How should 2K & EA handle the PGA vs LIV issues?

[bigkev]

Re: How should 2K & EA handle the PGA vs LIV issues?

I know the money is big but 54 holes is like a girl's tennis match. Why not get legit and play all 4?

72 holes is too much work, and to let them spend time with their family. Tiger was saying the other day, they're playing events like on the Senior Tour, the old dudes. And Norman fully expect them to have world ranking points like the PGA playing 72 holes.

[TheBrew101]

Re: How should 2K & EA handle the PGA vs LIV issues?

I'm curious if fans will gravitate towards LIV. I have zero interest in that format personally. No cuts, 54 holes, guys already with huge guarantees playing against same field every few weeks. That doesn't draw me in at all.

If LIV develops a fan base then they are very dangerous. If they don't then they are just a nuisance plucking away good players who can go rot on a tour nobody cares about or watches.

The one thing that did maybe peak my interest was the good versus evil vibe at The Open. I was really hoping LIV golfers failed and wound myself rooting for Rory and his stance towards the PGA Tour.

Regardless, I think this all hurts us as video consumers. Wish they would hurry up and get the games released.

[bigkev]

Re: How should 2K & EA handle the PGA vs LIV issues?

I'm curious if fans will gravitate towards LIV. I have zero interest in that format personally. No cuts, 54 holes, guys already with huge guarantees playing against same field every few weeks. That doesn't draw me in at all.

If LIV develops a fan base then they are very dangerous. If they don't then they are just a nuisance plucking away good players who can go rot on a tour nobody cares about or watches.

The one thing that did maybe peak my interest was the good versus evil vibe at The Open. I was really hoping LIV golfers failed and wound myself rooting for Rory and his stance towards the PGA Tour.

Regardless, I think this all hurts us as video consumers. Wish they would hurry up and get the games released.

Couldn't agree more and without Covid and the chips shortage, probably we would have our EA game by now.
After the next event, at a Trump course, they're taking a break until September... after the Tour Championship. LIV is going to go head to head against College Football and the NFL. It should be interesting. On the other end, Norman and the Saudis probably don't care. It's just poaching the biggest names, that's what sportwashing is all about.

[VoltSwoosh]

Re: How should 2K & EA handle the PGA vs LIV issues?

Couldn't agree more and without Covid and the chips shortage, probably we would have our EA game by now.
After the next event, at a Trump course, they're taking a break until September... after the Tour Championship. LIV is going to go head to head against College Football and the NFL. It should be interesting. On the other end, Norman and the Saudis probably don't care. It's just poaching the biggest names, that's what sportwashing is all about.

College football especially will roll LIV ratings(if they even have any to start with).


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[MrArlingtonBeach]

Re: How should 2K & EA handle the PGA vs LIV issues?

Well, Henrik Stenson has been stripped of his Ryder Cup captaincy, all but confirming he's going to LIV.

This is unreal.

[scagwi]

Re: How should 2K & EA handle the PGA vs LIV issues?

Well, Henrik Stenson has been stripped of his Ryder Cup captaincy, all but confirming he's going to LIV.

This is unreal.

I'm not surprised a bit. (albeit -- disheartened)

"Huge money" is a lure for players. I also think maybe many of us perhaps overstate how much all the traditional aspects of the Tour experiences and grinding mean to the players.

I have similar feelings about NCAA FB .. and watching so much tradition getting upended for more money in other conferences..

[VoltSwoosh]

Re: How should 2K & EA handle the PGA vs LIV issues?

I'm not surprised a bit. (albeit -- disheartened)

"Huge money" is a lure for players. I also think maybe many of us perhaps overstate how much all the traditional aspects of the Tour experiences and grinding mean to the players.

I have similar feelings about NCAA FB .. and watching so much tradition getting upended for more money in other conferences..

Funny, right before EA brings both games back , both sports start rapidly changing.


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[scagwi]

Re: How should 2K & EA handle the PGA vs LIV issues?

I'm really fascinated by all this

This feels a bit like an "NCAA before NIL" moment for the PGA

How they choose to respond and up their own financial offering and work with/around LIV .... could have big ramifications I think.

It's unclear to me that the "pound sand"..."ban players"..."hold firm" approach is going to be a good one long term here.

That may just lead to a permanent fracturing of the golf world, which really honestly sucks for everyone (especially viewers ... which ends up sucking for ratings/interest/appeal, etc)

All that said...I'll never fault players for taking multi-generational wealth financial opportunities.

[MrArlingtonBeach]

Re: How should 2K & EA handle the PGA vs LIV issues?

To be honest, given all this and seeing quite blatantly how these pros really feel and how much the greed is part of it...I rapidly losing interest in any new pro golf game.

The PGA Tour has serious issues and is leaking talent. The majors are beginning to lose their luster since some of the better players in the world are willing to give them up. Legacies and history are being tossed aside. Instead, the talent would rather get huge amounts of Monopoly money to play shorter events with the same format we all play at charity scrambles. It's awful.

Why should we care anymore?

[bigkev]

Re: How should 2K & EA handle the PGA vs LIV issues?

To be honest, given all this and seeing quite blatantly how these pros really feel and how much the greed is part of it...I rapidly losing interest in any new pro golf game.

The PGA Tour has serious issues and is leaking talent. The majors are beginning to lose their luster since some of the better players in the world are willing to give them up. Legacies and history are being tossed aside. Instead, the talent would rather get huge amounts of Monopoly money to play shorter events with the same format we all play at charity scrambles. It's awful.

Why should we care anymore?

Feeling the same way... and what happened to CART and the Indy Racing League. Probably won't watch golf again this year.

[scagwi]

Re: How should 2K & EA handle the PGA vs LIV issues?

To be honest, given all this and seeing quite blatantly how these pros really feel and how much the greed is part of it...I rapidly losing interest in any new pro golf game.

The PGA Tour has serious issues and is leaking talent. The majors are beginning to lose their luster since some of the better players in the world are willing to give them up. Legacies and history are being tossed aside. Instead, the talent would rather get huge amounts of Monopoly money to play shorter events with the same format we all play at charity scrambles. It's awful.

Why should we care anymore?

It might just be the turnover that happens eventually with many businesses and sports. Things eventually change and those of us who've been around and liked the old ways ... are sometimes on the bum side of that.

None of this lessens my interest in the games though I will say. I'm all about the venues/events/courses when it comes to the games... For me personally, they could fill the leaderboard with fictional names (and ideally let us edit it) and I'd be just fine.

I do recognize that isn't the mainstream opinion mostly likely though..

Let's hope both dev teams get "something" out the door and don't just "cancel it all"

[MrArlingtonBeach]

Re: How should 2K & EA handle the PGA vs LIV issues?

While you may find it "awful" -- and from our perspectives here it does suck, I agree..

If the opportunity were there for me...I'm pretty sure I can honestly say I'd very strongly consider taking the money also.

These are some huge financial numbers for some of these guys.
It's hard to tell anyone to say "no" to that...in service of nebulous concepts like "tradition"

I don't think this is un-salvagable - but the PGA might have to do a lot more changing than they'd prefer.

I mean, I can't really fault them taking the bag. But I can say, "OK, I know what's important to you and I no longer care to spend my time watching you perform since you got exactly what you wanted and have zero incentive to try your best anymore."

At the same time, the PGA Tour is going to offer a less and less compelling product, and even huge events like the Ryder Cup are now being thrown in the trash by these guys. In fact, it wouldn't shock me if Stenson USED his Ryder Cup captaincy to take more money from LIV...and that's exactly what his plans were the whole time.

For the fans, this is going to result in two lousy golf leagues where you either 1) get super-rich, well-known old guys playing 3 round exhibitions on YouTube, or 2) semi-recognizable names playing at places like TPC Twin Cities in events that are hard to watch on TV due to the massive number of ads in PGA Tour broadcasts.

This is all going downhill faster than I expected, and isn't going away anytime soon.

[scagwi]

Re: How should 2K & EA handle the PGA vs LIV issues?

For the fans, this is going to result in two lousy golf leagues where you either 1) get super-rich, well-known old guys playing 3 round exhibitions on YouTube, or 2) semi-recognizable names playing at places like TPC Twin Cities in events that are hard to watch on TV due to the massive number of ads in PGA Tour broadcasts.

This is all going downhill faster than I expected, and isn't going away anytime soon.

I agree with you from the fan angle - no question..
Rough times ahead here

I'm trying to stay positive and hope that maybe at the end of all this, something better could surface?

I doubt the prime venues around the country and world are going to want "c grade" events ... in the long run, who knows what that could mean in terms of affiliations and events changing or expanding.

The whole golf world might just look a lot different eventually.

(not saying I love this -- change can be really rough and it might take awhile for a different world to emerge)

[MrArlingtonBeach]

Re: How should 2K & EA handle the PGA vs LIV issues?

I agree with you from the fan angle - no question..
Rough times ahead here

I'm trying to stay positive and hope that maybe at the end of all this, something better could surface?

I doubt the prime venues around the country and world are going to want "c grade" events ... in the long run, who knows what that could mean in terms of affiliations and events changing or expanding.

The whole golf world might just look a lot different eventually.

(not saying I love this -- change can be really rough and it might take awhile for a different world to emerge)

But the fan component is what's gonna sell these games. And right now, I am becoming less and less of a fan of men's pro golf in general. I imagine I am not alone. It's also going to get worse before it gets better, and these games are still months away.

And as I'm typing this...Jason Kokrak is going to LIV this week, as is Charles Howell III. Kokrak won as recently as last Nov. on the PGA Tour.

[scagwi]

Re: How should 2K & EA handle the PGA vs LIV issues?

...right now, I am becoming less and less of a fan of men's pro golf in general. I imagine I am not alone.

That's the part of this I'm unclear about honestly..

Without question many are displeased ... but ... it's possible there is an equal or larger market willing to embrace new/modified/additional formats over the long term.

As an example here...

I was shocked to hear from my older relative (who I play the games with)...who's been a life long golfer and fan.... that he was enjoying the LIV tour

It's possible there is desire for some change or different modes/models out there over the long term. It's really hard to predict that stuff or gauge actual perception of "how it's been"

"Events" are driving entertainment in a way not really seen in a long time.

My wife for instance, won't watch a second of normal golf....but she will watch the Masters weekend with me. The reasoning for that -- unclear to me... (it's not the history of it though, I guarantee you that)