Brian Rolapp, one of the most powerful executives in the media industry, is leaving a pivotal role at the National Football League, where he has helped navigate rights deals and a major expansion into streaming, to head up the PGA Tour as its next commissioner, according to a person familiar with the matter.
PGA Tour, which began a search for its next top executive in December, declined to comment. The NFL declined to make executives available for comment.
Popular on Variety
Rolapp has exerted a great deal of influence over where the NFL’s games are see, experimenting with new venues like Netflix and YouTube even while maintaining traditional ties to CBS, Fox, NBC and Disney’s ESPN. Under his aegis, the football league set up an opt-out clause for its current long-term deals with the big traditional media companies and Amazon that allows for a redrawing of terms after the 2029 season. The deal would allow the NFL, presumably, to wring even more revenue out of media outlets in an era when sports is the biggest driver of economics, given its ability to generate the large, simultaneous viewing that advertisers continue to crave.
More to come…