Blogger and Social Media presence John Raser recently tried to become a member of the Golf Channel’s Big Break, a golf “reality” show which gives $$, prizes, equipment endorsement contracts, and most importantly entry fees and a sponsor’s exemption into a professional golf tournament (PGA, LPGA, Nationwide, Champion’s Tour, etc, etc) for the show’s winner. The thought behind the show is to give a “journeyman” rank and file golfer a chance to make it on the big stage, hence to give them their “big break”. The recruiting process is pretty straight forward- have a certified handicap of 0, or be a professional golfer trying to make it onto one of the major league tours. After an application and video submittal (showing that you can actually hit the shots and aren’t too ugly) the masses get shortlisted and whittled down and finally under Dept of Defense like secrecy, these candidates are whisked away to a exotic resort where they spend two weeks or so trying not to choke.
The majority of the series, pretty much involve no-bodies. I can’t actually say that I have heard of any of the candidates before the show- which is the point. Not having any friends (to this point) who are pro golfers, and not being exposed to the junior or college golf circuits I will go out on a limb here and say that I am like the majority of the people who watch this show.
(Full Disclosure: I don’t really watch the show religiously. I watched the 1st women’s show because it was held at a place I’ve played, and I tried to watch the season at PEI since I used to go there on vacation as a kid. Watched all of the Sandals Resort season since I’m getting into the golf industry- more on that below).
It is that lack of brand, and celebrity that the Golf Channel is looking for. When I saw on twitter that the Golf Channel asked him to apply, and that he had a facebook site established with the sole purpose of getting him selected- I took notice. With some of the recent shows, I saw that the Golf Channel is starting to move away from the early formula and get more…..ahem….tabloid? (for lack of a better term) This was an interesting development. Instead of selecting the cast based on golf and other need/performance factors, it seemed that the Golf Channel was starting to get all Real World on us. (Whereas every RW cast had certain “characters” which would stir the pot so to speak just because they put dissimilar personality types into situations where they cannot coexist.)
With the GC asking Mr. Raser to apply for the show, I was wondering what was going on. Usually, shows don’t “ask” people to apply unless they had a motive. Perhaps they are moving away from the formula of a “Big Break” since pretty much no alums have every seized on the opportunity. The most successful Big Break alum is Kristy McPhearson, who is a member of the LPGA. I doubt she owes any of her success to the show, but it is interesting to note that she did not win. Didn’t even come close to winning. The 2nd most successful alum (and most successful male) I think is Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey. He has had some moderate success on the Nationwide Tour, but nothing yet on the PGA tour. Tommy didn’t win either. How can it be a true “big break” if the opportunity given is never seized or realized? That may be a reason for the shift in focus by the execs in Orlando (home of the Golf Channel).
Now, getting back to the case of John Raser. He is trying to get make it as a pro golfer, and has really taken hold of the social media environment to build himself a social media presence. Basically everything that everyone has been telling you to do- build your brand, find your voice, etc, etc. Or in other words, do everything that the Golf Channel is not looking for. With the BB probably the highest rated show they produce, why would the Golf Channel want to anger their sponsors? What? Really. If someone like a John Raser- social media savvy, has friends in the industry, etc, etc. wouldn’t you as a equipment/apparel/accessory manufacturer want to partner with him to have your wares shown off on the show? What is that putter he/she is using? Wow, I like that shirt/pant/hat/skort thingy… etc, etc. Again, everything that the GC has been trying to keep off the show. They closely control it so that is doesn’t morf into a running 60min commercial for other brands…. That don’t contribute to the show.
Another problem is security. With some many “friends” would it really be feasible to expect his selection to be kept a secret? How about the intervening months between the conclusion of the filming and the actual airing? If he won, could you actually expect all his also highly social media leveraged friends to keep quiet? Once “drunk” tweet or facebook post and there are some drastic penalties to be invoked. Again, too many loose ends. It almost makes me wonder why the Golf Channel asked him to apply in the 1st place.
Was all this a test? Was John Raser their lab experiment to see if what the response would be as more and more potential candidates in the future are going to be social media savvy? Were they expecting that when he got his notice of not being selected that he would post it on-line? Were they secretly hoping that he would so they could gauge the blowback (if any)? Other than a few also highly leveraged social media types showing their support for John (and distain for the Golf Channel) I don’t see any real repercussions for the Golf Channel. What would have happened if he did get selected? Would any of his friends blow his cover by wishing him luck on the show either via twitter or facebook? Would he announce it to the world? Would you “hear” rumors that he got selected- the typical “you didn’t hear this from me….but…”? Interesting questions that the Golf Channel didn’t have to answer when they first conceived the show’s concept. Will be curious to see what they do moving forward.
Basically, it seems the formula for being selected for the Big Break are:
Play Golf
Look better than you play (especially for the ladies) unless you have heaps of…personality or other intangibles.
Be someone most casual golf fans have never heard of.
Don’t be too viral.
Don’t know too many people already in the industry.
Be a free agent (no endorsements of any kind whatsoever).
Of course, this is just my ramblings as an observer. I am “consulting” for a start-up golf equipment company (again, more on this later). In this capacity, I needed to attend a Duramed (now LPGA) Futures Tour event in New Hampshire. This tournament coincided with the season of Big Break Sandals resort. Based on what I heard (so and so doesn’t like her) and saw (the icy stares on the range/putting green, patronizing or impersonal greetings, who hangs out with who) I could have told you who had won-several months in advance. It wasn’t tough to see. I told the CEO of the company that night that I have a strong hunch who one. Turns out I was right. One of these days, the secret is going to get let out of the bag before the Golf Channel is ready- which again, is going to be interesting as to how they handle it.
Of course all this could be one huge rope-a-dope. A little misdirection. If so, John, good luck on the show- you heard it here 1st.
