The LPGA brought in a record-setting $209 million in revenue last year, according to a copy of its latest tax filing obtained by Sportico. It’s the first time the league has ever hit the $200M mark.
In 2022, the LPGA reported $180 million in revenue, a record at the time. The year-over-year increase largely owed to tournament-related revenue—which jumped $20 million in 2023 (to $123 million)—and corporate sponsorships, which went up $5.6 million to $22.7 million.
After expenses, including $98.5 million in prize money doled out, the women’s golf league finished 2023 a little over $5.6 million in the black, after ending 2022 with a $7.68 million surplus.
Its streak of profitability might soon be over.
Earlier this week, Golfweek cited anonymous sources in reporting that the LPGA expects to fall $2 million short for 2024. (Based on its filing schedule, the tax return for the current year will not be available until next November.)
The league will need to continue finding ways to generate new revenue, having recently lost Cognizant as a key tournament sponsor, and with its stated plans to offer a combined $131 million in prize money next year.
LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan, who announced Monday she will be stepping down from her post, received $1.27 million in compensation last year, which included $440,000 in bonuses and incentives. The former athletic director at Princeton, Samaan was paid slightly under $1 million in 2022. Samaan’s long-time predecessor, Michael Whan, received $1.68 million in 2020, his final full year at the helm.
Chief legal officer Liz Moore is set to replace Samaan next month on an interim basis; she was paid $476,861 in 2023.
Samaan has overseen the LPGA during the recent women’s sports boom. Her three-and-a-half-year reign was marked with both birdies and bogies, as the league ramped up investments in its players (and their earnings). At the same time, Samaan faced criticism for the LPGA’s flat-footed PR response to criticism from human rights activists over its attempt to merge with the Ladies European Tour, which is backed by the Saudi state oil company Aramco.
The merger, agreed to in principle in 2021, was scrapped by the start of this year, reportedly after Aramco intervened. Currently, the LPGA and LET have a joint venture relationship, and the LPGA’s 2023 tax return reported it spent $18.7 million on LET-related program services.
