NAPLES, Fla. – Craig Kessler and the LPGA want your Note.
The new commissioner understands that innovation is needed to get and maintain the attention his tour desires. Indeed, it is a monumental task. But just 120 days into his time at the top of the LPGA, Kessler has a vision and a plan to take his league to a place where he can compete and win battles with everyone and everything else competing for time.
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“We’re competing in an attention economy,” Kessler said Wednesday at Tiburon Golf Club ahead of the CME Group Tour Championship. “It’s not just competing against other sports. Should we watch Netflix? Should we go out to dinner? Should we hang out with friends? Should we play in the backyard? Should we go for a round of golf? Anything that might grab the attention of our fans, we’re competing with that, so it’s our job to be different, be interesting, and capture fan mindshare in every way possible.”
Obvious additional questions are: How does the LPGA achieve this?
Since his appointment as commissioner was announced in May, Kessler has touted four strengths: trust, name recognition, fans and a secure financial future. In four months, Kessler has already signed a landmark deal that will transform the LPGA’s television product, brought in Golf Saudi as a new tournament sponsor for $4 million, and begun reshaping the schedule to maximize the tour’s ability to attract and maintain attention in the U.S. and internationally.
On Wednesday, Kessler offered an inside glimpse into how the LPGA is thinking about growth and long-term success. It starts with improved broadcasting. Thanks to a new partnership with FM, Golf Channel and Trackman, every round of every LPGA tournament will be broadcast live next year. This broadcast will use cutting-edge technology, 50% more cameras, 30% more microphones, drones, and more shot tracing than ever before. Kessler’s “flywheel” of success starts with improving the product, which leads to more fans, growth, and funding.
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Sounds simple. The truth is more complicated.
Improved tournament coverage is just step one in Kessler’s plan to win high-profile battles in the long run. He knows he can’t do it just by appearing on Golf Channel every week. This is a great start, but we need something bigger and bolder to get the flywheel spinning. Under his leadership, the LPGA will do everything it can to stand out, win new fans and generate interest outside the box.
“This is part of the magic that we’re going to be spending a lot of time on over the coming weeks and months,” Kessler said. “One thing I can say is that we are willing to take risks and try things. Not everything will work out, but when it does and it sticks, that’s when we pour gasoline on the fire and continue to double down on the field.”
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Kessler pointed to last week’s Anika, where WNBA star Caitlin Clark returned for her second pro-am appearance and Kai Trump made his LPGA debut at the invitation of a sponsor, as moves the LPGA is looking to make and capitalize on. But Kessler was quick to point out that last week’s controversy over Clark and Trump is also the kind of trap the tour cannot fall into. He wants the LPGA to be carried by multiple players, rather than just one celebrity or a one-off celebrity appearance.
“So our job is to find the right comprehensive, balanced set of stories to tell to keep our fans excited week after week,” Kessler said. “If we’re relying on one person, whether it’s a star or a celebrity, to shoulder the weight of the Tour, I think we’ve missed the boat. What last week proved is that there’s so much magic happening on the LPGA and we have to make it all happen.”
But this high-profile onslaught the LPGA plans to implement requires something. Yes, tours require you to show ingenuity and be willing to take risks. But at the same time, we need the best players to actively put themselves out there and become star players to liven up the tour. Kessler and the LPGA know that marketability and on-course performance don’t always intersect, but when they do, these are the players the LPGA must focus on to raise the conversation in the larger sport and culture.
“Here’s how we think about stars in the LPGA,” Kessler said. “Think of a Venn diagram with three circles. You have the best players, you have the most marketable players, and you have the players who are really willing to lean in and do the work. It’s in those handful of players at the center of that Venn diagram that we invest our resources to create global superstars and build connections between players and fans.”
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Again, it’s never as simple as you think. To achieve this, the LPGA faces questions that must be answered in order to transform an academic vision into a concrete reality.
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New LPGA Commissioner Craig Kessler watches the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship
The only two players to have won consecutive LPGA championships this season are world No. 1 Gino Titicle and Rookie of the Year Miyu Yamashita. We have 29 unique winners. Nelly Korda, who won seven races in 2024, is winless. Charlie Hull and Lydia Ko each won once. LPGA has depth and parity. But if you want to get noticed and penetrate a wider audience, star power is the natural answer.
But for Kessler, star power is about more than hoisting trophies and winning 72 holes. That’s important. But that’s beyond par for the course. You must do this for this plan to work.
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“There’s no silver bullet to creating a star. You need an ecosystem here,” Kessler said. “There are lots of examples we can point to, like Nelly going to the Met Gala and things she did with friends. sports illustratedor Charlie going to a British state dinner, or some of the things she’s been up to lately on social. You can talk about different players and what they’ve done to not only appear in the ropes but in the culture. Those kinds of things make a difference.
“We’ve done massive work for our fans. What the fans love, what the fans want to see more of. And one of the feedbacks we’re getting is that we want to see LPGA athletes and stars emerge outside the ropes. It’s our job to help make that possible.”
It takes trust for the players to understand his vision and plans. You will remember that it is the first pillar. For Kessler, it’s about constant communication with his players. He flew out to their home base for lunch and a round of golf. He’s constantly texting and calling his players. He wants them to know he has a plan and that if they trust in him and his vision, the LPGA can reach new heights.
So far, Kessler has succeeded in strengthening that first pillar. Lida Ko praised her leadership at a press conference on Tuesday. Minjee Lee expressed similar praise.
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Last week at Annica, Kessler held a player meeting where he told the guys what was needed to get them where they all envisioned.
“They asked us again what they could do for us, and we said this is what we want you to do. If we say we want you to be a global superstar, lean in. Show up in the culture wherever you can. Walking. If we ask you to do a talk, we need you to do your part. And at the end, I asked who’s going to be there, and almost everyone in the room raised their hands. Now it’s up to us to actually make it happen.”
Kessler is building towards something. a little bit. A place previously not occupied by the LPGA in sports conversations. He sees how the WNBA and women’s soccer have progressed and believes women’s golf can do the same.
But when I ask him what his destination is, Craig Kessler doesn’t offer any specifics. That’s by specification. Kessler understands the scale of the challenge at hand. The climb is steep and the path is not straight. Innovation and risk-taking are key to bringing women’s golf into this era.
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“This is one of those things that you just know and feel when you see it,” Kessler said. “But even if we get there, we’ll never be completely satisfied because, like I said, this is a continuous improvement organization and the bar will always move.”
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The post One goal stands above all others in LPGA president’s plan to transform tour appeared first on Golf.
