Carolyn Bivens (born December 29, 1952 in
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...
) was the commissioner of the
LPGA from 2005 until her resignation on July 13, 2009. She was the seventh person and the first woman to hold the position of commissioner since the LPGA was founded in 1950.
Bivens was previously president and chief operating officer of Initiative Media North America, the largest media services agency in the United States and part of the
Interpublic Group of Companies
The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (IPG) is an American publicly traded advertising company. The company consists of five major networks: FCB, IPG Mediabrands, McCann Worldgroup, MullenLowe Group, and Marketing Specialists, as well as a ...
. She also worked at ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'', where she led the worldwide advertising operations for ''USA Today'' and ''USA Today''’s international edition. In 2002, ''
Electronic Media
Electronic media are media that use electronics or electromechanical means for the audience to access the content. This is in contrast to static media (mainly print media), which today are most often created digitally, but do not require el ...
'' magazine named Bivens one of the most powerful women in television.
LPGA Commissioner
Bivens served as commissioner of the LPGA from late 2005 until her resignation in July 2009. The LPGA commissioner serves as chief executive and administrative officer of the LPGA and is responsible for its day-to-day operations.
The LPGA search committee selected Bivens to serve in that capacity on the basis of her media and sales experience, with the intention of capitalizing on the brand value of the LPGA's deepening talent pool. At the time of her hire, the LPGA was experiencing an unprecedented influx of new potential superstars, many of whom fell into demographics new to the traditional LPGA audience.
Bivens's strategy has been described by several writers as an attempt to re-align the business model of the LPGA with that of other professional sports organizations. Primary objectives of the plan included increasing tournament purse sizes, establishing greater control over event venues and LPGA-associated media rights, and the provision of viable pension and health care plans.
Changes instituted at LPGA during Bivens' tenure
Introduction of drug testing
In 2006, Bivens announced the first formal drug testing program in professional golf. The program was introduced in the 2008 season.
Media credential policy change
At the second tournament of 2006, The
Fields Open in Hawaii The Fields Open in Hawaii was a golf tournament for professional female golfers, played on the LPGA Tour. It was held from 2006 and 2008 at the Ko Olina Resort in Kapolei, an incorporated community within the city of Honolulu, Hawaii.
The tournamen ...
, the LPGA reached a stalemate with certain members of the press while negotiating media rights. Two Honolulu newspapers, the Associated Press, ''
Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...
'', ''Golf World'' and other unnamed publications refused to cover the first round of the tournament. ''Golf World'' continued to withhold coverage of the event for two subsequent rounds, before returning after reaching an agreement with the LPGA. Details of the dispute were never released by either side, despite frequent references to the dispute by the press.
A year later, the LPGA made its media rights credential available to the public at LPGAMediaCredential.com.
Acquisition of Duramed Futures Tour
In July 2007, the LPGA acquired the
Duramed Futures Tour, incorporating it more closely with the LPGA and formally making it the official development tour of the LPGA.
International player on LPGA Board of Directors
In 2008, the LPGA constitution was amended to require the inclusion of an international player on the board of directors.
Television programming
In February 2009, Bivens unveiled two major television rights deals. On the domestic front, the LPGA agreed to a 10-year partnership with cable network Golf Channel, making it the exclusive home of the LPGA Tour.
Internationally, the LPGA and JoongAng Broadcasting Corporation (JBC) agreed to a five-year partnership that names J Golf the LPGA's official Korean media rights partner starting in 2010. JBC also will underwrite an event in the greater Los Angeles area on the 2010-2014 LPGA Tour schedules. J Golf's overall media rights investment in the LPGA over five years is the largest in LPGA history.
Proposed use of Twitter
On May 28, 2009, Bivens is purported to have said in an interview that she would, "love it if players
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
ed during the middle of a round." ''Bloomberg'' removed the original interview without explanation, making it impossible to contextualize the remark, or to objectively evaluate the merits of the criticisms which followed. The article put in the place of the original interview focuses upon the reactions of two highly ranked players,
Paula Creamer
Paula Creamer (born August 5, 1986)''Current Biography Yearbook 2011''p. 128 is an American professional golfer on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. As a professional, she has won 12 tournaments, including 10 LPGA Tour events. Creamer has been as high a ...
and
Morgan Pressel
Morgan Pressel (born May 23, 1988) is an American professional golfer and golf commentator who played on the LPGA Tour. In 2001, as a 12-year-old, she became the youngest player to qualify for the U.S. Women's Open. She was the 2005 American Ju ...
, who used Twitter itself to inform their fans that they would not be tweeting while on the green. On June 5, 2009, eight days after Bivens's original statement in the media, Bivens commented on the LPGA website that her remarks had been taken out of context, emphasizing that players would not be tweeting during rounds.
Resignation as Commissioner of LPGA
In early July 2009, the Board of Directors of the LPGA received a letter from a group of top players on the Tour calling for Bivens' resignation with two years remaining in her contract. The overriding cause of the complaint had been Bivens' insistence that all Tour players become English-proficient. Bivens had proposed the change as being out of a concern for the foreign-speaking players' welfare: "If these players don't take this step
nd learn English their ability to earn a living is reduced. They will be cut out of corporate and endorsement opportunities. I can't imagine that someone who has thought this through does not realize that in opposing this measure they are penalizing the very people they are trying to help." (ESPN Golf, Sep 1, 2008). This insistence drew a strong public backlash from foreign and domestic Tour players alike. The letter followed the announcement that several long-time tournaments would not be returning in 2010 and amidst complaints from tournament directors that Bivens's management style and approach was counterproductive.
[
] In the letter it was stated that "the majority" of LPGA members supported the request for resignation. On July 13, 2009, Bivens officially resigned and an acting commissioner was named while a search for a new commissioner was undertaken.
References
External links
Carolyn F. Bivens Biography on official LPGA.com siteBivens ready to take LPGA reinsLPGA.com
plumtv.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bivens, Carolyn
LPGA Tour commissioners
Sportspeople from Oklahoma City
1952 births
Living people