LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan has set out her main target for the new season - and that's to get more eyeballs on a unified women's game.
As the 2024 season kicks-off with the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, Marcoux Samaan appeared on the Golf Channel talk about her plans for the year.
Front and centre is the hope to bring more people to the women's game, in terms of boots on the ground at tournaments, watching events on TV and also following the game on social media.
“We’re really digging in on the fans,” Marcoux Samaan said on Golf Central. “We always have the players and the partners at the centre of our equation but also, this year, I think you’ll see a lot of fan growth, both at the tournaments, those following us on social, to the viewership, we’re really investing in growing our fan base.”
The commissioner says that key to the sport's growth is having a unified game, which is why the LPGA and Ladies European Tour are looking to merge to form one entity.
Fractions in the men's game could dilute and damage viewer interest, and the women's game does not want to go down the same road.
The LET already has a relationship with Saudi Arabia in the form of the Aramco Series, so the possibility exists of the Public Investment Fund looking to enter the women's game as it is trying with the men.
After a vote on the LET-LPGA merger due in December was postponed just before the meeting, Marcoux Samaan says talks with the players will continue next week, when the LPGA will “share more information with them” on the vote.
Whether they end up doing a deal with the PIF or not, Marcoux Samaan is keen to keep the sport unified to ensure they are able to attract new viewers and fans.
“Number one, we really believe that an unfractured women’s golf environment is critical to the growth,” she said.
“Our mission is to be the global leader in women’s professional golf and then, really importantly, to use that platform to elevate and advance women.
"So any decision that we make on any partnership really goes back to that mission.”
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