Paul Azinger says he’s glad it’s over, but that doesn’t mean he’s not happy with how it ended.
pga tour analyst This was revealed in an interview with GolfWeek. Last year, his contract negotiations abruptly broke down as NBC decided to go in a different direction.
Azinger said NBC made him a contract offer and his agent countered with a one-year contract extension in an attempt to line up a deal with play-by-play man Dan Hicks.
It appears that a change in NBC’s management may have influenced the conclusion of the negotiations.
Sam Flood, NBC’s executive producer and head of production, has reportedly taken over day-to-day oversight of Golf Channel from Mark Loomis.
Azinger also lost an ally when NBC Sports Chairman Pete Bevacqua resigned to become Notre Dame’s athletic director.
“Sam Flood came in and was just an a-hole about it,” Azinger told the website.
“All we were doing was making a counteroffer, and they said, ‘No, it’s take it or walk away.’ And I said, ‘Sam, it’s up to us. What you were offered was, take it or leave it?” “It’s complicated, Zinger,” he said. I talked to him for 23-24 minutes and every time I asked him a question he was like, “Are you upset or something?”we had [the parameters of a deal] end. Shouldn’t we negotiate with you? And he said nothing. And I was like, “No, let’s move on.” It was never like, “Jinger, this is all we can do.” This is our best shot. ”
“Poor manager, he was sitting there like, ‘What just happened?'” And then it sunk in. To be honest, I wish it had ended differently because I’m glad it ended. ”
Mr. Azinger was a long-time top analyst at ABC, followed by a short stint as an analyst at FOX, and spent four years in that position at NBC.
The 1993 PGA Championship winner spends a lot of time fishing and says he’s not looking for another broadcast job and has “things to do” to keep himself busy. .
“Dan and I had already talked about it. We were ready to continue. To be honest, we were going to continue for another five years or so,” Azinger said. “I was thinking of doing at least one more year and then signing a four-year contract. They made an offer, but my agent said, ‘No, we’ll make a counter-offer the next day.’ And they said, “Sorry, we’ll move on.” You know, it wasn’t a conversation with me, “What do you need for a zinger?” What do we have to do? This is our situation. You know, this is why we need you to accept this deal. There was no reason, just that it was complicated and complicated. I thought, “How complicated is this going to be, Bud?” It’s money.
“It was the biggest opportunity and blessing for me to be on NBC. I’ve been a lead analyst at ABC, ESPN, and NBC, and it’s been great. I’ve had two full careers. It’s been a great run, and I’m very grateful to have had the opportunity to be on NBC. I wish it could have worked out better for me. I was ready to continue and I thought we were negotiating in good faith.”
Since Azinger’s departure, NBC has replaced him with a rotating group of analysts including Paul McGinley, Kurt Byram, Kevin Kisner, Brandel Chamblee and Jim “Bones” McKay. All of them are working with Mr. Hicks.
There doesn’t seem to be a clear candidate to replace Azinger full-time.
“Well, we didn’t have any plans going forward other than to lower the cost of broadcasting,” Azinger said. “I think they will settle for something cheaper.
“Once I got there, it was all budget cuts after budget cuts. It was all about lowering broadcast costs. From putting up towers to having everyone in the same booth. I We took out several drones. In some cases, we lose planes and blimps, and then we lose one big camera covering the ball. Tee off to watch the ball fly over the water. You can see it. You know they’re going to put all their money into the players.”
NBC Sports declined to comment when contacted by Golfweek.
