How Eastside Golf Is Revolutionizing Sports

Golf now has a challenge to get with the times. With D-side Golf's help, the things that we believe in, the people that are actually being introduced to the game today, we're influencing that right now. We step past what we believe in, be authentic, and truly use this game to further everybody. Boy, I tell you, this swing was nasty. Look at the state of the game. It has grown tremendously over the last five years, and it's been organic. It wasn't because of anyone's idea. There wasn't this campaign that came along that just gathered everybody into it. It's just exploding everywhere, from mini golf, to top golf, to, you know, you got new tours that are expanding. You got The Live, you got PGA, you got APGA. Like, everywhere across the board, you know, golf is exploding. Definitely, COVID hit, and a lot of people couldn't be inside. So now, more people have to go outside to play, to actually go outside to find something to do, you know? And golf was that one thing that so many people could take advantage of. When I think about the modern-day golfer, I think it's an aspirational figure, and it's our logo. It's someone out there being their true, authentic self. Someone who you may not necessarily think even plays golf or represents golf, but he's as much as a golfer as someone that has been playing golf their entire life or plays it for a living. And that's what we're all about. When you talk about historic challenges, I mean, the one that truly pops up for me is 1961. In 1961, that's when the PGA lifted their Caucasian-only clause. So before that, you know, hardly anybody that's here that isn't a white male, if it's a woman or any other ethnicity of a person, you weren't allowed into the PGA. Golf now has a challenge to get with the times. The other point I would also say is that there isn't any examples to really look to, right? Like, Tiger Woods is like this one-in-a-million opportunity, right? So it's like, is that a safe bet? But if I look to the NBA and I'm seeing all these African-American minority players that look like me, oh yeah, we're going to go towards that sport because you can see yourself. So many of these athletes have their own people that look up to them, you know, people that want to be just like them, you know. And now some of these players during their season or when they retire are taking up the game. Sometimes what it can do for them off the court, you know, with their relationships, even with GMs and the presidents of those teams, they might get a couple of extra years in a contract just because they know how to play the game. Kaitlin Clark, Steph Curry, Devin Booker, you know, you got guys like Victor Cruz. I mean, we were out with Victor one time and he literally mentioned, he's like, I tell all the young rookies to play golf because it's going to literally make you an extra 50 grand a year just off of the relationships. When you look at the PGA keeping the attention of fans watching from home, we got to revolutionize the way that we televise it. Again, there's not enough, in my opinion, education through it. And I know, again, the typical golf core audience is like, well, I may not want to hear that, but I think, again, it needs to be more enjoyable. And I'd love to see, you know, more personality, you know what I mean? It's okay to be critical. Like when we're out playing golf, we don't know if you're going to make that putt. You know what I mean? That adds, hey, that's a long putt, you know, don't miss it, you know? So I think for me, it would be more enjoyable and I would be more inclined to bring my friends along and have them watch golf if it was more of a journey. And they do a good job, I'd say, in the major events. And that's why the ratings go up. I often like to say, when you're watching in the majors, guys are missing putts like this long. And that's what you can relate to. You can't relate to someone making every single shot. Dream collaboration for me would be with the PGA Tour and they allow us to come in and curate an entire event. But we would still want the prize money to stay the same. So it's not like, again, it's this less than valued event. It would be in a regular schedule. But again, we would just go about it completely different, right? The way that it's televised, we would want to change that. The way that you, you know, whether it be music, the way that it engage with the spectators, right? We would want to just challenge every notion of how it's being presented and really making sure that people are walking away with a different experience. Because I think oftentimes the consumer experience is forgotten because everyone's just focused on the play. It's a great moment. It's a good moment for me too. You got your good side, man. I'm Elijah Wanajonuku. And I'm Earl Cooper. And this is our boardroom cover story.