Q&A With Andy Gardiner, CEO Of The Premier Golf League

After conducting their efforts in secrecy for several years, the Premier Golf League’s CEO is speaking publicly about his dream and the various constituencies working to make it happen.

Andy Gardiner spoke to me for 20 minutes while making various media rounds. Among the topics covered: why go public now, Rory McIlroy’s verdict on the league, media rights, timing and financing.

GS: So you’ve recorded a podcast today and are going more public with the Premier Golf League concept? Why now?

Andy Gardiner: The plan was to—and we've been going about our business quite quietly and discreetly—and that was probably the plan to present the opportunity as well as it can be presented.
I'm sure you've been following the sentiment as much as we have, and--delighted is too strong a word-- but very encouraged. It's nice to know that what you've been doing for six years hasn't been a complete waste of time. And I think the debate has been entirely balanced. It's obviously changed a level in the last 48 hours, but in terms of our reading, a sentiment is that it's been as good as we could possibly have hoped for really.

GS: You're referring to Rory's comments? Were his comments surprising to you or problematic to what you're trying to do?

AG: They weren't actually surprising because everyone's going to have a view. I just saw them as part of the process that we're going through. I've been thinking about them a lot and this is what Rory does, of course. He's an exceptional individual. He's an exceptional golfer, he's compelling in so many respects. When he's playing, I find it hard not to watch him. You can't take your eyes off him because he's capable of truly exceptional things on a golf course, and he's also compelling when he's not on the course because he's a very interesting individual. And I must confess, yes, he caused me to think quite hard about what he said, and there are two bits that stood out to me. One was the thing on the right side of history, and my reaction to that just as a human being is, absolutely.

We all want to be on the right side of history. There have been a few folks that haven't been of course. So that's everybody's desire. I guess that people have different views of history. One thing that crossed my mind was his reference to Arnold Palmer. I thought to myself, different people could have different views on individuals who've been significant in the past. And the first thought when you think about Arnold Palmer for me is obviously, he’s the King, but I actually went straight to my understanding of how the PGA Tour was established. Which was in itself a breakaway from the PGA of America. So on the one hand, you can position him as a stalwart of the establishment. But actually I always thought of Arnold as somebody who took responsibility and led to a significant change in the structure of the sport. Obviously, along with others including Jack Nicklaus. I also read with great interest years ago Deane Beman's book. The chapters that relate to what happened in 1983 and 1984, with those guys where they nearly did it again and that they nearly walked away from that which they had created.

Now, I'd say I've got a slightly different view perhaps than others of Arnold Palmer. I think he's not only been a brilliant golfer and a brilliant individual, but he has moved the sport on. I also think something Greg Norman said in the last couple of weeks, which was when the players were gathered to have the conversation in '94, I understand that Arnold Palmer was in the room and once he realized what the topic of discussion was, he decided to absent himself. But he said, "Guys, I understand that you want to do this", but if I'm right, he was probably 65 at the time. And his view was if you want to do this, by all means, but I'm probably not going to be a part of it.

So he'd done it once. He'd nearly done it twice, and I think what he was probably more focused on at the time was when he created the Golf Channel, which was certainly part of the process in '94, and launched in '95. So it's just, as I say, it caused us to think quite a lot. And the second part of the statement that made me think most was about the autonomy that the players have, their ability to pick and choose. And I know that that is prized amongst the best golfers in the world.

That actually is why we started to do this: as fans of the game and just having a slight flight of fancy thinking, well if you could start again, what would you create? And that's all this began as. I was thinking to myself, the flip side of autonomy is that as a fan, I'm desperate to know where Rory's going to play next week, and I'm desperate to see him play as often as possible. And quite frankly, if you gave me a wish list of who I'd like to watch in the next few weeks, I'd like to see Rory going head to head with Brooks every week right now just because I think it would be incredible entertainment.

So those are the thoughts that I had. You asked, is it damaging or problematic? Time will tell because this isn't about an individual, it's about a collective. And our attitude all the way through this has only been, we will build and we will persevere and we will offer the opportunity for people to make a choice. What we've been doing won't amount to anything unless there is a collective wealth, and that's on behalf of fans. It's on behalf of those who financially support the sport such as sponsors and broadcasters. But fundamentally it's about the best players in the world. And if any one of those three segments were to turn around and say, "We think you're wasting your time", we'd say "Fair enough” and move on. So, as I say, we are simply providing a choice and if the right parties don't want to take the choice then we will do something else.

GS: Where are in terms of timing and on being able to say you are ready to go with a schedule and do players have to commit publicly to the league?

AG: So our attitude has always been any conversation that we have with a third party, I don't feel it's my place to disclose the nature of that conversation because it's really theirs. We haven't asked a single player to make any commitment to us thus far. In terms of Rory, I’ve barely spent any time with him, which probably tells you as much as you need to know. The timing of this is down to the players, and part of the conversation that we've been having over the last several months, in fact, really for the last 12 months, is about how we could best collaborate with other tours, the PGA Tour in particular. That's a conversation that continues because our first press release following your piece was actually that it is our strong desire. I believe that the value that we're creating should flow throughout the whole of golf.

And there is a lot of value to go around, and all we're looking to do is to ideally bring golf together under a stronger structure in the best interest of the game. And that ultimately comes down to: will more people watch our content. The greater number of people who watch it, there should be a correlation with the number of people who will take up the sport. So that's the 30, 50-year view that we take, and I can't see any reason why there shouldn't be a conversation about how we can ensure that the other elements of the game remain entirely robust. That's something that I hope we can achieve. And that's part of the conversation that we're having with those who matter to us.

GS: How would you describe conversations you’ve had with the various tours?

AG: So if you forgive me, Geoff, I won't talk about those conversations. I will say that, and in fact, I think the first paragraph of the letter of the PGA Tour put out to its members in relation to us, they said that we hadn't sought to engage with them directly. And that is true, but it's a timing thing. And there have been several guys who have sought to make an introduction over the last 12 months. The conversation hasn't happened because there was a time and a place, and I believe that we're very close to that time, and we should be able to find a place. I would travel anywhere in the world to have that conversation at any time. What I do want to do is make sure that if it ever comes to pass, then we have a good understanding of how other elements of the game would like that to happen so that we're best placed to make it a successful conversation. But yes, it is our strong desire, and I think that it's achievable.

GS: So what should we as media or fans watching this unfold look for in terms of signs that you're close to launching this?

AG: We are progressed, and I can't be specific on timetable because it's down to, as I say, individuals coming to certain decisions. We are patient but we spent six years building an extraordinarily solid platform which, as I say, gives us the opportunity to facilitate whatever decision is made by third parties. There will be quite possibly more said by individuals. In this case, it will happen in the same time we are ready to make it happen if the right elements of the game want it to happen.

GS: You have a lot of people listed as part of a team because obviously trying to start a new tour from scratch requires a lot of different departments and elements. How do you feel about where you are in that regard?

AG: For two and a half years we've been working with the Raine Group, and in order to maintain a relationship with a group of that quality, obviously, you need to have everything planned down to the finest detail. So in terms of the execution, should we be given the opportunity by the pilots to move this forward, everything that needs to be done in time to ensure a world class product is produced in January 2022, is planned down to the finest detail. We do have an extraordinarily competent, experienced and expert group that have been working together on this for the last four years. We will utilize as far as our plan is concerned, the best of the best in terms of third party service providers, and they will be required to ensure that our product is as good as possible.

The full build out of our entire team will come probably quarter three, 2021, and would be 435 permanent staff. Going back to any form of collaboration with any other tour, you can immediately probably start to look forward and think, well, what's the sensible structure? I guess the answer to your question is we feel as though everything is in place to whichever path is chosen, we're ready to execute.

GS: It seems from the structure that you do not necessarily need to have a media partner locked in as part of your model at the moment. Obviously, that's something that will come if the right individuals commit, is that correct?

AG: I can tell you when we started this process, it started with, as I say, we are fans of the game and we gave ourselves the opportunity to think how good it could be. The next group that we went to were the sponsors of the sport, and we listened to them and their views are reflected in what we're doing. And we appreciate how valuable the sponsors are as do the broadcasters. We then began conversations with the broadcasters in the US and elsewhere, and we listened to them, and we got to the point where we had a fork in the road, we had the opportunity to partner with broadcast, and we decided that it was probably in everyone's best interest to have that conversation only in a meaningful way once the players were secure. So what we did instead was, we went to the top three media buyers in the US sports market, and we partnered with the number one, and that is a group called Omnicom sport, which is a division of Omnicom.

We went to Omnicom because as I say, two and a half billion dollars a year is spent by Omnicom on behalf of some of the biggest brands in the world. And certainly the brands that you in the US would recognize when you watch live sports. Now, we went with those guys because they are ultimately the ones who are spending the cash, the cash that obviously gives the broadcasters the ability to buy the rights. They've been alongside us for the last 18 months, and every material conversation we've had about media. So the other thing that we then did was to look to provide the players with the comfort that they might require in terms of our ability to generate the purse. And we've also done that by securing a purse guarantee from a very well known insurance group. So I think we have everything that we should have in place. And quite frankly, the answer to the broadcast is I would much rather be in a position of offering the product to that market and allowing the market to then decide its value.

GS: In terms of financing and reports regarding involvement from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is that something you can address?

AG: Yes, I can. So we have a diverse shareholder base, and when I say diverse, there are a large number of shareholders. We've been very careful in our selection of our partners. As I mentioned, a two-and-a-half year relationship with the Raine Group, which is one of the most impressive and powerful investors in sports and media around the world. And I'm sure you've been able to go onto their website and see the deals that they've done, and part of our group is yes, probably the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world. And I can say that is the public investment fund of Saudi Arabia. Their passion for the sport is what enabled us to form the relationship because they are truly passionate, and I think that will become clear in due course.