Greg Norman believes possible World Golf Tour is "next important step"
Greg Norman thinks that the proposed World Golf Tour has more potential than his bid 25 years ago.
Greg Norman believes that the proposed World Golf Tour is the "next important step" for golf and that idea has more legs than when he bid for a similar system over 25 years ago.
"It’s just a matter of getting all the right components together, whether players stay together," said Norman, who attempted to push a similar project during his time as world No.1.
"With my original concept, some players loved it and others didn’t like it. I had corporate, I had television, but you need 100 per cent of the pie to be together before we can bake it. From what I’m seeing here, this one has every chance of getting off the ground.
"The PGA did it, Formula One did it, tennis has done it, soccer has done it and so has cricket. I saw it 25 years ago, but maybe the time is right now," added Norman.
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“It was pretty much the PGA Tour that stopped it. You’ve got to remember back in my day the players were looked on a little bit different. Seve [Ballesteros], Jose [Maria Olazabal] and I were trying to tell everybody we were independent contractors who could go and play anywhere in the world we want.
“Today is that way for sure now. Restraint of trade is not as prevalent - you can’t do it basically in this day and age - so that’s why this one probably has a little more legs.
“Management rallied against me a little bit because, at the time, they owned a piece of the golf tournaments at the time. So the confluence of everything has to come together to make sure it works."
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But where would the new Premier Golf League fit in terms of TV coverage? The European Tour's broadcasat partner is Sky Sports, while the PGA Tour can be watched on NBC, Sky Sports, CBS and Golf Channel.
When Norman was asked where he thinks the proposed golf league belongs, the 64-year-old said: “Who is one of the biggest companies in the world right now with a trillion dollar business? Apple. And Amazon. Streaming is the future.
“I was just live streaming the Australian Open tennis before I came to speak to you. Everybody is out for this real time, 5G, 6G, instantaneous coverage. Boom here it is, no matter where we are in the world.
“Why not stream golf on Apple, why not on Amazon? Get out of the box. There are opportunities out there that are far greater than even I could have contemplated back in my day.”
