Portfolio at NYU

Posted 03.30.03
Attendance Still a Mystery

By Erik Boland

VIENNA -If Giant Eagle Classic Tournament Director Eddie Thomas was in charge of the NCAA, we'd never know how many fans show up at a given Final Four.
If he had Paul Tagliabue's job, Super Bowl crowds would be left to guessing.

As a government bureaucrat, Thomas would still have the Pentagon Papers still buried in some Washington D.C. basement.

Instead, the Thomas' cloak of secrecy hovers only above the Giant Eagle Classic, where attendance figures are treated as the Manhattan Project. Although, at Hiroshima it finally became apparent what all those scientists were doing holed up for months in advance.

Thomas remains holed up in his tournament office, as he did at Avalon Lakes, the lone bean counter for who shows up for his golf tournament.

Ticket sales from those responsible for distributing tickets have indicated sales are significantly down for this year's event. We'll never know for sure because when the tournament's first crowds arrive today, only Thomas will know the actual numbers.

Year after year the media asks for the attendance. Every year the answer remains the same.

"We don't release attendance figures."

His argument goes that such numbers don't have any relevance or significance in golf. Well, if that's the case and they are irrelevant, what's the harm in releasing them? Besides, having only one person with direct knowledge of the tournament's finances can't be a good thing, no matter how it's spin-doctored.

That point, among others, was a source of conflict between Thomas and Avalon Holdings CEO Ron Klingle. Klingle, for some reason, felt as the owner of Avalon Lakes, he should know how many people were there. Thomas thought differently and heisted the tournament to Squaw Creek.

Curiously, LPGA Tour Commissioner Ty Votaw said earlier this week that the Giant Eagle Classic is rated in the top five on tour in fan attendance. Without any official attendance numbers being released, how exactly is that substantiated?

A phone call from Thomas to Votaw:

"Hi Ty, Eddie Thomas here. Great turnout this year. Maybe the best ever."

Votaw: "That's great. What did you draw?"

Thomas: "Well, we don't make those figures available but I can tell you the parking lot attendants informed me they parked cars in places they've never parked cars before."

Votaw: "Sounds good. Hey, guess what? That means you're in the top five on tour in attendance."

A call to the USGA will yield how many people came to a given U.S. Open. The Royal and Ancient Golf Association, which runs the British Open, has no problem giving out its figures. The Masters doesn't release its gallery numbers but this isn't the Masters. Thomas does give the Giant Eagle Classic a connection to the Masters, however.

Longtime Masters tournament director Clifford Roberts ruled his event with a similar mix of intimidation and bullying, abusing media and employees alike with senseless, ego-driven tirades of omnipotence.

Last year, attendance clearly was down from previous years at Avalon Lakes. Still, Thomas said afterward cars were parked in faraway places, insinuating crowds were as large as ever. Most of the media took the spoon-fed information and irresponsibly reported it. As a medium, the press looked silly to a public that recognized the obvious fan drop-off a year ago.

Attendance has fluctuated each year for this event and for the most part, crowds have grown incrementally larger from year to year. But unless hard numbers are given out, the media needs to stop accepting, then reporting obscure generalities about parked cars and packed grandstands.
Expect the same music in the weeks following the 2001 tournament, which may be one of the lowest-attended ever. Maybe this year we'll finally stop listening.

Tribune Chronicle — July 25, 2001