For this semester-long course project, I took a deep dive into the PGA TOUR and how their utilization of new media and technology impacts the product they deliver to their consumers. The PGA TOUR was founded “in 1968 when a subset of touring professionals broke away from the PGA of America” (PGA TOUR, 2024). From its birth in 1968 to now, the PGA TOUR has grown through ups and downs and currently acts as a governing body over the “PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions, Korn Ferry Tour and PGA TOUR Americas, and administers PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry and PGA TOUR University” (PGA TOUR, 2024). With all of these different tours and initiatives under the umbrella of the PGA TOUR, there are a lot of stakeholders involved with the day-to-day operations as well as the long-term positioning of this entity in the game of golf.

At the bottom of the main webpage page there is a link to their “About” page, which is headlined with their mission statement: “By showcasing golf's greatest players, we engage, inspire and positively impact our fans, partners and communities worldwide.” (PGA TOUR, 2024). With golf being a game played outside on large properties of land full of nature, the PGA TOUR “will lead, partner and inspire to take climate action and promote nature” (PGA TOUR, 2024a). This vision will be achieved through “purpose-driven partnerships” that “inspire our stakeholders to take action” (PGA TOUR, 2024a). With the reach and coverage that the PGA TOUR has, the website does a great job highlighting their mission, vision, and values to communicate their dedication to their consumers.

Throughout the duration of this course, we’ve studied conceptual information and looked at examples of new media and technology enhancing sport, as a product being delivered toconsumers. Whether that is from the perspective of a player, an organization, or a spectator, new media and technology is changing sport as we know it for all of these respective cohorts.

Draft 1 Revisions:

The first draft of this project considers the PGA TOUR website in particular, and how the organization leverages this medium of digital space to enhance the connection with their consumers, and use it as a tool to improve the quality of their product.

Catering to Various Target Audiences:

As identified in the introduction, the PGA TOUR can be thought of as a large umbrella-like organization that oversees several tours, each with a large audience of stakeholders. With that being said, the design of their website needs to cater to each of those audiences. This section looks at how the website accomplishes such a need. Visitors to the PGA TOUR website can scroll to the bottom to find a categorized display of the different pages on their site. Organized into sections like “THE TOUR”, “Partnerships”, “Quick Links”, “Shop”, and “Apps” (PGA TOUR, 2024). This provides all users with quick guidance on how to navigate their website, and minimal-click routes to find exactly what they are looking for.

With the integration of AI, the PGA TOUR can elevate the way they cater to various target audiences in a few ways. The first option would be utilizing artificial intelligence to collect data and analyze which content is most popular on their website (i.e., which tabs are clicked on the most, what type of video highlights are watched the most, which players do viewers follow the closest). With this information, the PGA TOUR can implement artificial intelligence to saturate the main page with the style of content that is most popular, in an attempt to anticipate the preferences of the various target audiences that arrive on the website.If the PGA TOUR wanted to take things a step further, they could offer free “profiles” to their visitors, in which they are given the ability to essentially reorganize the PGA TOUR webpage as they desire. As a user logs in, artificial intelligence systems can be used to reorganize the latest news and highlights on the web page based on how that user has interacted with content in the past. If there is something the user wants to see more of, they can stamp that type of content to their profile for AI to include more frequently. In its most basic form, this approach would look similar to that of a social media page, but for a website. Utilizing AI to appeal to the preferences of an individual user can get rid of some of that traditional static website feel, and enhance the experience for the consumer.

Interactivity and Fan Engagement:

The PGA TOUR offers several pathways and features on their website to enhance the way they interact and engage with the fans of the game. There is a page dedicated to highlights, interviews, and other features that fans can interact with called “Listen + Watch” (PGA TOUR, 2024). With the number of tournaments taking place any given week, this is a main hub for fans to engage with and remain caught up on the latest birdies, chip-ins, and big wins. Especially when it comes to major-championship weeks such as the US Open or the Masters, I even find myself visiting this page to watch press conferences, post-round interviews, and on-course highlights from throughout the day. The amount of video content on the website is plentiful, and it gives fans another way to consume the latest information about the PGA TOUR rather than reading about it.

The PGA TOUR’s (2024b) TOURCAST uses artificial intelligence and emerging technology to change the way they interact with and engage their fans. Through this initiative, powered by FedEx and ShotLink, the PGA TOUR (2024b) gives fans the opportunity to followtheir favorite players online, shot by shot. Whether in real-time or after the round has happened, users can click on any player in the field and experience their round in a new way. TOURCAST by the PGA Tour (2024b) gives users complete control over how they view the shots. With the ability to pan across the hole in a 3D view, see the contours of the green, and view stats relative to the hole they are on, fans and users can digitally place themselves inside the ropes from literally anywhere. One of the added pros to this platform is the ability for users to see the broadcast footage of a shot in addition to the 3D simulation (PGA Tour, 2024b). This feature meshes the use of artificial intelligence and broadcast coverage incredibly well, and gives the user everything they need to experience the PGA TOUR as a product.

While this feature does a great job capitalizing on the strengths of artificial intelligence, one of the cons I could see with this is decreased viewership of the PGA TOUR television broadcast. To say it another way, I think the use of artificial intelligence may potentially negate the purpose of a live broadcast. From personal experience, there have been countless PGA TOUR events I’ve watched on television where I wish they would show my favorite players more (or wish they would show some players less). With TOURCAST, I can basically create my own broadcast filled with the players I want to see, or the specific holes I want to watch! Where I see this becoming a potential con is with the PGA TOUR’s partnership with CBS and other broadcasting companies. If their viewership is down on live television coverage, there could be a perceived feeling that their broadcast as a product is falling short in some capacity. In reality, the PGA TOUR is doing great, providing more avenues for their fans to watch their product the way they want to.

The second draft of this project considers the role and influence of podcasts and social media platforms. From the PGA TOUR’s perspective, these two platforms create accessibility and give added insight to their target audiences. Upon further reflection, the following section will consider how artificial intelligence can add to, or take away from, the PGA TOUR’s success in that regard.

The Role and Influence of Podcasts and Social Media Platforms:

In my own words, the purpose of podcasts and social media platforms in today’s society is to give consumers the feeling that they are a fly-on-the-wall, closely observing conversation and unfolding events. Another way to put it would be providing consumers with news, entertainment, and specific insight centered around the topic they’re following (in my case, golf).

As I noted in draft two, the most successful podcasts seem to provide a slight structure, but otherwise give space for conversation to flow freely. While listening to the podcast I chose for draft two, I felt like I was a fly on the wall as I was listening to this episode and driving to Minnesota. The podcast I chose for this portion of draft number two is “The Smylie Show”, and the name of the episode is “Harry Higgs on his speech in Grayson Murray’s memory, his KFT win streak, and the WM shirt moment”. This podcast was released on May 30, 2024, and I listened to it on Spotify.I chose this podcast because it is produced by Smylie Kaufman, who played college golf at LSU, spent a handful of years as a professional on the Web.Com TOUR and PGA TOUR, but recently began to pursue on-course reporting at tournaments for Golf Channel and CBS (as well as hosting The Smylie Show). He is a young guy who has experience inside the ropes, and he can articulate some of those first hand experiences to the listeners of his podcasts. Another reason why I chose this podcast by Smylie is because he went through his own sort of battle between trying to play professionally and not letting his status become his identity (i.e., if he has status, he is successful; if he doesn’t have status, he is a failure). I can relate to that as a golfer, and as a collegiate golfer whose career is coming to a close. Trying to make that decision whether or not to commit to the lifestyle of a young professional golfer striving for status has been very tough.

I chose this episode in particular because Smylie’s guest is Harry Higgs, current professional golfer and alumnus of SMU. This episode spends some time discussing Harry’s victory speech that he gave after he won on the Korn Ferry Tour, the same week that Grayson Murray died by suicide (Grayson was a professional golfer as well, who had ongoing battles with addiction and mental health). With the great focus on mental health across sport, and having personal experiences myself (both recently and in the past) with mental struggles around the game of golf, I felt like this episode was one that I could get a lot out of from an academic focus and personal focus as well.

Podcasts and Social Media Platforms Relying on AI - Benefits and Concerns:

After watching the two videos on D2L this week, I was able to gain a better understanding of the pros and cons of artificial intelligence when it comes to podcasts and social media platforms. As Finch (2022) discusses, the three main benefits of artificial intelligence on social media are content creation, communication, and analytics. AI can suggest optimal daysand times to post, relevant hashtags, as well as “current and potential audiences”, and analytics data to maintain interest and engagement (Finch, 2022). Finch (2022) also notes in her video that “social media platforms are websites and apps where users create online communities to share content”. As it relates to the PGA TOUR, the algorithm (artificial intelligence) and social media platforms create the opportunity for the organization to connect and see things from the fans’ perspective. Hashtags are a great example as to how the PGA TOUR can create those online communities week to week at different venues across the world, and connect with fans that are in attendance. According to Finch (20220, “one thing that everyone on social media wants is an audience for their content”. In order for this to happen, artificial intelligence is needed to put content in front of the users, and users in front of the content.

The second video, published on YouTube by Ted-Ed and titled, “How will AI change the world?” considers some of the potential concerns around artificial intelligence. Sarow (2022) points out that the main concern, and potential pitfall, with AI is the fact that we build these systems with “a fixed objective”. Where the difference lies between AI and humans is found in the fact that “humans often know that they don’t know all the things that we care about” (Sarow, 2022). What Sarow (2022) means by this is explained in the coffee example: he describes that if you ask a human to get you a cup of coffee, that individual may consider factors like price or waiting in line. On the other hand, if you asked an AI system to get you a cup of coffee, they would operate solely to satisfy the fixed objective: obtain a cup of coffee for this person (the video gives the harsh example of killing everyone in the Starbucks) (Sarow, 2022). An example of this that is relevant to the PGA TOUR would be telling an artificial intelligence system to post highlights of birdies to their social media platforms. Where the AI system would fall short is in understanding whether or not consumers want to see someone in last place make a birdie (forsake of clarification, they don’t). In contrast, a human would understand the desire of consumers to see birdies that are being made at the top of the leaderboard, intensifying the competition and giving the crowds something to roar about.

As Sarow’s (2022) concern relates to podcasts and social media platforms relying on AI, we need to provide the AI systems with detailed information around their objective. Otherwise, if the “objective” for AI is to produce the latest news on the most recent events, how can consumers be sure the information is correct? And, how can we be sure that AI knows this information is correct (or even cares if it is correct)? Insofar as AI is given the fixed objective to gather the latest information around a topic, without consideration for validity of sources, or consideration for privacy and respect of those affected, consumers will be faced with the daunting task of sorting through what is real and what is fake.

New Contributions:

Describe the Purpose of a SWOT Analysis:

Another way to evaluate the positives and negatives of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies is through a SWOT analysis. In my own words, a SWOT analysis helps to organize the thoughts around any given topic into its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. In some situations, there is a lot of information to consider, and many potential outcomes. Performing a SWOT analysis is a great way to process that information and draw a more clear picture around the nature of the situation. Investopedia and Will Kenton (2024) define a SWOT analysis as, “a framework used to evaluate a company’s competitive position and to develop strategic planning”. Kenton’s acknowledgment of finding a competitive advantage is a great aspect to point out, as much of the conclusions that come from a SWOT analysis help toidentify where an organization is relative to their competition, and what they can do to close or expand that gap.

SWOT Analysis: AI and Emerging Technologies on the PGA TOUR:

The following SWOT analysis will outline the usage of AI and other emerging technologies on the PGA TOUR, and identify opportunities to further their use of these resources as a means to enhance the product they deliver to consumers. On the PGA TOUR, the role of AI technology is to provide detailed insights to the fans, and concurrently elevate the product that is delivered to consumers as a means of entertainment.

Strengths

1. ShotLink powered by CDW is an emerging technology that captures data on every golf shot hit at a PGA TOUR event (Shotlink powered by CDW, 2024)

2. TOURCAST provides another viewing approach for consumers to follow their favorite golfers on every shot, even if they’re not at the tournament

3. Fans can visit the PGA TOUR website and find links to sports betting services, with live odds and side bets

Weaknesses

1. Lack of promotion for TOURCAST on social media platforms and podcasts. The technology is there as a strength, but they need to spend more to get it in front of their target audiences.

2. Shotlink data is only accessible to players and broadcasters

3. Utilizing AI will require the PGA TOUR to fully understand each of their target audience’s needs and preferences, so they can give the AI system the correct objective

Opportunities

1. Free consumer profiles on the PGA TOUR website, customization of website content and layout

2. ShotLink subscriptions that makes ShotLink data accessible to members

3. Implement analytics that compare an average golfer’s performance to that of a PGA TOUR player during live broadcast

4. Synergize the television broadcast further within TOURCAST, and visa versa

Threats

1. LIV Golf League capitalizing on these emerging technologies better than the PGA TOUR, and producing a better product for their consumers

2. Amazon Web Services (AWS) creating their own version of “TOURCAST” and including it with prime memberships

3. Increased personalization for consumers with the use of AI will require more personalized solutions for technical difficulties

Finch, A. (2022, November 8). The benefits of AI on social media . YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngp1h8CQ5vs

Kenton, W. (2024, June 29). How to perform a SWOT analysis. Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/swot.asp

PGA Tour. (2024a). Official home of golf and the fedexcup. PGA TOUR. https://www.pgatour.com/

PGA Tour. (2024b). TOURCAST information. PGA TOUR. https://www.pgatour.com/tourcast/about

Sarow, C. (2022, December 6). How will ai change the world?. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzkD_rTEBYs

Shotlink powered by CDW. PGA TOUR. (2024). https://www.pgatour.com/shotlink