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- The Colab Brief: 003 - LIV. Laugh. Love?
On the docket - discussing the absolute comms bogey that was the LIV/PGA announcement this week.
For those of you that are new here, this is The Colab Brief - a weekly newsletter covering all things comms. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, reach out.
Read Time: 4 mins
You don’t have to be a golf enthusiast to recognize that PGA, (and notably, commissioner Jay Monahan) absolutely shanked the LIV merger announcement this week.
Here’s a quick rundown:
The Professional Golf Association (PGA) and LIV have been at odds for the past 18 months as the legacy Professional Golf Association and the breakout Saudi-backed LIV battled for golf talent. PGA perks? A legacy association, prestigious tournaments, and the moral high ground of not taking Saudi money. For LIV players? A fat signing bonus, shorter tournaments, bigger purses, and a team-based structure appealed to burnt-out PGA’ers.
This week, the PGA and LIV announced a groundbreaking merger after more than a year of contention. The result? A literal goldmine of comms critiques.
Before the merger, PGA Commissioner, Jay Monahan, was not one to mince words about his feelings toward LIV’s involvement in the sport.
"Well, I talked to players, I talked at a player meeting. And I've talked to a number of players individually for a long period of time. And I think you'd have to be living under a rock to not know that there are significant implications. And as it relates to the families of 9/11, I have two families that are close to me that lost loved ones. So, my heart goes out to them. And I would ask any player that has left or any player that would ever consider leaving: Have you ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA Tour?" - Jay Monahan (CBS, June 12, 2022)
He hit all the big marks.
Implications for non-compliance. A morale plug. A solid stance. And oftentimes, there’s nothing wrong with a strong quote.
Unless you do a total 180 less than a year later.
“After two years of disruption and distraction, this is a historic day for the game we all know and love,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan. “This transformational partnership recognizes the immeasurable strength of the PGA TOUR’s history, legacy and pro-competitive model and combines with it the DP World Tour and LIV – including the team golf concept – to create an organization that will benefit golf’s players, commercial and charitable partners and fans. Going forward, fans can be confident that we will, collectively, deliver on the promise we’ve always made – to promote competition of the best in professional golf and that we are committed to securing and driving the game’s future. We are pleased to move forward, in step with LIV and PIF’s world-class investing experience, and I applaud PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan for his vision and collaborative and forward-thinking approach that is not just a solution to the rift in our game, but also a commitment to taking it to new heights. This will engender a new era in global golf, for the better.”
A bit of a jump, right?
In addition, most PGA players (who, by the way, had turned down hundreds of millions of dollars to stay with the organization) learned of the merger via Twitter.
How did such a huge announcement go so wrong?
A few key issues:
The PGA took a strong stance - and then totally backtracked. Comms 101 - there are no mulligans with the media. If you stand against something, you need to make an equally strong statement addressing the real reason you’re changing teams. People aren’t idiots, and glossy, nothing-burger quotes where you publicly praise an entity you formerly condemned are bound to ruffle feathers.
They flubbed stakeholder communication. In this case, the players were major stakeholders in the merger. By not sending official communication to their core groups before informing the rest of the world, the organization missed a major level-setting opportunity and eroded trust. Receiving support for a major change (whether merger, acquisition, or pivot) starts with being transparent and communicating early.
Limited details fueled wild assumptions. The statement hit the wire without alignment from all parties. Details were murky, leading to a flurry of speculation - never the goal for a solid comms strategy. When you don’t explicitly share key details, the story takes on a life of its own, and that can be a good - or a very bad - thing.
The PGA/LIV merger is one of the biggest deals in sports history. What could’ve been an example of a peaceful pivot ended up being a case study in crisis comms that will require years of building back trust (as well as a lawsuit or two).
Will Z, if you need help crafting your statement, we’re here for you.
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