Good to criticize Creator of PGA Tour Classic 'missed out'

Welcome back to another extended edition of the Hot Mic Newsletter, A weekly GOLF post covering all things golf from me, James Colgan. The subject of this week's newsletter is an enlightening interview between Good Good Golf and The Colin and Samir Show. As always, if you'd like to be the first to receive exclusive information like this directly from me, click link here to subscribe to our for free send a newsletter. But first, we return the phone lines to Comcast's latest revenue call.

NOT SO FAST
I've avoided writing much about the PGA Tour's first-ever Creator Classic — a nine-hole, made-for-TV tour of the Tour Championship — largely because I still haven't found a satisfactory answer to the most important question: why?

What business case did the PGA Tour use to justify the broadcast? And why would promoters give up their production rights – the main reason for their brand's success – to Peacock/NBC? Without understanding the answers to those questions, it was felt that it was unfair to criticize the product too much.

In a recent interview with the popular YouTube channel The Colin and Samir Show, however, the Good team offered some direct criticism of their own.

'WHAT IS MISSING THAT MAKES US SPECIAL'
Clark and the gang say Creator Classic missed the mark in bringing in real viewers.

“It's missing what makes us special,” Clark said.

“The struggle is that mixture [of traditional golf broadcast style and YouTube broadcast style],” said Max Putnam, Good Good creative producer. “We talk about how he brings a lot of personality to it, but it's something we want to continue to work on. That's what I noticed during the Creator Classic, I want to see Cart Cam, I want to hear them talk.”

“You should feel better,” Clark said. “Everyone should listen.”

The Creator Classic ended up delivering some of the PGA Tour's strongest numbers, including its biggest day of subscriber growth ever, and nearly 2 million views. But it wasn't much fun, mostly failing to provide the kind of entertainment value that draws viewers to Tour broadcasts. or Great videos.

Thankfully, there is room for experimentation and improvement from here on out. One just hopes that the powers that be don't allow 'good enough' to become the main enemy.

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OTHER OPTIONS
As for what the Good television broadcast of tomorrow might look like?

“You're also missing out on the wedding you can have with live streaming,” said Putnam, the producer. “There is a part that can be very interesting, it is to communicate in real time with the audience. It's something that could be big.”

“There is a lot of work going on, but one of the things we didn't know when we were talking about the cameras, we didn't know when Cart Cam was on.”

PACOCK MEDIA RIGHTS DEAL?
Clark also cleared a story I hadn't heard reported elsewhere: that the Eagle signed a rights deal with Good Good to broadcast each of the band's live events.

“They do our events,” Clark said. “The live events we broadcast go to Peacock, and to YouTube.”

That's the first piece of influencer distribution rights I've seen sold in the modern media world – and it speaks to both parties' efforts to expand the scope of their audiences. It's also reason to hope that Classic Classic will improve from an entertainment standpoint.

“I think, if we are smart about it, we can close the gap in the middle [YouTube] golf content and traditional golf,” Clark said.

That's a lofty goal, and frankly, an aspiration that most golfers may not share. But with so much of the industry focusing on evolution, I think it makes sense that professional golf looks to steal something from YouTube. With Bryson DeChambeau, we've already seen another way that could look.

To watch the entire Good Good interview with the Colin and Samir Show, which I highly recommend, check out the link below.