It's Time For Everyone To Start Giving Tim Finchem the Credit He Deserves

The economic meltdown we are experiencing here in America is painfully clear to just about everyone.

Every aspect of the business world will in some way or another be affected by what is looking to be a colossal recession. 

Sports are, after all, a business so we would be kidding ourselves in believing that the sports world will somehow be immune to this recession.

If this were the year 2010-11, the PGA Tour would be poised to be hit harder than any other professional sporting organization.

After all, nearly 40 percent of the PGA Tour’s current title sponsors come from either the financial or auto industries, which are two industries that will undoubtedly be hit harder than any others by this recession. 

However, this is the year 2009 and due to some insightful forward thinking by Commissioner Tim Finchem, the PGA Tour is currently sitting on financially steady ground…at least for now.

Several years ago when the economy appeared strong, which as we now know was the equivalent of a green with a false front, Finchem locked up massive sponsorship deals and television contracts through the 2010 season, ensuring that the PGA Tour would be financially safe until 2011.

Now, it would be ludicrous to believe that Finchem, or anyone else for that matter, could have foreseen such a dramatic collapse in our economy.

However, Finchem had the foresight to realize that bad economic times are always possible, so why not lock up long-term television and sponsorship contracts while times are good—both economically and in terms of the PGA Tour’s popularity—which is exactly what he did.

On top of locking up long-term sponsorship deals several years ago, Finchem, again realizing that the economy inevitably runs in cycles and good economic times never last forever, began hoarding the profits of the PGA Tour to the point where some reports have the Tour’s cash reserves amounting to somewhere between $125-$200 million.

So why does the PGA Tour need an extra $125-$200 million in cash just lying around?

Well, no one quite knows when this recession will eventually come to an end.

The most optimistic predictions have us beginning to come out of this economic hole somewhere in late 2009, while the most dire of predictions have us remaining in this deep recession for at least several years.

If in 2011, the PGA Tour loses a large number of sponsors and is unable to replace those sponsors due to an ongoing recession, that $125-$200 million could be enough to save many PGA Tour events for at least a year if not more.  

Needless to say, even if the country starts moving out of this recession by late 2009, it is highly unlikely that financial service or auto companies will have recovered enough to renew their expensive PGA Tour sponsorship deals.

So, that means that Finchem will be looking for replacement sponsors for at least 25 percent of the current events, which is probably a conservative estimate.

If Finchem is unable to find replacement sponsors, which could very well be the case depending upon the country’s financial situation in 2010 and beyond, his insightful financial management of the PGA Tour’s reserve fund will ensure that many of these tournaments remain on the schedule in some way or form through at least the 2011 season and possibly beyond.

Through the years Finchem has, at times, taken some criticism.

He has been called the luckiest commissioner in all of sports due solely to the presence of Tiger Woods on the PGA Tour.

Finchem was accused of overpaying himself when it came to light that his yearly salary would have placed him within the top 10 on the PGA Tour’s money list.

And, of course, we have the FedEx Cup debacle, which after three years of modifications still seems to offer little in the way of excitement.

No matter what has been said about Tim Finchem in the past, he has played a central role in padding the bank accounts of every single player on the PGA Tour.

Sure, Tiger Woods has probably played the largest role in growing the popularity of the game, which has then translated into big-time money for everyone else on the Tour.

However, Finchem has done an excellent job in harnessing the popularity that Woods has created by doing the leg work to secure absolutely massive television and sponsorship deals which have, in turn, translated into massive amounts of available prize money for the players.

Out of all the so-called financial geniuses on Wall Street, in large investment banks, as well as all the many minds within the government whose sole job it was to monitor the American economy, it appears that PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem was one of very few people to have actually planned ahead for a rainy day—and every player on the PGA Tour owes Finchem a big pat on the back for securing their financial futures for at least the next three years.