Good morning, all and happy Friday!
The PGA Tour is in my neck of the woods this week, playing the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, CT, but big changes are on the horizon. Earlier this week the Tour used Connecticut as a backdrop for making the announcement, with Tiger Woods delivering the news. I detail it in the above commentary. (Just a note. In the commentary I mentioned the changes start in 2027, but as a point of clarification, the goal is to institute the major changes in 2028.)
The story that will not go away
The New York Times did a story on the departure of Dianna Russini from The Athletic, but the website Front Office Sports, speculated the piece was more a hit on New York Times ownership, upset the company bought The Athletic three years ago and eliminated the newspapers sports section, directing its readers to The Athletic’s website. Times writers kept prying why the Athletic’s investigation into the Russini saga has not been completed. FOS also speculated the Times writers, currently in contentious contract negotiations, are peeved Russini was making $800,000 per year, more than the ruckus over the alleged interactions between Russini and Patriots coach Mike Vrabel.
Here is what is for certain: whenever the Patriots are televised and Vrabel is shown roving the sidelines, the first thought that will come to most viewers’ minds will be Russini. It is the story that keeps on giving.
PGA outpaced U.S. Open
The numbers are in for the U.S. Open won by Wyndham Clark. The tournament averaged 5.5M viewers on NBC and streaming outlets, reaching a peak of 9.3M as Clark clinched the victory at around 6:30 PM. The PGA Tournament, televised last month on CBS, attracted 5.6M on TV only, while the Masters brought in an audience of 13.99M.
That is going to do it for today’s newsletter. Have a fabulous Friday and thank you so much for being a subscriber.
DAN
