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Reuters
20 minutes ago
- Reuters
New CEO tees up Tiger to redefine PGA Tour competition
August 20 - ATLANTA -- Brian Rolapp has a new job -- and now so does Tiger Woods. Rolapp, the PGA Tour's new CEO 18 days into his tenure, announced the formation of the Future Competition Committee on Wednesday in advance of the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club. Woods agreed to serve as chairman for the nine-person committee. The aim of the newly formed group, which has yet to meet, is to define a competitive model for PGA Tour events. The committee will consist of five other players -- Patrick Cantlay, Adam Scott, Camilo Villegas, Maverick McNealy and Keith Mitchell -- and three business advisors with Joe Gorder, who serves on the Tour's policy board, and John Henry and Theo Epstein, both of the Fenway Sports Group. Rolapp comes to the PGA Tour as the CEO after a career with the NFL as commissioner Jay Monahan steps aside. "We're going to focus on the evolution of our competitive model and the corresponding media products and sponsorship elements and model of the entire sport, "Rolapp said. "The goal is not incremental change. The goal is significant change." The governing principles of the player-led committee are: Parity: to strengthen a commitment to a meritocratic structure. Scarcity: to increase fan engagement by ensuring top players compete together more often. Simplicity: to better connect the regular and postseason to magnify the season-ending Tour Championship. "The strength of the PGA Tour is strong, but there's much more we need to do, much more we need to change for the benefit of fans, players and our partners," Rolapp said. "I said when I took the job that I would take it with a clean sheet of paper, and that is still true. ... I said, we're going to honor tradition, but we will not be overly bound by it. Now we're going to start turning that blank sheet of paper into action with an idea to aggressively build on the foundation that we have." PGA Tour player Harris English is one of about 20 players Rolapp has spoken with since joining the organization. English said the two spoke for about 45 minutes. "I've been out here 14 years," English said. "I've seen a lot of changes out here, and (I gave him) kind of my thoughts on what's good, what's bad, what needs to be changed." One of the key issues facing Rolapp will be the relationship between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. The two entities continue separate paths with no prospect of a resolution anytime soon. Rolapp said he has not spoken with anyone from the Public Investment Fund, the Saudi-led group that finances LIV Golf. He was pressed about a possible resolution that would enable the world's best players to compete against each other, or at be in the same tournament fields more often. "I think I'm going to focus on what I can control," Rolapp said. "I would offer to you that the best collection of golfers in the world are on the PGA Tour. I think there's a bunch of metrics that demonstrate that, from rankings to viewership to whatever you want to pick. I'm going to lean into that and strengthen that. "I will also say that to the extent we can do anything that's going to further strengthen the PGA Tour, we'll do that, and I'm interested in exploring whatever strengthens the PGA Tour." --Chris Vivlamore, Field Level Media
Reuters
23 minutes ago
- Reuters
Solar may account for half of new US electricity added this year, EIA says
NEW YORK, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Developers are on track to add 33 gigawatts of solar power in the U.S. this year, accounting for about half of the total new electricity generating capacity planned for the country in 2025, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday. If the plans are realized, large-scale solar power additions in the U.S. would reach a record high, said the EIA, which based its analysis on a survey of developers. New battery storage, which stores electricity from solar farms and other energy sources, may also hit a yearly record in 2025. Wind and natural gas power plants accounted for the rest of the capacity additions, the EIA said. Solar energy does not produce global warming emissions. That makes it central to plans by U.S. states to decarbonize, while also meeting record-high electricity demand brought on by Big Tech and other expanding industries. Many of the federal government financial incentives that propelled the development of solar power over the last several years, however, will disappear under the administration of President Donald Trump, adding uncertainty to future development of the technology. Texas, which last year surpassed California as the state with the most large-scale solar capacity, accounted for more than a quarter of the solar power developed so far in 2025. For the rest of the year, the Lone Star State plans for another 9.7 gigawatts of new solar capacity, or nearly half of all of U.S. solar planned for development over the time period. Texas' sunny weather, availability of large amounts of land and quickly-increasing power demand have drawn solar energy development.
Reuters
23 minutes ago
- Reuters
Disney's new ESPN app reaches for sports fans outside cable TV
LOS ANGELES, Aug 20 - Walt Disney's (DIS.N), opens new tab ESPN will deliver its full range of sports programming outside of pay TV for the first time starting on Thursday, when the network debuts an app designed to be a hub for live games and personalized news, stats and highlights. The ESPN app is Disney's effort to capture some of the tens of millions of customers that the pioneering sports channel has lost since 2010 during the streaming TV revolution. ESPN executives said they have tailored the new offering, which is far broader than the limited ESPN+ app launched in 2018, to cater to the tastes of today's sports fans. "We know that fans don't just want to watch," ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro told reporters. "They want an experience. They want to interact." The app will offer more than 47,000 live events each year from the NFL, NBA, WNBA, NHL, college football, tennis, golf and other sports. It will cost $30 per month. An introductory offer will include ad-supported versions of the Disney+ and Hulu streaming services for free. Fans can enter their favorite teams and sports for customization such as a personalized version of the "SportsCenter" news and recap show. Artificial intelligence will generate narration based on the voices of ESPN anchors. A new feature called "Verts," or scroll-ready, vertical video highlights, also can be tailored. Stats for a user's fantasy players will be displayed next to live games. And an ESPN Bet tab will show live, settled and upcoming bets for users who have linked their betting accounts. Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger has called the app "a sports fan's dream." Industry analysts see it as a chance for the company to pick up fans who do not subscribe to cable, and they do not expect it will pull masses from pay TV. ESPN was available in 100 million homes through pay TV in 2010. In July of this year, that number stood at about 61 million. "It's another step in Disney's pivot to (streaming) and the importance to streaming to the overall company," said MoffettNathanson analyst Robert Fishman. ESPN will promote the app extensively. Actor John Cena will star in commercials that stress "All of ESPN. All in One Place." Pay television will "remain a big part" of ESPN's business, Pitaro said. For the quarter that ended in June, ESPN accounted for $1 billion of Disney's $4.6 billion in operating income, or nearly 22%. Most of ESPN's revenue came from fees paid by cable and satellite distributors and from advertising. Subscribers to pay TV will have access to the new ESPN app. Pitaro said the company hoped to drive all of its customers to the app "because that's by far the best, the most holistic experience."
