The licensing and social media outreach go hand in hand. The PGA has to grow its youth base for some pop now and to ensure more generations of golfers. Turner Sports will handle PGA licensing for the youth market through its sibling Cartoon Network Enterprises, creating a new product line with licensing agreements and “co-branding partnerships.” Sports Business Daily expects that to include a PGA-branded show on the Cartoon Network in Q4.

On the digital side, the deal moves beyond official site PGA.com to a number of initiatives:

—PGA.com will get new mobile services and apps.

—“building conversations” through “actionable media and marketing” at local and regional levels.

—developing a community for PGA.com for users to connect with each other “to organize a round, schedule a lesson, track their playing statistics and plan their next golf vacation.”

—“Exploration” of a “virtual learning experience” that would let users and PGA pros interact online for playing tips, analysis and feedback.