La Previa: Alex Baldwin on PGA Tour Americas, Wrexham’s Promotion
On the latest episode of La Previa, hosts Asli Pelit and Boris Gartner discuss some of the biggest sports business stories of the week, including the new PGA Tour Americas—with guest Alex (Alexandra) Baldwin, the president of the new tour—and Wrexham AFC’s Hollywood ending.
At the end of April, the PGA Tour announced it would combine PGA Tour Canada with PGA Tour Latinoamerica as part of its new strategy to provide streamlined routes to the higher levels of play for rising pros and new talent. The new 16-event circuit will begin in 2024. In addition, the new Americas Tour, joins the Korn Ferry tour, Q-School and PGA Tour University in a system known as PGA Tour Pathways.
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“The PGA Tour is the highest level of the sport, and there are young talented people from all over the world who want to play at that level,” Baldwin, who runs all of Pathways, said. “We wanted to create a system to offer them opportunity and access. The development of these players is our future.”
Baldwin started her career at IMG as a sport agent. Born to Italian parents, her languages skills opened doors in her decades-long career.
“When I started at IMG, golf was having a moment,” Baldwin said. “Speaking Spanish made me different and attractive. IMG noticed that I spoke the language and had a good knowledge of [Latin America], and they put me in charge.” She moved to the PGA Tour in 2017, taking over as the vice president of corporate partnerships and is now the first woman to lead one of the PGA Tour’s global circuits.
The hosts also discuss Wrexham AFC’s promotion to the fourth division of English soccer after decades of struggling before Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney took over.
Since the duo bought the team in 2020, they have spent millions of dollars on building the squad, bringing in front-office talent and finding new sponsors. The reality show Welcome to Wrexham and a successful social media campaign brought millions of eyeballs and new fans worldwide to the team as their popularity grew. Wrexham’s popularity has surged far beyond Wales’ borders; the team now has over 2 million followers across TikTok, Twitter and Instagram.
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