When CBS analyst Ben Wright was suspended with pay by CBS
Sports, the controversy moved off the agenda of new LPGA
Commissioner Jim Ritts, allowing him to concentrate on what he
was hired to do -- "fix what ails the LPGA." According to Gary
Reinmuth of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE, Ritts sees TV exposure as the
primary challenge. Twenty-eight of the LPGA's 39 events are
televised -- with 14 on ESPN, CBS, NBC and ABC, 10 on The Golf
Channel, and four carried regionally. Ritts: "We need more
events on TV, more on the major networks. I want to see us on
ESPN2. I'm going to aggressively pursue Fox." Ritts' other
goals include: adding two or three tour events, including a
season-ending championship; filling the February-March gap with
an additional West Coast stop; raising purses by $1.5M in '97;
and increasing he number of LPGA-sponsored girls golf programs
and beginner clinics (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 1/11). Ritts was also
profiled in this morning's ST. PETE TIMES. Ritts: "Increasingly
in the sports world, everybody seems to be saying to the fans,
'You don't really matter. You're not really important to us
except for your wallet. ... Sports fans don't stop being sports
fans. They still want to have an allegiance to something. We
can say, 'Come on over and join us'" (Bob Harig, ST. PETERSBURG
TIMES, 1/11).
