’08 and to ’09, to identify what points of profitability are the priorities.
“Is it making double or triple payments to the Retirement Fund? Is it underwriting healthcare to some extent? Some investment must be made to the infrastructure of the LPGA,” said Bivens, “in order for us to identify priorities—and that’s where the money will be distributed.”
“Is your benefit planning in effect now?”
“Yes, it’s going on right now.”
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| Two happy ladies: LPGA Commissioner Carolyn Bivens (left) presents $1 million to LPGA rookie Julieta Granada. She shot a final round 68 at Trump International in West Palm Beach, Florida, to become the 2006 ADT Championship winner. Granada moved up from 19th to 4th on the ADT Official Money List and finished with $1,633,586 in earnings for the season. The ADT Championship was the concluding event to the LPGA Playoffs 2006, the first in the history of professional golf. |
The TOA Is Not All That Bad
“Let’s face it, Carolyn, the real essence for your growth,” I speculated, “will be in the substance of your golf tournaments.”
“I agree,” she replied.
“You must have a criteria in mind for approving a sponsor, a location, and a date for any given tournament. Right?”
“Right,” she said. “A lot of things have to come together for a tournament to be born. There has to be a spot on the schedule for that geographic region with a golf course that can accommodate the fans, has enough parking, and a sponsor that’s interested in that particular part of the country.”
“You mean a regional sponsor?”
“No. But, it could be. National sponsors may or may not always want tournaments in their hometowns. They may prefer an area into which they’re expanding or building a plant, but not where their headquarters are located.”
“So your LPGA organizers have organized—such as the Tournament Owners Association (TOA)—and developed some clout to use against you.
“Fortunately,” I continued, “you’re accountable only to the LPGA Board of Directors.”
“I will say this,” replied Bivens. “I believe the TOA serves a very valuable function to the extent they share best practices with each other. In my travels, I have noticed there are disparities in how the LPGA brand is represented by its tournaments.
“For example,” she said, “right here at Blackhawk Country Club, the Longs Drugs Challenge team works hard to give fans a great experience with directional signs, parking, restaurants, roped off areas, great leader boards, security, shuttle buses, volunteer workers, etc.
“They also helped players with accommodations, caddies, transportation, refreshments, media facilities, promotion of the event, great locker rooms, and made sure the golf course was in excellent condition.
“As tournament owners spend more time sharing best practices with one another—all of us will benefit!”
Bobby Ginn Raises The Bar
“Based on your criteria for sponsors,” I suggested, “Bobby Ginn has certainly raised the bar for professional golf tours and for fans in particular. The inaugural LPGA Ginn Open in Orlando last April was getting billed as four days of golf and music.”
It pulled 51,378 fans for the tournament and over 9,500 at the concerts, televised over seven hours of national exposure, had over 100 media reps, sold $178,000 in merchandise, and provided the LPGA’s third largest purse with $2.5 million—all to the benefit of the LPGA.
“Bobby Ginn is a wonderful partner,” said Bivens. “His courses are spectacular. His organization goes out of its way to make sure that women have the very best hospitality, that caddies are taken care of, and that fans are well accommodated.
“He does the best job of bringing in local galleries through radio ads, outdoor billboards within 75 miles of the course—and outstanding evening concerts.
“Bobby’s impact on the LPGA goes beyond tournaments,” said Bivens.
“Would you say he’s a great model for others to follow?” I asked.
“Absolutely!” declared Bivens.
A $1 Million Payday
I thought I would be helpful by suggesting the LPGA follow PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem’s lead of a season long playoff system.
“Actually, Ed, the LPGA already has its own playoff system. It was announced in May of 2005,” said Bivens, “a couple months before I joined the LPGA in July of 2005.
“Our year-end playoff Championship is played at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. It’s sponsored by ADT with a total purse of $1,550,000 of which the winner takes home $1 million.”
It should be noted that Julieta Granada won the 2006 ADT Championship last November and earned the largest payday in the history of women’s professional golf.
“Maybe the PGA Tour should follow the lead of the LPGA,” she teased.
A Closing Thought:Invest In The LPGA
“Carolyn, here’s a chance for you to address approximately 3,500 private golf clubs in America. I promise not to edit, amend nor rephrase anything you wish to say.”
“That’s a terrific opportunity,” exclaimed Bivens. “What I would like to say is that for any company, any organization that’s looking to invest in sports marketing, there is not a better property offering a better return of investment than the LPGA.
“We are blessed right now with a wide variety of women such as Juli Inkster, Annika Sorenstam, Julieta Granada, Cristie Kerr, Se Ri Pak, Natalie Gulbis, and Paula Creamer who are the best golfers in the world. They are remarkable people. I don’t think any other sport has ever found itself with so many first-class athletes who also happen to be really dynamic and charismatic people. They are marketing savvy and sell themselves.
“That’s the message I would like to deliver,” said Bivens.
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| A happy time at LPGA headquarters, with no admission charge, is provided by Rae Evans, LPGA Board of Directors Chairwoman; Heather Daly-Donofrio, and Carolyn Bivens, LPGA Commissioner. Sorry, no demo was cut. |
A Prescription Before Diagnosis is Malpractice
Bivens has not budged an inch from her master plan to improve the marketing opportunities for the business and to capitalize financially. She has vastly improved on all revenue streams like sponsor sanction fees, photographic licensing, bigger purses, bigger pensions, control of dates and sites, and improving relations with the TOA—by fighting a tough upstream battle of malicious criticism from media and some sponsors.
“The LPGA badly needs you, your business experience and your resolve.”
“You know, Ed, a prescription before diagnosis is malpractice. I needed more time to learn more about the organization. We’re undergoing that process now. I’m getting to know the LPGA better and it’s getting to know me better.”
Although I had already overstayed my allotted time, Carolyn was graciously willing to give me more. We took some photos and closed the session.
On my way out of the clubhouse and en route to the airport in Oakland, I wondered: Would the LPGA really be stupid enough to let her get away?... Nah!
For more information, you may write the LPGA, 100 International Golf Drive, Daytona Beach, Florida 32124; or please phone (386) 274-6200; or visit www.lpga.com.
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