In Pictures: The IT demands of the PGA European Tour

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In Pictures: The IT demands of the PGA European Tour

PGA European Tour IT boss Mark Lichtenhein tells CIO UK about the issues that affect bringing website, TV and radio coverage of one of the most popular sporting events to the rest of the world.

By CIO Staff | 8 August 2011

World-leading brand

PGA European Tour head of IT Mark Lichtenhein's role is a little different from the usual CIO. The organisation he works for is small, but the brand it holds is known by sports fans all over the world.

Global tour

PGA European Tour organises all of the branded tournaments east of the Atlantic. Nowadays, that can mean the middle and far East too. And, wherever the tour goes, its IT has to go too.

High demands

PGA tournaments include some of the most prestigious golfing titles in the world. The demand for information on them, over TV and online is fierce and Lichtenhien needs robust high-bandwidth communications to make sure it is delivered.

Sponsorship obligations

Lichtenhein depends on a number of IT vendors who are Tour main sponsors, but he also has a highly skilled technical team that can build out home-grown applications, so he isn't held a hostage to fortune if a sponsor pulls out, or their offerings become less than leading edge.

Ryder Cup revenues

The PGA is also the managing partner for the European side of the Ryder Cup. The revenues from the event, which is regarded as the premier team tournament of the sport, come mainly from broadcast rights and sponsorship, both big concerns for Lichtenhein, who runs the IT that supports both of these channels.

Media driven connectivity

In 2010, the Ryder Cup was held at the Celtic Manor golf course in South Wales. On that occasion Lichtenhein had the benefit of 100mbps symmetric connectivity, backed up by another 100mbps line, to support a media centre of 1000 journalists and 300 photographers.

Hostile play

Normal PGA European Tour competitions demand just a tenth of the support needed for the Ryder Cup, but even that is not always readily to hand. Lichtenhein describes the venues as hostile envirenments that don't always lend themselves for high connectivity.

Media ready

Wherever the Tour goes, so does an entourage of media producers. Lichtenhien has to make sure that the bandwidth is there for them to operate. He manages the Tour's own media operations too.

Stats hunger

There are millions of avid golfing fans all over the world, who are hungry for stats on the tournaments as they happen. Lichtenhein provides them with that information online, over the PGA European Tour website. The information is input by an army of data-collectors following the competition as the competitors play.

Player management

Lichtenhein also manages the Tour's core player management systems through which they are awarded their prize-money. The back-office is heavily reliant on Microsoft SQL database applications, but these have been heavily modified to suit the Tour's own business requirements.

Fluid requirements

The PGA European Tour's IT strategy is very fluid. Comms networks at the venues are built and struck within two weeks. What worked as an IT requirement for one year's events may not be enough to satisfy fans' insatiable appetite for stats on the sport the next.

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