The LPGA reached out into the business world for its eighth commissioner when Michael Whan was hired Jan. 4, 2010, with the tour’s mission of enhancing business relationships, increasing exposure for players and maximizing the LPGA experience for fans. Whan had served as president and CEO of Mission ITech Hockey, an ice hockey equipment company, for seven years. Prior to being named LPGA commissioner, he did have a connection to golf — first, as vice president at Wilson Sporting Goods and later as an executive with TaylorMade.
With the U.S. Women’s Open coming to The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs the week of July 4, the new commissioner took time to sit down during the LPGA State Farm Classic earlier this month in Springfield, Ill., to talk about the tour’s challenges. This is the first in a two-part series, with the second half coming next Thursday.
Q: After about 18 months on the job, anything in particular surprise you?
A: I think every day is a surprise. It’s really a unique job. You spend a fourth of your time on player issues, a fourth of your time on foundation and charity issues, a fourth of your time with sponsors, a fourth on PR issues. And you wake up in the morning not knowing which fourth is going to swallow up your day.
Q: Just 13 of the 25 LPGA Tour events in 2011 are in the United States. How do you attract and entice more sponsors domestically?
A: Patience is not my strong suit, but I’ve had to learn that sponsors aren’t going to come from a phone call from Mike Whan. You have to experience the product. If you think about the title sponsors we have, most of them came to an event, played with players, really experienced it first-hand. Not one of them thought about being title sponsors when we first contacted them. It was the product really interacting with the customers that sold it. The second thing we did is we repriced (title sponsorship).
Q: How so?
A: We used to talk about all these different costs and fees to sponsors. Now, one price pays for everything, and it’s lower than it used to be two or three years ago. Now we say, “Here’s what it costs to bring the LPGA to your town.” Then a sponsor can adjust from there to determine how much hospitality to bring in. The third thing is what I call “role reversal.”
Q: Role reversal?
A: Whenever we talk about a tournament, the first 50 percent of the meeting has to be talking about the title sponsor. What are their objectives? Have we checked in to see that their objectives are being met? . . . We’re much more customer-focused than we were a year ago, and I promise you we’ll be even more customer-focused a year from now.”
Q: The number of LPGA events on the 2011 schedule (25) is down by 10 from the peak a few years ago. What’s an optimum number of tour stops?
A: I think we need to play 30 times to be the kind of brand we want to be, to be the kind of role model for young girls that we want to be. If we have tournaments and then take three weeks off, you can’t do that and build momentum in a 12-year-old’s eyes. And, frankly, you can’t build momentum as a player. I think when you get to 35, you start to have problems that previous commissioners had in that you start apologizing to sponsors for the quality of the field. . . . I’m a big fan of threes and one, fours and one — play three weeks and take a week off, play four tournaments and take a week off. The best players in the world are willing to follow that kind of schedule.
Q: Better to be in a large market with a lot of media or a smaller market where the LPGA becomes a big fish in a small pond?
A: The honest answer is, we don’t pick the markets, our sponsors do. The most important thing I can do is deliver the sponsors’ objectives. So if a sponsor says to me, “Mike, our company is in Chicago and we want to be in the heart of Chicago,” then we’re going to go there and put on the best tournament we can to satisfy their needs.
Q: Is the Denver area a viable option for a future tour stop?
A: Colorado is good to us, and for us. There are about five markets that when I wake up in the morning, I think, “Gosh, we’re not there.” I’d put Colorado in that market. The good news is, with the U.S. Women’s Open this year and the Solheim Cup (2013 at Colorado Golf Club in Parker), we’ve at least got plans to get there. Sitting here today, I don’t know of a title sponsor in Denver that’s close. I know we’re talking to a couple of people that are Colorado-based. I wouldn’t say they’re super close.
