The day prior to Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, and numerous top players embarking on the PGA Tour’s FedExCup finale at East Lake in August, the PGA Tour hosted its inaugural Creator Classic. This nine-hole exhibition featured 16 content creators in a televised event that the Tour aimed to use in order to draw a fresh […]
The day prior to Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, and numerous top players embarking on the PGA Tour’s FedExCup finale at East Lake in August, the PGA Tour hosted its inaugural Creator Classic.
This nine-hole exhibition featured 16 content creators in a televised event that the Tour aimed to use in order to draw a fresh audience to the Tour Championship, which resulted in 2.5 million views on YouTube along with an additional 2.8 million on various other platforms. The event proved to be such a triumph that the circuit established the “Creator Council.”
“The council exemplifies how the Tour progresses, beginning with our fans,” stated Andy Weitz, the Tour’s chief marketing and communications officer/investor relations. “When the classic took place, we recognized it as a significant moment. We took a step back and thought, let’s expand on these events. Let’s derive lessons as a tour on how we can improve.”
The council will consist of select creators – Bob Does Sports, Bryan Bros Golf, Erik Anders Lang, Fore Play/Barstool Sports, No Laying Up, Paige Spiranac, Roger Steele, and Tisha Alyn – and will convene three times each year.
“We will investigate collaborative content, what can we produce together? There may be instances where the Tour has perspectives that assist us in generating content that the creators wish to engage with,” Weitz remarked, noting that the council will “evolve.” “The purpose of the council is to explore that and determine what serves our fans best.”
The council will devise future iterations of the Creator Classic as well as strategies for engaging fans, opportunities for collaborative content, media regulations, and enhancements to event broadcasts.
The establishment of the council aligns with the Tour’s “Fan Forward” initiative launched this summer.
“It ties back to the data we’re collecting,” Weitz mentioned. “This summer, we initiated the largest outreach in the PGA Tour’s history. We are discovering that fandom begins with mobile devices. Fans need to locate the content that captivates them.”
While the council will concentrate on attracting a new audience to the sport, Weitz affirmed that the Tour will persist in refining the presentation of the product for more traditional fans.
“This approach aims to be additive,” he expressed. “No one should feel excluded. Our responsibility is to find the right balance while being respectful of the current audience.”
