December 18, 2020 | BY AAGD STAFF
It’s been a crazy pandemic year and the human death toll across America has changed the way fans and organizers view attending sports outings. The Tour continues to operate in a “six-to-eight-week window” when it comes to COVID-19 and evolving restrictions, Monahan confirmed that the Tour’s return to Florida in March 2021 should create new opportunities for more fans.
On Thursday, with regards to the rollout of the new Covid-19 vaccine, Commissioner Jay Monahan said to reporters “It really is hard to predict at this point what that will be. We’re very encouraged by the news around the vaccine and vaccine distribution and paying very close attention to what that can mean as we go into calendar year 2021,”
The substantial loss of revenue has hit the Tour, as it has many sports organizations. When the Tour continued hosting pro-ams late last season—a main source of its revenue—the lack of fans and related revenue were strongly felt. According to Monahan, the Tour produced $160 million in charitable revenues last season, that’s down from $205 million during the 2018-19 season.
Monahan says “NO” to Mandatory Covid-19 Vaccination for PGA Tour
“I think vaccination is a choice, and I would apply the same logic and the same amount of care to that subject as we have to every other subject, and that is to try and do our best to educate our members on vaccination and the pros and cons associated with it,” said PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan during a conference call with reporters. The $8 million-dollar-a-year executive no-doubt is eager to get things back to (or as close as) normal for fans and competitors. However, he seems to be in no rush to mandate Covid-19 vaccinations for players or to use the PGA Tour to advocate the process. “But ultimately it’s an individual decision.”
Monahan’s remarks were made just hours prior to American biotechnology company drug maker Moderna’s vaccine receiving a 20-0 approval vote. Bob Harig, of ESPN.com, gave an account of Monahan’s remarks, saying he did not exactly give the vaccine an enthusiastic endorsement — although through other news venues millions of viewers have witnessed health care workers and medical professionals fervently subject themselves to the Pfizer injection, in hopes of reducing the spread of the virus and saving lives.
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In a story by Rex Hoggard, Monahan is quoted saying “It really is hard to predict at this point what that will be. We’re very encouraged by the news around the vaccine and vaccine distribution and paying very close attention to what that can mean as we go into calendar year 2021,” Monahan continued. “I think you’ll just see a slow and steady increase in the number of fans that we have on-site, but again, we won’t be the sole arbiter in that. Any steps that we take we’ll be doing in concert with our partners in the local communities where we play.”
A return of spectators would be good news for tournaments that have endured the financial impact of holding events without fans since the pandemic halted play this past March.
