AMERICAN CENTURY CELEBRITY GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP

July 19, 2003

Jon Miller

MODERATOR: We are here with John Miller, vice president of NBC Sports. He's been the chief executive of this event for last 14 years. He's in charge of programming for the network and also engineered the change in scoring to Stableford.

Q. So far, do you feel like the Stableford is translating to fans okay?

JOHN MILLER: Well, I think that people are starting to learn the system. We are doing a good job -- we did a good job yesterday on ESPN and we will do it today and tomorrow on NBC's coverage letting the fans know what the scoring is. The local media has been terrific letting people know about it. We were using it in the Pro-Am was a way to get the players adjusted to it.

It's unusual to see it when you first see it, seeing the plus 25 and plus 28 numbers from some of these guys, but it had the desired effect we hoped it would. It's brought a lot more players into the field, made everybody competitive and enabled us to invite a much wider range of big-time celebrity who can come here, compete, play, have fun and not have to worry about throwing up 100 or 110 and not embarrassing themselves either. It's worked out great. There are some players already going for birdies, eagles, going for eagles. Coming in, I saw Maddox and Elway firing up some numbers today, and you still have your great players, Bartkowski and Billy Joe, as well. I think it is translating.

Q. You've revamped the scoring system from the one used on the PGA Tour, is there a purpose?

JOHN MILLER: Look we understand that this is not what these guys do for a living the way you do on the PGA TOUR. These guys are tremendously talented individuals in their own fields, but they are not professional golfers and I think that there is something to be said for rewarding par. You don't get rewarded for par out on the PGA TOUR. Out here you get rewarded for par and you are rewarded more so for birdie and eagle. The feeling behind that is that a par on this golf course and under these conditions, which are pretty tough, should be rewarded and recognized. So we went ahead and gave a point for par.

Q. Who were you able to bring in specifically because of this?

JOHN MILLER: Well, I think you see this year, the guys at our place, along with Mike Milthorpe and the folks out here delivered an unbelievable field. Gary Quinn and Kevin Monaghan, who work on this a lot for us to have guys, we have guys like Troy Aikman here and Mark McGwire and Craig T. Nelson, Rush Limbaugh, the football coach from Notre Dame, Tyrone Willingham, these are some big-time people. And to have them come to an event like this, that obviously they are familiar with and have seen for a while, to put their games on display, Willingham has never played an event like this. Troy has played in some Pro-Ams but he was telling me, "I've never been as nervous as I was on the first tee yesterday." And Mark McGwire, the same thing.

These guys are out here playing and they are grinding. But it gives them an ability to play and compete in a way where they are not going to embarrass themselves. Nobody wants to throw up a quad, I don't care who you are. This gives them a little bit of a break from that, as well as letting them be competitive.

Q. What's the status of the tournament, its future, the stability here with American Century?

JOHN MILLER: I tell you, we are so fortunate, so fortunate to have a title sponsor like American Century. If you went to every tournament on the PGA TOUR, Champions Tour, LPGA TOUR, they probably have some guy sitting there telling you the same thing.

But we have in American Century a company that has really kind of grown with us, so they recognize the true value of the event. They still have a couple years to go under the existing deal. There's a new group in there who is kind of running the show who we are probably going to have discussions with at some point, but we are certainly very happy with it.

As far as NBC is concerned, this is our 14th year. It's as big as it's ever been and continues to grow. I was told this morning that this weekend will break all of the attendance records we have had for the past 13 years. Our field by my measurement is the strongest field we have ever had.

And the local support that we get from Lake Tahoe and the Visitors Authority and Edgewood Golf Course is tremendous. It's our intention to make sure that we do everything we can to make sure the event stays here a long time. I'm not going to kid you, there are a lot of places that call us and ask us, when your deal is up, we'd like to put something together. They are all good venues and have great golf courses and great facilities.

But we don't think there is anything that matches the magic of what you have here. We are determined to work out a long-term arrangement to stay here for as long as we can.

Q. How long is the deal with Tahoe right now?

JOHN MILLER: We are pretty much up now and we are beginning discussions. I think everybody feels confident that we are going to find a way to keep this as our home.

Q. And it's two more years with American Century?

JOHN MILLER: Two more years, '04 and '05 and they have options going further out. I would think that when they look at this and when they look at what other similar-type events do, I think they will see that they have got a very good, fair, arrangement.

Q. What kind of deal have you had in the past with Edgewood?

JOHN MILLER: Well, it's all folded into the whole deal we've got with the LTVA and the hotels. It's worked out well. The course has been a great host. It's a some what complex deal bringing together all of the different properties that we use. Caesar's obviously is the host hotel, but Harvey's, Horizon and Harrah's have been great partners, and the business authority along with the facility here. It's a good deal and we are very happy with it. I think that we have been good partners and we've helped each other a lot.

Q. With all of the relative instability of certain tournaments on the PGA TOUR, if there's any such thing as becoming more solid, it feels like this one is getting more solid between all of the fans and sponsors.

JOHN MILLER: I tell you, it's a good question. I think what it has to do with is that you have to be patient. It's not easy in our business, in television oftentimes to show patience. But this event has been very consistent in what it's delivered to fans and the players and everybody else, so you know what you are going to get. Sponsors know what they are getting when they come out here. Fans know they are going to see their players up slows close. There's a pretty good shot they are going to get an autograph or talk to or picture with, if you want to with, with these guys in a different setting.

For the players, they know that this is kind of a haven for them. This is a place unlike any other. So when they come here, they know they are going to be treated in a way that they are not treated at any other event that they go to. That consistency over time built us up. And the television viewer and fans see is; when they see it come on the calendar and see it promoted, they know exactly what they are going to get.

What we have also seen is that guys who first started coming here who were big in their sports, but maybe not as globally known as some other guys are now known as much for their golf as they are for their hockey or basketball or football.

Q. You talked about the magic of Lake Tahoe and everything. Do you think if this tournament were to go somewhere else that you would lose some of your field?

JOHN MILLER: I think you'd like to think that people would follow, but I do think that there is a magic to this place that really incentivizes a lot of players to come here, bring their families, bring their friends. I think that's one of the reasons why you do see guys coming back here year after year. I'll be honest with you, we had 78 players in the field, we had two late drops earlier in the week from two players who were going to be here. We probably had 200 to 250 people who had contacted us or written or called, or players who had been here in the past who wanted to come. We can't accommodate a field any bigger than 78, really, because we don't do a cut. We don't bring guys out and cut after a day or two. So, it's tough.

So I think that the specialness of this place, though, has a lot to do with the field.

Q. In the early years, was it ever a question of whether you would make it or was it pretty much a hit from the go?

JOHN MILLER: The first three years, when we first started out, we didn't have a title sponsor. I know a lot of you guys have been here with us since day one, but we launched this event in 1990. I was kidding Bobby King before when he was showing me the new facility they built out here. I remember when I came out here in February of 1989, it was three months after we had walked away from Major League Baseball and we were looking for programing to fill that Major League Baseball void. He showed me the venue, and we didn't have a title sponsor. We had 48 players, I think. We had no other supporting sponsors. It was a whole different game.

For the first two or three years, yeah, we had lost a lot of money on it and we were determined to keep working hard to keep it going. To steal a line from the Virginia Slim campaign, "We've come a long way, baby."

I must tell you, I'm really proud of the team that works on it. Our golf announce team, this is the same group of guys who are producing this and broadcasting this who did the Women's Open and the U.S. Open at Olympia Fields. The management team at NBC with Kevin Monaghan and Gary Quinn, the tournament staff with Mike Milthorpe, we have been on this event for 14 years and we can't wait till mid-July comes around. Our guys on the golf tour, our production tour will tick off the dates with a red marker until they can come out here. So that's had a lot to do with it, too.

Q. Do you have a date in mind or a deadline to get negotiations done or get a deal struck?

JOHN MILLER: I don't think that either side feels there's any obstacle in getting a deal done. It's just a question of sitting down and working through some details and logistics. What they have done out here to improve this building that we are in is tremendous. The golf course is always in remarkable shape. They have done a great job with that. They have enabled us to do more which is a tribute to Phil and his group out here to bring more local participation sponsorship which helps us, too.

I think the crowds that you are seeing out there are remarkable. We have this weekend, just as a side note, we are running an LPGA event that had to move because of an LPGA scheduling conflict that we already had a deal with. So unfortunately they had to move to the same weekend as Tahoe and we explained to the LPGA that we would help them out, but it had to go in an early time period. I looked at -- I just came from our compound and there's nobody there, and they are in New York City. I think there are probably more people on the first tee here today than there are at that entire event today. I am pretty impressed with how they have drawn crowds here.

Q. What's the thinking behind not penalizing a player for a bogey, they get penalized for the double, but not the bogey?

JOHN MILLER: The thinking of it, and Tom Randolph spent some time with the folks from USGA when we were at the Open and Women's Open, discussing how you do scoring of the Stableford in a situation like this. The feeling was that in this case, bogey for most of these guys is an average score; what you would expect for a player in this field. So they are being penalized for bogey. But the double bogey is a two-point penalty, as opposed to doing it the other way. It was just a way to keep more guys in the field and more competitive.

I looked at the leaderboard and we are very happy with the number of guys that are playing well and competitive and moving up the leaderboard.

Q. Do you imagine keeping this format for years to come?

JOHN MILLER: It's fine. The players seem to like it. I talked to Brett hull on the way over this morning, Tommy Maddox who came over to me; John Elway, obviously we are in business on the Arena Football League, so I value his opinion on things. And all three of them said: You know what, I didn't know what to expect but we really like the format. It's a lot of fun. They are able to go for birdies on some of these par 5s; they are going for eagles. That's exciting.

And we think it's going to make for a very exciting telecast on Sunday. If you're coming down the wire if a guy is down by four, five, six points, he knows on 16 and 18 he can be firing at pins. So that part of it is good.

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