Exploring the History and Significance of the Tour Championship in Atlanta

Intro: [00:00:02] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia, it’s time for Association Leadership Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:19] Lee Kantor. Here, another episode of Association Leadership Radio. And this is going to be a good one. Today on the show we have Alex Urban. He is the Executive Director of TOUR Championship in Atlanta. Welcome.

Alex Urban: [00:00:32] Hey, thanks for having me, Lee.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:34] I am so excited to be chatting with you. For the folks who aren’t familiar, can you talk about the TOUR Championship?

Alex Urban: [00:00:40] Yeah, absolutely. Uh, the TOUR Championship is a PGA tour event, so professional golf, the best players in the world, and it is a yearly event contested at East Lake Golf Club here in Atlanta. It’s been here for more than 20 years, and it’s an extra special PGA tour event. And that it is the culmination of our yearly Fedex Cup playoffs. So every year, players play all season to try to make it to the playoffs. And then there are three playoff events. The amount of players it gets called down each week until you have the best 30 players from the season who contest against each other here at East Lake Golf Club for the chance to win that Fedex Cup every, uh, every August. And the paycheck that comes with it, which for first place is $18 million. So it’s a heck of a payout. It’s a very difficult trophy to win, and it’s contested at an unbelievably wonderful golf course in East Lake. And we’re very lucky to be here. And yeah, that’s overall that I would say that would be the description of the Tour Championship.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:40] Now, can you talk a little bit about your backstory? Um, how did you get involved with the PGA and how did you get, you know, work your way to this position of executive director?

Alex Urban: [00:01:48] Yeah, it’s funny, I, I grew up playing golf, played my my high school team and my, my background when I went to college was in journalism and I wrote for the school paper. I went to Clemson, wrote for the school paper, covered sports, covered the golf team, among other things. And when I was graduating, I ended up going to grad school at the University of Georgia, worked some internships in the industry. So I worked, uh, internship in the communications world for the United States Golf Association. They run the US open and the US Women’s Open and the Senior Open, among some other golf tournaments. And that was a really nice kind of introduction to the industry. Golf’s not a huge industry. And so once you can find your way in as an intern, it’s you kind of start to meet the right people and, you know, do hopefully do a good job and then get asked to do more stuff. And so I, uh, I did that and then did another internship. And, uh, when I was graduating from the University of Georgia with my master’s degree in public relations, just happened to make the right connection at the right time and got introduced to Jay Monahan, who is our now commissioner. At the time, he was the CMO at the tour and had a conversation with him and a job opened up in our corporate partnerships group. So I was my first job at the tour. This was 2013. So 11 plus years ago now was managing some of our larger corporate partners. So the main one on my team being Fedex, which is a huge one, obviously important to my job now, which is kind of a fun, full circle moment for me. But my background was in communications, so I was really hoping to move to that side of the business and was able to do that in 2014.

Alex Urban: [00:03:22] And so for the next four years, um, was a public relations, um, basically a communications manager for PGA tour, key PGA tour events like the Players Championship and the century event in Maui and, um, the Tour Championship and, uh, some of our events all over the place, Los Angeles, New York. I did the Presidents Cup in Korea and some of the other events on our, uh, our Asian swing. So it was really, really cool. It was a fun time of my life to go travel around and see a whole bunch of. I probably went to 50 tour events in four years, so I was on the road a lot, which was super cool. But I was in my 20s and I, I really enjoyed it. And, uh, it was after those four years that a job opened up to, uh, get into the tournament operations management business, uh, with the century event in Maui. Uh, and I accepted the role to move out there full time and, and run that event. So it was, uh, you know, I never expected I’d live in Hawaii, but it was a really interesting and great way to learn the business of managing tournaments out there in Hawaii. So, um, spent four years out there. We went through Covid out there and, and everything that that entailed. And, um, then had the opportunity to come here to Atlanta back in 2022, about two years ago this exact time. And, um, it’s such a great event and I’m lucky to be here. So that’s kind of the that’s kind of the progression of how I made my way and found myself in this role here, uh, here in Atlanta.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:42] Now, um, as executive director. What, like which constituents do you serve or do you serve all of them? Are you kind of overseeing to make sure that the guest is having a great experience there, that the players are having a great experience, that the sponsors are having a great experience like? Is that what your job encompasses is the totality of the event.

Alex Urban: [00:05:04] You’re you’ve pretty much hit the nail on the head, more or less. Um, it’s it’s taking key, um, stakeholders. And you’ve just named three of them. So I would say the player experience is paramount. You want the players to show up and have an absolutely wonderful time. You want their families to have a great time. Um, sponsors, obviously very important. The events wouldn’t happen without our sponsors. So in our case, we have three proud partners in Coca Cola, Southern Company and Accenture. Um, so making sure that they have what they need and they can activate the sponsorship the way that they want to, um, make an impact, the way that they want to make an impact. Our fans are obviously a key stakeholder. We need to make sure that they’re enjoying the tournament and they have a great time on site. Um, that’s extremely important. And then there’s a whole bunch of other, you know, groups as well. You think about the community stakeholders and, you know, we’re in a neighborhood here. So making sure the neighborhood is happy. And we do. We’re very lucky to give a lot of money to, um, you know, worthy organizations. Um, you know, as part of what we generate for the tournament every year. And we gave, um, almost $7 million to local nonprofits, um, this last tournament. And so that’s a whole nother piece of what we do, that community engagement piece and working with the community, um, on that. So it’s. Yeah, it’s working. And then, of course, all of our vendors and, uh, other tour constituents, the list goes on and on. But it’s our purview here in this office that’s here full time. There’s nine of us that oversee that entire, um, that entire thing. So it’s just making sure that all of those things happen every year. And and we continue to grow and, you know, all hospitality sales, everything rolls up to us, all the build, all of the everything.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:46] And then for folks who aren’t aware like this is this requires it’s a year long effort. The tournament might be a week or so, but it’s this is a full time job, right?

Alex Urban: [00:06:57] Yeah, absolutely. It’s, uh, you’d be amazed how much there is to do on a year round basis, especially, um, you know, the sales cycle certainly lasts a full year, but as you’re figuring out what to sell, it’s all the operational needs and requirements of how do we build it, what do we build, what kind of hospitality experiences are we looking for? And, um, how do we improve what we have? How what’s working and what’s not working? What’s working? What can work better? What are the new things that are out there in the industry that we can try all of those things. And it’s really unique because, you know, if I, if we were working, um, for a team sport, if we were, you know, the Atlanta Braves or the Falcons, the Braves, as the example I typically use, you know, they they might try something one week and be able to try something else the next week and try something else the next week. And we don’t really have that luxury. We have that. We’re open to the public Wednesday through Sunday once a year. And so that’s a big week for us, obviously, to test things, see what works, uh, so that we can make the right changes for the following year. But yes, it is. It is a full, full time position. I promise you, we are plenty busy now.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:03] How did you reimagine the hospitality program for this year?

Alex Urban: [00:08:07] Yeah, so this year is a really interesting year. I would say, um, much more interesting than it. A typical year might be in that the course is undergoing a renovation. And so what that means is they’re the they being Eastlake is looking at the the layout of the holes and bunkers and green and retooling some of that, um, for various reasons and to the goal of ultimately making it a better place to contest the tournament, a better course for their members, um, as well. And so that gives us the opportunity to what we tried to do over the last 18 months or so since since we started seeing plans for this renovation is, um, really looking through at. Zeroing things out and. Okay, we’ve been here for 20 plus years. What if we had just shown up yesterday? Where would we put things? What locations? Uh, could be new locations for hospitality that we’ve never done it, or new locations for fan area or a new fan area or a new, you know, you name it, new place to bring fans in to certain areas or different flow, um, between holes because the holes might be changing. And maybe we had a choke point where it was tough for fans to walk through. So we have tried to reimagine as much of that as possible from the ground up. Um, so the hope is that this year when fans come on site, they’ll say, oh, wow, the, you know, the course is renovated and new and exciting and oh, wow, the tournament has really has really brought their A-game as well and done the same thing.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:37] Now, if you were, um, a business person here in town, independent business person, how would you kind of leverage an event like this in your business to kind of wring out the most value? If you were to invest in a sponsorship or even just invest in tickets to bring, uh, you know, clients or prospective clients.

Alex Urban: [00:09:56] Yeah. The that’s a great question. And we’re, we’re in a really, um, we’re really lucky to be in a market like Atlanta that has a ton of corporate activity. Obviously, it’s a hub of business in the entire country and the entire world. So, um, the beauty of golf as a, as a vehicle for, um, growing a business is that there are several different ways you can do it. And, um, in my opinion, it is from a hospitality standpoint, if you have, whether it’s customers or internal folks that you need to entertain or incentive trip kind of kind of thing for a company or, um, it’s certainly great for prospective clients. In almost any business that requires relationships. The golf platform is a is a tried and true platform to grow business, in that a golf tournament is not a game that lasts 90 minutes or 2 hours or three hours. It is a longer day that has a cadence where golfers come through, you know, every five, ten minutes. Um, it builds in the ability to, um, interact and discuss, um, business, uh, with, with those clients, with those key stakeholders.

Alex Urban: [00:11:07] And that cadence is really makes golf, um, a wonderful platform for hospitality entertaining. And similarly, it’s not only are you is it just a really nice setup from a day cadence, you also reaching people at a passion point? Um, you know, golf is a sport that is very popular with key business decision makers. And so, um, you reach people at a sport that they care deeply about and it makes it, um, you know, a, a fertile place to do business. I would characterize it. We have partners that have, um, had really great success out here entertaining and growing their businesses. But on top of that, we also have sponsorship opportunities. So, you know, it’s a lot of people that come out to the tournament, um, and, and interact with the tournament here in Atlanta. So we have a number of things that you can do from that perspective to get in front of people. So there’s that version, the brand kind of marketing version of growing the business as well. So you get the hospitality and you have the sponsorship piece.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:06] Now, is there a way to leverage the tournament? Um, kind of throughout the years, it’s something that I am going to get obviously the most value the week of the event, but is it something that I can benefit from an affiliation, you know, year round?

Alex Urban: [00:12:22] Yeah, we have we have sponsorship levels that include rights to market alongside the tournament and to utilize, um, you know, our marks in the name of the tournament, um, to create, you know, official X category of the tournament. And so it just depends on what, what your business is and what you’re looking to do, but that that opportunity does exist.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:46] Now, how how does it work from uh, is everything bespoke like are you customizing packages for pretty much anybody or are there kind of set? Okay, these are the ten kind of things that are the base packages that regarding sponsorship. And then you just find one that works for you and then just, you know, you pick a, B, C, d.

Alex Urban: [00:13:08] We have a mixture of both. I would say we have some things that are very turnkey which certain, you know, groups really like, like, hey, I don’t want to over I don’t want to have to think too much. And we’ve got things like certain ticket packages, like for example, our youth ticket sponsorship is pretty turnkey and you just get your name attached to that. And it’s something that we promote all over the place. So that’s an easy if you want to sponsor something without a heavy lift, you can do that. Um, but there are other opportunities that exist that are more custom and we work with you. I mean, that’s the beauty of a golf tournament. And building it from scratch is that we can be more creative because we don’t have a defined, you know, arena or stadium like you would with another professional sports. So, um, yeah, I’ll say I’ll say both. Both. Exist just depends on what you want to do. And, um, you know, there are limitations, of course. You know, with the model we have for our sponsorship with, um, Coca-Cola, Southern Company and Accenture. Uh, a lot of the very overt branding is is reserved for them. That’s what they’re that’s what they’re sponsoring and getting those rights on site. But that’s not to say that we can’t develop things that that fit within the parameters. We have a number of partners that we do that with.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:16] Now, do you have any advice for other people that are leading organizations like yours in terms of kind of making sure all the stakeholders are happy? And, um, you know, from a leadership standpoint, how do you kind of make sure and ensure that each of your stakeholders is, you know, you’re over delivering in terms of value? And how do you kind of ensure that your team is is kind of you’re all on the same page when it comes to this?

Alex Urban: [00:14:45] Yeah. This a great question. I mean, I we have a, a small and, and um, you know, nimble team here on the tournament. And I think that’s one thing you have to do is make sure your team is all on the same page. So we spend a lot of time communicating internally to make sure that, hey, whatever we’re working with on the sales side is something that we can execute. You know, the last thing you want to do is sell something that you actually can’t build or it’s in the wrong spot or, um, you’ve promised something on the sponsor side that you actually can’t pull off. Like, so we try really hard to avoid that. Um, but also foster creativity. I think that’s key as well. Uh, especially because our we work in a, in a business that allows for that creativity. You want to make sure people are keeping their minds open to new things and change and all that, all that fun stuff. Um, in terms of keeping stakeholders and over delivering, I think the key to all of that is communication. Um, it’s key to a lot of things. And it’s just you have to create meaningful relationships that, um, are the foundation of that is trust. So that if you have a difficult conversation, you have to have whomever it is that you’re talking to. Whatever stakeholder understands that you’re coming to it from a place of. Like from a, from a from a place of respect and understanding and that you’re not just trying to bust their chops on something or, or do something just to do it. That if you’ve built the right relationship, the the difficult conversations become not, not quite as difficult. And then the, the easy conversations or the fun conversations become even better. I would say communication is key.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:22] Now, um, if somebody wants to learn more about sponsorship or tickets, what is the best way to do that?

Alex Urban: [00:16:30] Yeah, I would say tour championship.com for us is the is the kind of one stop shop where you can buy tickets. You can see all of our brand new hospitality. We have all kinds of new offerings this year. When I talked about us zeroing out the the tournament and starting from scratch, we have new things that have never been available. We have some things that have been have existed but haven’t had any inventory, and we’ve been able to expand them a little bit. We have a VIP product called our 1904 club. We we have some memberships to that available for the first time in years. Um, so I think you go you go to tour championship.com and you’ll, you’ll get where you need to go.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:08] Well Alex, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Alex Urban: [00:17:13] Thank you very much for having me.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:14] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on the Association Leadership Radio.