Industry Innovators 2025: PGA Tour

This feature is sponsored by BeEvents, creative evolutionaries who challenge the status quo to redefine the experience of live events. Whose 4D-brand solution flawlessly delivers highly impactful brand experiences that both stakeholders and guests love.

What to Know

As we’ve seen, golf has gotten a glow-up in recent years, with content creators taking up the game and fashion and luxury brands like Loro Piana, Lacoste, Ralph Lauren, Boss, Lululemon, and Tumi launching apparel lines.

The PGA Tour—the nonprofit organization headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., that organizes professional golf tours in North America, not including the four major championships (The Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open, and the British Open)—has leveraged the sport’s rise in popularity to introduce new initiatives and fan experiences, helping it regain some momentum this year.

For example, at this year’s Players Championship in March, organizers courted youth-friendly sponsors like YouTube and launched a new experience on Roblox called the Ultimate Golf Simulator. Developed in partnership with PING and First Tee, the experience allows Roblox users to test their golf skills by trying to make as many holes-in-one as possible in order to earn in-game wearables and custom items from creators like Bob Does Sports. 

Most Innovative Strategy

In late 2024, the PGA Tour launched its Fan Forward initiative, the single largest fan outreach in the organization’s history with more than 50,000 participants representing core, casual, and non-golf sports fans. These fans provide the organizers with data on what they want to see more of, inspiring the Tour's efforts going forward.

Feedback from the initiative has been distilled into four key areas: deliver more golf per minute and fewer interruptions; maximize drama on every hole with new competition adjustments; make players more relatable through compelling, engaging player profiles; and give every event a purpose. 

This has led to broadcast enhancements including in-round player walk-and-talks and the implementation of moving drone technology, as well as the Creator Classic Series presented by YouTube, which features golf content creators competing at PGA Tour venues.

The Creator Classic Series, a seasonlong series of events featuring fan-favorite YouTube golf content creators, kicked off at TPC Sawgrass the evening before The Players Championship. “Creators are redefining what must-see sports content looks like, and fans today are seeking more than just live coverage—they want immersive, interactive experiences with their favorite creators,” said Angela Courtin, vice president of YouTube marketing for Connected TV and Creative Studios, in a statement.Photo: Keyur Khamar/PGA TOUR via Getty ImagesPartnership Philosophy

“It’s been an unprecedented year for the PGA Tour’s corporate partnerships and business developments teams, which will close more than $1 billion in new or renewed commercial partnerships before the end of the season,” said Dan Glod, executive vice president of corporate partnerships for the PGA Tour. 

“Sponsors have partnered with the Tour for more than five decades because we reach a desirable audience, have a high level of fan engagement, and make a significant charitable and community impact in the markets where we play.” 

This year, immersive entertainment, media, and technology company Cosm and the PGA Tour teamed up to present The Players Championship at Cosm’s experiential venues in Los Angeles at Hollywood Park and in Dallas at The Colony’s Grandscape, each of which feature large-scale, 87-foot-diameter, 12K-plus LED domes. Both Cosm venues also had mobile gaming stations where fans had the chance to play PGA TOUR 2K25.Photo: Courtesy of CosmThe Impact of Tech

The organization has not shied away from introducing new bells and whistles to its broadcasts. Home to all of the Tour's media operations as well as its original, social, and digital media platforms, PGA Tour Studios features eight production studios, eight audio control rooms, and seven LED-outfitted studios, including a 270-degree LED display along with a video review center for live on-course rulings, a curated World Feed specifically for international audiences, and a 34-seat screening theater.

For viewers watching at home, a recently added smart trace enhancement displays where tee shots are headed down to the milliseconds.

Also, for this year’s Players Championship, organizers used the AI Course Setup Tool Presented by Morgan Stanley, a new app that provides data to help set the course for competition each day. It leveraged AI to determine tee and hole locations based on simulated results including expected scoring, driving distance, rough penalty, and more.

TOURCast, a next-generation digital experience featuring shot trails, radar data, green view, and video highlights, recently added AI commentary, providing written context to every shot.Photo: Courtesy of PGA TourTOURCast, a next-generation digital experience featuring shot trails, radar data, green view, and video highlights, introduced AI commentary providing written context to every shot. And for fans using an Apple Vision Pro, the PGA Tour Vision app provides an immersive experience that puts users directly on the tee boxes and greens of their favorite events.

Looking Ahead

“It’s been an unprecedented six-month stretch for the PGA Tour's corporate partnership team, which has announced title sponsor or proud partner agreements with 3M, Corales Puntacana, John Deere, Morgan Stanley, ONEflight, Valspar, and Zurich, with more announcements to come this summer,” said Andy Weitz, PGA Tour chief marketing and communications officer.

Earlier this month, former NFL executive Brian Rolapp was named PGA Tour CEO. During a press conference, he said that “there’s opportunity to engage fans better at events.” He also addressed a potential deal with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which finances LIV Golf. The PGA Tour and LIV Golf announced a merger in June 2023 to create a new, unified, for-profit entity, but talks stalled, and LIV Golf players are currently barred from competing in PGA Tour events.