Mark Schlabach
The PGA Tour is hiring NFL executive vice president Brian Rolapp as its CEO to work alongside commissioner Jay Monahan, sources told ESPN on Thursday.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Seth Wickersham, Rolapp has agreed to leave his role with the NFL after spending 22 years with the league. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell sent a memo to team executives and presidents Thursday informing them of Rolapp’s departure.
The PGA Tour declined comment when reached by ESPN on Thursday, though a policy board meeting is scheduled for Monday, in which Rolapp’s hiring could be finalized, sources told ESPN.
The PGA Tour has been searching for a CEO since December; NASCAR commissioner Steve Phelps, TaylorMade Golf CEO David Abeles and others were also linked to the position.
Sources told ESPN that Rolapp, as the chief media and business officer, was the lead architect of the NFL’s media and business playbook during a time when the league’s growth exploded. He is considered a potential successor for Goodell, and leaving to help lead another professional sports circuit isn’t expected to hinder his chance to do that once Goodell steps down in the future, the sources said.
Rolapp has been in his position since 2017 and previously worked as the NFL’s chief operating officer and senior vice president of media strategy and digital media. He also worked as the CEO of NFL Network and executive vice president of NFL Media.
In his current role, Rolapp oversaw advertising sales, sponsorships and TV contracts, which reportedly earn the league more than $10 billion per season.
Monahan replaced Tim Finchem as PGA Tour commissioner in January 2017, becoming the fourth to fill that role. He was heavily criticized by the tour’s golfers and others when the circuit secretly reached a framework agreement in June 2023 to form an alliance with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and the DP World Tour.
The PIF has financed the rival LIV Golf League the past four years. It lured away several PGA Tour stars, including past major champions Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson and Jon Rahm, with guaranteed contracts worth more than $100 million.
The sides have been attempting to negotiate a deal since the framework agreement expired at the end of 2023; they last met at the White House in February.
Monahan helped the tour reach a potential $3 billion deal with Strategic Sports Group, a consortium of billionaire sports team owners, to invest in the circuit’s for-profit entity, PGA Tour Enterprises.
SSG, which is led by Fenway Sports Group, made an initial investment of $1.5 billion, with the possibility of another $1.5 billion coming later. The PGA Tour controls the for-profit company, which issued equity shares to golfers who remained loyal to the tour.
Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, PGA Tour player directors Tiger Woods and Adam Scott, and outgoing commissioner Monahan were part of the committee that selected Rolapp as the new CEO.
