An alliance with Fenway Sports Management puts the LPGA Tour under the same promotional umbrella as Lebron James and the Boston Red Sox. Christian Petersen

At first blush, the LPGA Tour’s newly announced marketing partnership with Fenway Sports Management — the John Henry-owned entity that controls a portfolio of iconic sports teams — places women’s golf under the same promotional umbrella as the Boston Red Sox baseball team, the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team and famed football side Liverpool from the English Premier League.

The reality is much more nuanced — and potentially far more exciting. The LPGA Tour’s deal plugs the golf league into Fenway’s powerful sports marketing and sales machine, which means we’re probably about to see a lot more events like the Capitol One Frozen Fenway extravaganza — an outdoor hockey tournament conducted in the winter on the famous baseball field — and robust cross-sport marketing like FSM has procured for clients such as Wasabi — a tech brand interested in expanding its profile beyond New England.

FSM engineered sponsorship deals for Wasabi to be the title sponsor of college football’s Fenway Bowl along with marquee placement at Red Sox and Liverpool games. Ted Schlueter’s Boston-based branding company, The Grist, has worked with both FSM and Wasabi and says the LPGA Tour is significantly upgrading its marketing firepower. “FSM has an incredibly skilled team of dealmakers, networkers and marketers,” Schlueter says. “The LPGA Tour is clearly going to the experts to expand their own network and gain access to bigger sponsors. I love it because it indicates they’re willing to think much bigger than the traditional market and move toward the idea of global entertainment that we’re seeing the most visionary organisations embracing.”

What makes the LPGA Tour’s deal a potential force multiplier is FSM’s expressed interest in the two-way nature of the partnership: The LPGA Tour will lean on FSM’s sales and creative teams to push the LPGA brand into new markets, and FSM will be able to offer current partners and potential clients exposure in a (hopefully) rapidly expanding LPGA Tour ecosystem. What does that intertwine look like at the apex? FSM operates as NBA legend LeBron James’ marketing arm. James owns a share of FSM and uses his clout to promote the whole portfolio of FSM properties and invests in outside entities like tennis star Naomi Osaka’s production company in tandem with FSM.

It means there’s pretty much always an outlet, location, A-list sports hero and a branding button to push for any FSM-affiliated entity around the world. Given the complexities of the mating ritual between the PGA Tour and LIV, it’s fair to say there might be some envy about the LPGA Tour’s newly stabilised plan.

“This partnership is a game-changer for the LPGA, women’s golf and women’s sports,” said LPGA Tour Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan. “[It] will provide the LPGA with access to new and unprecedented resources and networks, enabling us to accelerate our trajectory of growth … and enhancing our platform to inspire, elevate and advance women and girls on and off the golf course.”

The post The LPGA Tour could see big dividends from this savvy business partnership with Fenway appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Alex Myers
As a professional athlete, few have faced — and succeeded — under pressure like John Smoltz. The Hall-of-Fame pitcher raised his game when the stakes were the highest, posting an absurd 15-4 postseason record while wielding a scant 2.67 ERA. Smoltz took the mound in three playoff Game 7s, and yet, it was a recent three-hole playoff on the golf course at a U.S. Senior Open qualifier that had him feeling nerves like never before.

“There’s things that I’ve been through in golf that baseball couldn’t even prepare me for,” Smoltz said. “You’d think that pitching three seventh games would prepare you for any kind of unnerving or nervous moments, but it was nothing like what I went through.”

Ultimately, Smoltz made it through this latest sports battle, earning a spot in the U.S. Senior Open, which will be played June 28-July 1 at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. And now Smoltz will take a break from his job as a TV analyst for MLB Network and Fox to tee it up in his first major. Although, with Fox broadcasting the event, Smoltz says he could be involved with the coverage. Regardless, the 51-year-old is pumped about getting this unexpected opportunity at competing on a big stage again.

“I’m pinching myself every time I wake up,” Smoltz said.

Smoltz joined this week’s Golf Digest Podcast to discuss that crazy day of qualifying, his intense matches with Tiger Woods through the years, a prescient prediction he made to Joe Buck, and how golf played a role in his free agency. We also talked some baseball, ranging from his Hall-of-Fame induction to his toughest loss and most surprising win. Please have a listen:

https://soundcloud.com/user-96678684/john-smoltz-bryson-dechambeaus-next-big-step-and-a-wild-us-womens-open

The post John Smoltz on qualifying for the U.S. Senior Open, playing matches with Tiger Woods, and how golf affected his free agency appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.