CME Group Tour Championship: New LPGA Commissioner meets with national media Friday

On the same day the LPGA announced its 2022 schedule, Mollie Marcoux Samaan met face-to-face with members of the national media for the first time.

“As you know, I'm engaged in this 100-day plan,” she began at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples, Florida. “We're at probably Day 75 with our math, which is a little creative math.”

Marcoux Samaan takes over a tour that’s experiencing strong growth in the area of purses and global partnerships. On Friday, the LPGA announced a 2022 schedule that will feature a record-setting $85.7 million in official purses across 34 events. That number is expected to increase in the coming months. At this time last year, the tour announced a record-setting purse total of $76.4 million across 34 events.

But it’s not just about the money. Once again, the LPGA will be breaking ground at historic venues that have never before hosted a women’s major, with the AIG Women’s Open heading to Muirfield and the KPMG Women’s PGA being staged at Congressional Country Club.

“I think people have also had an awakening around women's sports,” said Marcoux Samaan, the former Princeton AD who was named to the position last May, “and they said, ‘Wow, this is an undervalued asset out in the world. We need to accentuate that value.’ ”

More: CME Group Tour Championship: 18 Players to Watch in Naples

More: CME Group Tour Championship: Naples' Sophia Popov happy to be in after missing out last year

More: What you need to know before heading to the LPGA's CME Group Tour Championship

CME Group CEO Terry Duffy has always been one to push for equity, announcing earlier this week that the winner of next year’s CME Group Tour Championship will receive a record-setting $2 million, and the player who finishes 60th will receive $40,000, up from $11,399 this week.

Marcoux Samaan noted the importance of providing data for potential sponsors to help them better understand the cost breakdown for players.

“If you make the cut, how much money do they make at the cut line? Can that pay for their expenses? That's a really important thing for us to analyze,” said Marcoux Samaan, “and I think sponsors and partners are seeing that.”

The conversations with sponsors have changed significantly in the past decade according to Ricki Lasky, the tour’s chief tournament business officer.

“Our partners that have been there,” said Lasky, “the conversation has shifted from just titling an LPGA event, and once they come in, they understand the value. But now they're talking about not only the entitlement, but everything under the umbrella of the LPGA."

The most pressing issue fans seem to point to throughout the course of a season is the inability to sometimes watch live LPGA coverage. When asked what Marcoux Samaan would say to those frustrated fans, she first noted that she understands.

“All we can say is it's a finite resource when we're talking about broadcast windows,” she continued. “We just have to keep showing our value to our partners on why we should be prioritized in those windows.

“We believe in it … we say we want to be on as much as we can be on as well. What we'd also like to do is here's some other options for you. Here's how you can watch it digitally. Thank you for your engagement.”

She mentioned more live streaming options, such as the LPGA’s first-ever “Featured Hole” stream that debuted at least week’s Pelican Women’s Championship, as a point of focus.

"I do think it's a chicken and egg," she said. "You have to get more eyeballs in order to get those bigger numbers for our players.

"So I think we have to have a multi-tiered strategy around that and focus on growing our fans and growing our eyeballs, at the same time working with partners to give them other value in their partnership with us."

The tour doesn’t have a marketing department per se. Perhaps that will begin to change as Marcoux Samaan adds more positions to the staff, something she's determined to do.

“We think now is the time to build a bigger team,” she said. “Similar in quality and an increase in quantity.”

The goal, she explained, is to be able to get out the tour’s content more aggressively.

“The way we've been talking around our world is this is our time,” said Marcoux Samaan.

“The momentum is with us. And we just think there's even more growth to come in so many different areas.”

2022 LPGA schedule

Jan. 20-23 — Hilton Grand Vacations TOC, Lake Nona G. and C.C., Orlando ($1.2M)

Jan. 27-30 — Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio, Boca Rio G.C., Boca Raton, Florida ($2M)

Feb. 4-6 or Feb 11-13 — TBA in Florida ($1.5M)

March 3-6 — HSBC Women’s World Championship, Sentosa G.C., Singapore ($1.7M)

March 10-13 — Honda LPGA Thailand, Siam C.C., Pattaya, Chonburi, Thailand ($1.6M)

March 24-27 — JTBC Classic, Aviara G.C., Carlsbad, California ($1.5M)

March 31-April 3 — The Chevron Championship, Mission Hills C.C., Rancho Mirage, California ($5M)

April 13-16 — Lotte Championship Hawaii, location to be announced ($2M)

April 21-24 — JTBC LA Open, Wilshire C.C., Los Angeles, California ($1.5M)

April 28-May 1 — JTBC Championship at Palos Verdes, Palos Verdes Estates, California ($1.5M)

May 12-15 —Cognizant Founders Cup, New Jersey TBA ($3M)

May 25-29 — Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play, Hosted by Shadow Creek, Las Vegas ($1.5M)

June 2-5 — U.S. Women’s Open, Pine Needles Lodge and G.C., Southern Pines, North Carolina ($5.5M)

June 10-12 — ShopRite LPGA Classic, Seaview, A Dolce Hotel (Bay Course), Galloway, New Jersey ($1.75M)

June 16-19 — Meijer LPGA Classic, Blythefield C.C., Grand Rapids, Michigan ($2.5M)

June 23-26 — KPMG Women’s PGA, Congressional C.C., Bethesda, Maryland ($4.5M)

July 13-16 — Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, Midland C.C., Midland, Michigan ($2.5M)

July 21-24 — Amundi Evian, Evian Resort G.C., Evian-les-Bains, France ($4.5M)

July 28-31 — Trust Golf Women’s Ladies Scottish Open, Dundonald Links, Ayrshire, Scotland ($2M)

Aug. 4-7 — AIG Women’s Open Muirfield, East Lothian, Scotland ($6.8M)

Aug. 11-14 — ISPS Handa World Invitational, Galgorme Castle G.C., and Massereene G.C., Antrim, Northern Ireland ($1.5M)

Aug. 28-25 — CP Women’s Open, Ottawa Hunt and G.C., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada ($2.35M)

Sept. 1-4 — Dana Open presented by Marathon, Highland Meadows G.C., Sylvania, Ohio ($1.75M)

Sept. 8-11 — Kroger Queen City Championship, Kenwood Country Club, Cincinnati ($1.75M)

Sept. 15-18 — Portland Classic, Oregon location TBA ($1.4M)

Sept. 23-25 — Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, Pinnacle Country Club, Rogers, Arkansas ($2.3M)

Sept. 29-Oct. 2 — Volunteers of America Classic, Old American G.C., The Colony, Texas ($1.5M)

Oct. 6-9 — LPGA Mediheal Championship, The Saticoy Club, Somis, California ($1.8M)

Oct. 13-16 — Buick LPGA, Shanghai Qizhong Garden G.C., Shanghai ($2.1M)

Oct. 20-23 — BMW Ladies Championship, South Korea location TBA ($2M)

Oct. 27-30 — Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA, Miramar G.C., New Taipei City, Chinese Taipei ($2.2M)

Nov. 3-6 — Toto Japan Classic, Seta Golf Course, Shiga, Japan ($2M)

Nov. 10-13 — Pelican Women’s Championship, Pelican G.C., Belleair, Florida

Nov. 17-20 — CME Group Tour Championship, Tiburon G.C., Naples, Florida ($7M)

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: New LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan meets with national media