PGA Tour Eligibility Daunting

2026 PGA Tour Changes Only Allow Top 100 Players to Earn Full Tour Cards

November 22, 2024

Good morning! Lots of implications for PGA Tour; Plus, Dana White says “no” to politics

It’s Getting Harder to Stay on the PGA Tour. Here’s Why
AP News’ Doug Ferguson writes, “The PGA Tour is making the most sweeping changes to its eligibility in more than 40 years by eliminating 25 tour cards, along with shrinking the size of its fields.

“The all-exempt tour had been in place since 1983, meaning the top 125 players from the official money list — now the FedEx Cup standings — kept a full PGA Tour card the following season. That changes in 2026 after the PGA Tour policy board approved a new priority list on Monday.

“Only the top 100 players will earn full tour cards for the following year. The top 30 from the developmental Korn Ferry Tour used to advance to the PGA Tour. That number now goes to 20. Five players from qualifying school will get cards — it previously was the top five and ties.”
^{Sports Business Journal}

White Focused On Combat Sports Empire, Not Politics
UFC President & CEO Dana White said it’s a fact that he has no aspirations of entering the political arena under the upcoming Trump administration, saying at SBJ’s Media Innovators conference in N.Y.: “There's nothing dirtier than politics. It's disgusting, it's gross and I want nothing to do with it.”

Instead, White is focused on further building his combat sports empire and taking the show to new markets and an even larger fan base, saying, “I'm looking to go everywhere on this planet.”
^{Sports Business Journal}

Caitlin Clark Has Told Unrivaled She Won’t Play in Inaugural Season
The WNBA Rookie of the Year has let Unrivaled know that she won’t be playing in the new 3-on-3 women’s basketball league this year, Front Office Sports has learned. ESPN reported Wednesday she would “not play” in the inaugural season, tipping off Jan. 17 in Miami.
^{Front Office Sports}

League One Volleyball Raises $100M in New Funding
League One Volleyball has announced $100M in new funding led by Atwater Capital alongside existing investors Ares Management and Left Lane Capital. Details of the investment were not disclosed, but to date the league has raised $160M from investors. LOVB in September 2023 raised $35M in Series B funding that followed a $16.75M Series A funding round in September 2022.
^{Sports Business Journal}

ESPN President on ‘Inside the NBA’: ‘We Don’t Want to Change It’
On this week’s SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast, ESPN President Burke Magnus shared some details regarding the deal and addressed some speculation about the show’s future, which will see TNT remain in charge of all aspects of the show.

“Of course we’re not going to change the show,” Magnus added. “Why would we take something so successful and so iconic, bring it over and then be like, ‘We know better, we’re gonna change it.’”
^{Sports Illustrated}

NFL Draft to 'Lean Much More into the Digital Aspects,' Rolapp Says
SBJ’s Ben Fischer writes, “You can expect a streamer to play a role in the NFL Draft starting in 2026, the league’s top media exec suggested at SBJ's Media Innovators conference this week.

“When I asked NFL Chief Media and Business Officer Brian Rolapp if the unique reach of broadcast is as important with the draft as it is with live games, he said, ‘The reach aspect of it matters, but there's different ways to get reach, and we're going to lean much more into the digital aspects of that as well.’”
^{Sports Business Journal}

Hubie Brown, 91, to Call Final NBA Game for ESPN This Season After Legendary Career
ESPN President Burke Magnus revealed the news Thursday while on the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast with Jimmy Traina.

“We are going to give Hubie one last shot on a game,” Magnus said. “He deserves that. We think the world of him. I think it is absolutely remarkable the level in which he still calls games at age 90-plus. I don’t mean to be purposely mysterious here but we are going to honor Hubie during the regular season at some point to be determined and send him off in style.”
^{The Athletic}

NYCFC Inks 20-Year Stadium Naming Rights Agreement With Etihad Airways
NYCFC and Etihad Airways announced today a 20-year deal to name the club's under-construction stadium Etihad Park. The deal, arranged jointly by the partnership teams of NYCFC and its parent company, City Football Group, strengthens a relationship that’s spanned NYCFC’s existence; Etihad was the club’s first front-of-kit sponsor in 2014.

Beyond the length of the deal, NYCFC shared no other financial specifics. The agreement is distinctly between Etihad and NYCFC, not an expansion of the existing deal between the airline and the broader City Football Group.
^Sportico

Sparks Begin Plans to Build Practice Facility
The L.A. Sparks have partnered with Transwestern Real Estate Services to "begin the process of building a practice facility." For the last two seasons, L.A. practiced out of El Camino College and "shared the space with students at the school, restricting their access to the building and forcing players to look elsewhere to work out beyond those hours."
^{The Athletic via Sports Business Journal}

Manfred on Rays' Stadium Situation, A's Move to Vegas, New National TV Packages, Latest on ABS Plans
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is committed to keeping the Rays in Tampa, though he wants their ultimate stadium situation to be resolved by 2026.

“We need to let the government officials in Tampa Bay sort out where they are on a variety of issues,” Manfred said. “I understand the delay, given the type of damage they suffered down there. We’re just going to have to wait for some of that uncertainty to resolve itself. They do have a plan for 2025, which is a good thing.”
^{Sports Business Journal}

Deion Sanders Sure Does Look Like He’s Settling in at Colorado, Not Shipping Out to the NFL
Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wetzel writes, “There has been no shortage of speculation about Deion Sanders coaching this NFL team or that NFL team. Speculation, mind you, not even rumors or anonymously sourced reports. In a media landscape desperate for engagement, you aren’t going to miss when putting, say, Coach Prime and the Dallas Cowboys in the same sentence. And so it snowballs.

“I’m happy where I am,” Prime said this week. "I’m enthusiastic about where I am. I love it here. I truly do.”
^{Yahoo! Sports}

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