RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Golf Channel’s return of Big Break has been postponed.
The company announced the decision on Tuesday evening, a couple hours ahead of the premiere of Big Break x Good Good, the reboot of the popular golf reality series that originally launched in 2003 before last airing in 2015.
An hour-long Meet the Players special was set for 8 p.m. ET, followed by the first full episode, titled, "Howdy." Those episodes will now debut on Sept. 1.
“Golf Channel is postponing tonight’s premiere of Big Break x Good Good to next Tuesday, Sept. 1,” Golf Channel’s statement read. “This will allow for necessary production updates following a request from one of the show’s sponsors to remove its branding from the series.”
Big Break’s postponement comes four days after Good Good, the YouTube golf brand that partnered with Golf Channel on this Big Break reboot and has several of its members featured in the show, released an objectionable video promoting a new Callaway driver.
The ad, which has since been taken down after being posted to Good Good’s social channels last Friday, depicted one of Good Good’s members knocking down a female member reaching for his golf bag and then standing over her, saying, “Do not touch my new driver.”
On Saturday afternoon, nearly 24 hours after the release of the video, Good Good posted an apology graphic to social media :
“We posted a video to our channels that ultimately depicted actions that are not aligned with our values as a brand,” the statement read. “We have since taken that content down and sincerely apologize. Good Good has always stood for making the game of golf more inclusive to all, and we will continue to ensure that is our mission moving forward.”
Front Office Sports reported on Tuesday that Good Good CEO Matt Kendrick sent an internal memo to staffers that included the following: “We are reviewing our creative and approval processes and bringing more perspectives into those decisions before content is released. For the foreseeable future, I will also personally review content being released through our content and marketing teams. Additionally, we will be donating all proceeds from the driver sales associated with this campaign to an organization supporting women in our local community.”
Callaway and the PGA Tour, which has the Good Good Championship on its fall competition schedule, also released statements.
And PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp was asked Tuesday morning during his press conference ahead of the Tour Championship if he felt Good Good had taken enough accountability for its mistake.
“I think initially no,” Rolapp said. “I think what we saw was concerning, is clearly not aligned with PGA Tour values. We take it very seriously. I think their initial response was disappointing. It was a bit defensive and late. But I think the responses are getting better. I think we've seen some things this morning, we've had some conversations with them, so we'll continue to monitor and work with them going forward. But no, we were disappointed with what we saw.”
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