UP228 Guy Kinnings

One of the biggest sports business stories of the past year has been in golf where the two major tours - European and PGA Tour - are in what some have called an existential battle for control of the game at the highest level. A new rival, the Golf Premier League led by Greg Norman and backed by Saudi money, is attempting to disrupt the tours, by offering enormous sums to the very best players. That story is moving as we speak, as major stars such as Dustin Johnson and Bryson Dechambeau back away from their earlier enthusiasm for the project.Whatever happens, our guest today is at the epicentre of the story.Guy Kinnings, deputy chief executive of the European Tour and formerly head of golf at IMG. So, poacher turned gamekeeper, who in his previous role would have been advising players as to whether to take the cheque or stay within the tour structure, and get a slightly lower cheque. Chubby Chandler, founder of rival ISM agency and a former guest of the podcast said of Kinnings: “Guy has got a range of skills that the European Tour needs. He has run golf tournaments, big accounts, hired players, hired people to look after players, sold sponsorship for players, sold sponsorship for tournaments. That is an unbelievable range of skills. It is the first time (Keith) Pelley has had a really good shoulder to lean on for European Tour knowledge”.As usual, every episode of Unofficial Partner can be found by using the big podcast providers, including Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts or via your favourite podcast app. We’d love it if you could take the time to rate us on Apple or Spotify, as it helps spread the word. And if you’re interested in more sports business comment and analysis, you can follow me on Twitter @UnffclPrtnr The weekly Unofficial Partner newsletter is read by thousands of people across the sports business every Thursday, to join them subscribe via unofficialpartner.comUnofficial Partner is the leading podcast for the business of sport. A mix of entertaining and thought provoking conversations with a who's who of the global industry. To join our community of listeners, sign up to the weekly UP Newsletter and follow us on Twitter and TikTok at @UnofficialPartnerWe publish two podcasts each week, on Tuesday and Friday. These are deep conversations with smart people from inside and outside sport. Our entire back catalogue of 500 sports business conversations are available free of charge here. Each pod is available by searching for ‘Unofficial Partner’ on Apple, Spotify and every podcast app. If you’re interested in collaborating with Unofficial Partner to create one-off podcasts or series and live events, you can reach us via the website.