BONUS: Now’s the Moment! LPGA Golfers Amy Alcott & Stacy Lewis 4/24/25

0:03I hit the biggest putt of my life once with my eyes closed in Jamaica. Why? Why did you close your eyes? Because I was so nervous. Hall of Fame golfer Amy Alcott in this special bonus episode of Squawk Pod, ahead of the Chevron Championship in Houston. Becky Quick talks all things women's sports. After all this talk about women's sports for so long, this feels like a moment where viewership is up, and as a result, sponsorship dollars are up. A past tournament champion, Alcott says the moment is now for female athletes. If you can't market and sell women's sports now, you'll never be able to. How today's fandom compares to her own experience.

0:42They seem to be embracing it more than they did when I was playing it in the 70s and 80s. Plus, LPGA athlete and competitor this weekend in the Chevron, Stacey Lewis. We're 75 years in of the LPGA, which is pretty amazing. Not a lot of people know that. We're the longest running professional women's sports league. The tournament is decades old and the prize money has gone way up from under a million dollars a few years ago to almost eight million today. OK, we've gotten these great purses. Now we've got to increase the exposure. We've got to get more people watching us. We've got to get more people at the tournaments.

1:17I'm CNBC producer Katie Kramer. Squawk Pod from the Chevron in Houston begins right now.

1:29This week marks the start of the Chevron Championship, the first event on the LPGA Tour. Ahead of the first tee-off in Houston was the Chevron Leadership Initiative's Commissioned Champions of Women in Sports event. Now that's a mouthful, but it was a star-studded morning that celebrated women in sports and the business opportunities for them. And our own Becky Quick, and me too, got to go. Of course, Squawk anchors Andrew Ross Sorkin and Joe Kernan couldn't miss out on the action. Back at the NASDAQ market site in New York, they caught up with Becky after she attended a dinner with some of the best athletes in women's golf.

2:04You ever heard of Poppy's Pond, Becky? I have. Amy Alcott was the first one who jumped into Poppy's Pond. She's going to be here. And by the way, she's a huge Squawk viewer. She's very excited to be on with you, Joe, and you, Andrew. She asked specifically about each of you last night when I was talking to her. She's super excited to be here for this. She's an investor herself. Is there a new pond in Houston to jump in? Because that was at the Dinah Shore. There is a pond in Houston. It was at the Dinah Shore, but it's been continued every year at this event. It used to be called the Dinah Shore.

2:36It's now called the Chevron over the last four years or so. It's the first major. It's a major. It's the first major on the LPGA Tour. And last night I was at a dinner where there were more than 22 of the previous winners of this event. And Nellie, the woman who won last year, was talking about how she jumped in the pond, too. And they asked her, was it wet? Was it what happened? She said it was slimy. She was the first one. Water's usually wet. The last one into the pound and the first one out. But it is a tradition that Amy Alcott set off. And she's going to talk to us about that, too. You know, it's hot.

3:11It's a pond. It's a tradition for the winner of the Dinosaur since, I think, 1983 is when Amy Alcott first won it. And she jumped in Poppy's Pond and created this. She's the original jumper. And yeah, and she's the one who created that tradition. What about if you and Mike Wirth were to jump in at the end of the show? Holding hands, holding hands. At the end of the show. I don't think it's nearby. How far away? You're not at the... I'm about 40 minutes away from the woodlands, which is where the tournament's actually being held. It's a great shot wherever you are, by the way. That is nice. I'm at the Post Oak Hotel, which is a really fancy, big hotel.

3:51This is where this conference is being held today. And, guys, I will also tell you there's a lot of sports in this town right now. This is also where the Golden State Warriors are staying because they're playing the Houston Rockets. They won two nights ago. Last night, from what I heard, just picking up the rumors around here, they all went to the Astros game, I think. It's a big event, and NBC actually started broadcasting this major, the Chevron, a few years ago. So and I will say, guys, it feels like after all this talk about women's sports for so long, this feels like a moment where viewership is up.

4:23And as a result, sponsorship dollars are up. The purse for the Chevron is now eight million dollars. That's up massively from where it was just a few years ago. I think when Chevron took it over, it was around two million dollars. And that was only 1922 or 2022. They had one of the first winners ever of this event last night at a dinner I attended. She won$5 ,000 when she won back in the 1970s. So that just tells you how far things have come. Yeah, a lot of money headed that way to women's golf. They have a U.S. Open. They have a British Open. And then they have a tournament in France. We're from France.

5:01The Evian, I guess.

5:05Joining us right now to talk about it is LPGA athletes Stacy Lewis and Amy Alcott, who is also an LPGA Hall of Famer. And ladies, welcome. It's really great to have both of you here today. I feel like we've been talking about for decades about how this is the moment for women's sports. But I have to say, as somebody who's watching from the outside, it really feels like now is the moment. There is a critical mass of audience. The sponsorship dollars have followed. And I think that makes all the difference. But I would ask you guys on the inside what it really feels like. Amy, why don't you go first because you won this tournament for the first time in 1983, the first time it was actually a major on the LPGA Tour.

5:48Right, right. Well, Becky, you know, you're so spot on. You are so spot on. If you can't market and sell women's sports now, you'll never be able to. It's like it's this whole sense of timing, and it's been a gradual move in that direction with women's sports. But now you've got bona fide stars in the game, Nellie Cordes, who's the modern-day woman athlete, Caitlin Clark, and all kinds of great players that are just playing such great golf and just have a great spirit about them. And I think that it's just growing. People, the audience is impacted by it. They love seeing women compete like this.

6:36and they seem to be embracing it more than they did. And, you know, when I was playing it in the 70s and 80s, 90s, it just seems to be where it's all happening. And these marketing dollars are following it. They are. And, Stacey, you're on the tour now. You've won this tournament in 2011. You're playing this week at the Chevron, too. I think what's amazing about it is the purse is now$7.9 million. This is up from, I think, the winner of the very first tournament, of the first Dynashore, won something like$5 ,000. You're talking about real money. And that means people can make a living on this.

7:12Correct. I mean, you look at our purses. I mean, we're 75 years in of the LPGA, which is pretty amazing. I mean, not a lot of people know that. We're the longest-running professional women's sports league. And our purses have risen. And, you know, you've got these big corporate companies that have said that we want to invest in you. And here's why we want to invest in women's sports. And we're kind of at an inflection point now where it's, OK, we've gotten these great purses. Now we've got to increase the exposure. We've got to get more people watching us. We've got to get more people at the tournaments.

7:43And you're seeing that happen in the other women's sports right now, which is, you know, you've got ESPN that got the WNBA on TV. You know, you've got these things that are happening in women's sports. and golf's over here kind of saying, hey, what about us? And that's what this week is about. That's what today is about with this conference and this summit is how do we get the right people together to really move this tour forward. Well, you are somebody who has played a very important leadership role. The Solheim Cup, where you were the captain, brought it home to win. Yes. And you really broke down the leadership style of how you approached this whole thing.

8:20You needed to bring the players together, have them have a sense of purpose. How did you think about what you were doing and how that plays into the broader sport at the moment? I really wanted them to feel a part of it. And whether it was, hey, guys, this is who we've got for close this year. Hey, I'm working on this. Like I constantly the sponsorships. Yeah, I just constantly had the players in the know of what I was working on behind the scenes. And they didn't need to tell me anything. They didn't need anything back. But you have to make them feel engaged and part of the solution. And I think going forward, you know, the players have to be a part of this.

8:54Players are part of the solution. They're, you know, they're the ones, you know, back in Amy's day. I mean, they sold the tour. They went, and you think way back to our founders. I mean, they went to sporting goods stores and gave tickets out and sold tickets to try to get people to come. You know, the players really have to be engaged and involved in this. And that was part of, that was what I did with Solheim, just to make them feel a part of the pairing discussions. And, you know, kind of everything that was going on. And because when you care, it makes, it makes a golf a lot easier. Yeah, and the players are the ones who have the followers.

9:25They're the ones who have the brands that come into this. Amy, you were the first one to jump in Poppy's Pond. I guess it was 1988. You won in 83. What happened? How did you? I won in 83. Everybody wanted to play in this tournament. It was like the precursor to greatness, the dinosaur, the celebrities. Everybody wanted to be eligible to play in this tournament. I was lucky enough to do it my first year on tour, win a tournament and get into playing back then, the Colgate Dynashore. And then I played every year, and in 83 was my year, and I won then. Had a great win there, and, you know, it was exciting to meet Dynashore and Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra and be a part of that.

10:16And that event was ahead of its time. I was just telling Stacey that event was ahead of its time. And now Chevron has kind of taken the lead. And there were other sponsors along the way. But in 88, it was just a total moment of excitement. You know, and I just looked at my caddy and I said, we're going in the water. Lest I know it would be such an amazing, iconic moment showed on SportsCenter and all of this stuff. And we just went in and the crowd went crazy. And then Dinah Shore was jealous of it. And she says, you know, you've got to win that tournament again and I want to go in with you. So in 1991, how many people win multiple times?

11:00I was lucky to do that. And then I dragged Dinah in there and we started the whole robe. You have to wear a robe. And she had, it was just very exciting. But let me just interject one quick thing, you know. The old adage has always been women's sports is sold and men's sports is bought. That was always kind of from day one. And now I think the tide is turning a little bit, but we still have a long way to go. And you're convinced it's about the broadcast rights and the television rights, the things that come through with some of these? Because NBC broadcasts the Chevron. It's all about exposure.

11:45You know, and you can do the things behind the scenes, the way you market the players, how they're seen on social media, all the little extra things. You know, they get the clicks these days. You know, the times are changing, and you have to adjust and you have to change. But it's really how can we increase the amount that we're seeing to then to hopefully bring in. You bring in TV rights deals. You bring in more sponsors that way as well. You both are investors, I believe, too, and watching the markets pretty closely. I mean, probably. I watch your show all the time. Joe and Andrew, she asked me about each of you last night, Joe.

12:19She knows what a big golf fan you are on all of these things, too. And so go ahead, Joe. I see you're raising your hand. No, I just I'm excited. I think Amy and Stacey, majors are I get the same feeling when I'm I just get excited when they're coming. I'm glad that we have basically we have nine of them. and then you add in the players and a couple of AT &T, the Pebble Beach, and there's something every week. But I'm more new to watching the ladies, but, man, I think you might have, I'm not going to say it, but you might have better actual swings than a lot of the guys. Yeah. So don't – the tempo I see on some of the – Pretty good short games.

13:03And short games, too. Yeah, you got to chip and putt, Joe.

13:11Amy, I don't know what's happened to you, but the nerves aren't quite what they used to be. Maybe they never were that great for me, but now the small muscles get very yippy. I don't know what to do with the chipping. I'm doing it one arm now. Is that okay? Yeah. That's okay. Or just stare at, look at the hole and don't look at the shot, and you'll hit it pure. Exactly. And actually visualize like you're tossing it underhanded. That might work. I don't know. Now you're hypnotizing me. I don't know. I hit the biggest putt of my life once with my eyes closed in Jamaica. Why? Why did you close your eyes?

13:52Because I was so nervous it was a winner-take-all tournament. I couldn't have gotten it back. And I closed my eyes, and I knew how far 20 feet was, and I made the putt. Way to go. Way to go. You might want to try that one. Close your eyes and squig. Well, I want to thank both of you very much for being here today. We appreciate your showing up, and we hope we get to talk to both of you again soon. And by the way, good luck today. Awesome. Thank you. And the rest of the week for what you guys are going out there. Thank you very much. We appreciate it. Becky, thank you. Always a pleasure. Thank you, Amy.

14:24Thank you, Stacey.

14:35Thank you for listening to this special episode of Squawk Pod from Houston, ahead of the LPGA Chevron Championship. To watch the golfers play their way through the tournament, tune in to NBC and Peacock this weekend. Squawk Box is hosted by Joe Kernan, Becky Quick, and Andrew Ross Sorkin. Squawk Pod is produced by me, Katie Kramer, and Cameron Costa. John Lazration is our editor. And you are our listeners. Thank you. Have a great day.

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