The PGA Tour confirmed Thursday that it has had layoffs as part of a restructuring under it’s for-profit PGA Tour Enterprises model that was put in place two years ago.
According to the Tour, 56 people—or 4% of the workforce—have been laid off, with another 73 open positions not to be filled.
Sports Business Journal first reported the news and said the PGA Tour has more than 1,300 staff globally.
The Tour did not comment publicly.
The employees were notified Thursday morning and CEO Brian Rolapp sent a memo to the staff about the cutbacks, which are part of an ongoing restructuring that began after the Strategic Sports Group invested $1.5 billion in PGA Tour Enterprises.
That occurred in January 2024 as the Tour sought to move into a for-profit world. As part of that, two boards were formed—one that still is part of the non-profit PGA Tour Inc. Rolapp was hired last year from the NFL and immediately went to work on strengthening the Tour with a “scarcity” model that will see a reduction in tournaments and a likely new competitive format to be determined.
This week, the Tour confirmed that it would no longer start its season in Hawaii, where two events will no longer be part of the schedule.
The Tour had hired a third-party consulting firm to review its structure, which included overall efficiency. A source said that review is now moving on to implementation and the Tour expects continued profitability going forward.
Despite these cutbacks, the Tour is next week expected to announce that it is posting 30 or more open roles in areas such as technology, investor relations and marketing.
According to the SBJ report, Rolapp’s email to the staff said the decision was a “difficult—but important—step” and referenced the move to for-profit status. He said he’d have a staff-wide meeting on May 11 to discuss the changes.
Last year, the Tour offered a voluntary retirement program where 30 employees took part.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as PGA Tour Lays Off 4% of Staff As Part of Restructuring.
