Caddies File Lawsuit Against PGA Tour

Interesting read, and I can see 100% where the caddies are coming from. But no one is forcing them to caddy. But at the same point Yes i can see how they would feel like they are being used and not paid for what they do in terms of advertisement. Interested to see where this goes. I dont think they should be forced to wear sponors if they are net getting paid for it. I mean you don't see a Callaway pro being forced to wear a Nike hat, they wear THEIR sponsors logos. And I could be completely wrong. Just teh way I see it.
 
One of the reason's I'll buy clubs, but I don't buy brand logo bags, shirts or hats.....logo anything. If the OEM's want me to advertise for them, I'll send them my address and they can hook me up with gear. If it is not free, I'm not wearing it.
 
I'm on the fence here. To me, the caddies aren't technically employed by the PGA Tour. They are employed by the player. So, shouldn't it be the players responsibility to give them these benefits? I see both sides of it, especially when it comes to compensation for wearing the bibs. But, I'm playing devil's advocate for the sake of discussion.
 
At least they don't have to worry about it at the Masters. They just have to wear those ridiculous long outdated coveralls.........
 
I have no idea about the prospects for success in the courts, but I side with the caddies. They aren't employees but the tour is engaging in conduct which a) makes money from them and b) prohibits/limits the caddie's ability to make advertising money.

It seems obviously in the interest of the tour to settle this case. Imagine a world where the tour wins the suit - at least in part by proving the caddies are not required to wear proscribed bibs - so the caddies organize and contract to wear advertising on a week to week basis. Every caddie shows up wearing Ford scripting the weeks of the Honda, Cadillac, Buick, BMW and Hyundai events; its AmEx on the bibs the week of the Arnold Palmer / Mastercard event; its Sprint on the bibs the week of the AT&T. No bueno.

I think this idea would be awesome!
 
surprised this hasn't happened sooner
 
Don't they make enough money from the player? They tend to wear the same "uniform" as the player ... i.e. Jordan Speith's caddy wears all UA apparel. The PGA Tour makes them wear a bib with the sponsor of the current tournament ... so give them an extra $100/day to wear it.
And why sue the PGA over it ... why not be pursuing the companies who endorse the player & the sponsors. "Hey if you want your Farmer's Insurance logo on my bib ... you are gonna have to come off some cash!" or "Hey if you want me to wear UA, the same as my player, you are gonna have to pay me for it. Otherwise, you will see me in my cut offs and flip flops!" LOL

Quite simple it seems IMHO
 
Seemed like an uphill battle given the caddies position. I would hope they can appeal this because I think they deserve something.
 
Don't they make enough money from the player? They tend to wear the same "uniform" as the player ... i.e. Jordan Speith's caddy wears all UA apparel. The PGA Tour makes them wear a bib with the sponsor of the current tournament ... so give them an extra $100/day to wear it.
And why sue the PGA over it ... why not be pursuing the companies who endorse the player & the sponsors. "Hey if you want your Farmer's Insurance logo on my bib ... you are gonna have to come off some cash!" or "Hey if you want me to wear UA, the same as my player, you are gonna have to pay me for it. Otherwise, you will see me in my cut offs and flip flops!" LOL

Quite simple it seems IMHO
Not every caddie's player is as good as Jordan or makes as much money as Jordan, I would think some of the caddies working for players down the money list are trying to make as much as possible and only seems fitting they get a bit of something for wearing these mobile billboards.
 
Not every caddie's player is as good as Jordan or makes as much money as Jordan, I would think some of the caddies working for players down the money list are trying to make as much as possible and only seems fitting they get a bit of something for wearing these mobile billboards.

Well said. It's not an easy life and the caddies are on the hook for their own expenses in pretty much every case so those who are on bags for players who have to grind away for 36 weeks to try to earn some cash to stay on the main tour those caddies are struggling.
 
Well said. It's not an easy life and the caddies are on the hook for their own expenses in pretty much every case so those who are on bags for players who have to grind away for 36 weeks to try to earn some cash to stay on the main tour those caddies are struggling.

I would probably need to see the actual salaries before i agreed that they were struggling. I can't imagine it's easy as a caddy, but what profession is easy these days?
 
I would probably need to see the actual salaries before i agreed that they were struggling. I can't imagine it's easy as a caddy, but what profession is easy these days?

Found this online in a Forbes.com article : Caddie-player contracts run the gamut, but most established players pay around 8% of winnings and 10% for a win to their caddie, according to James Edmondson, who is president of the Association of Professional Tour Caddies and loops for Ryan Palmer. Younger players and those without a consistent caddie might fall back on the traditional 5%/7%/10% formula for the following finishes: making a cut/top 10/winning. We used Edmondson’s estimates for the foundation of our earnings’ numbers. Caddies also make $1,500 to $2,500 per event in base pay. ..... later in the article.... While caddying for the top guys, can be a financial hole-in-one, the payouts quickly fall off. The No. 125 player on the 2014 money list—the cutoff to keep your Tour card—earned $713,377 with the caddie likely grossing around $50,000 in addition to his weekly base pay. But expenses pile up with travel and typically run around $2,000 a week, according to Edmondson. A caddie’s base pay usually covers travel expenses and if the caddie’s golfer misses the cut, the caddie goes home empty-handed.

I guess it all depends on who you loop for....and what he (or she) is willing to pay.

Here is the link to the quotes from above...
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbad...st-paid-caddies-on-the-pga-tour/#58267fa96635
 
Interesting.... So let's assume caddies are getting paid 50k gross with weekly base pay arguably paying off weekly costs (which is insanity to me but that's what the article claims)... Is that fair? The better the caddie, the better the chance they get on with a high end player (I would imagine). So low end value for a caddie is 50k plus traveling the Country/World with some time off.

Sounds fun to me.
 
Interesting.... So let's assume caddies are getting paid 50k gross with weekly base pay arguably paying off weekly costs (which is insanity to me but that's what the article claims)... Is that fair? The better the caddie, the better the chance they get on with a high end player (I would imagine). So low end value for a caddie is 50k plus traveling the Country/World with some time off.

Sounds fun to me.

some perks to the job but I believe they also have to cover their own healthcare which ain't cheap. Wonder how many have families.
 
some perks to the job but I believe they also have to cover their own healthcare which ain't cheap. Wonder how many have families.

I just have a hard time sympathizing. Caddying has to be an incredibly cool experience, but it's clearly not for everyone. Do we look at them like they should be making 100k+ a year because they loop for millionaires (in many cases) or are they no different than the folks that work the events behind the scenes earning a relatively normal salary like the rest of us?
 
some perks to the job but I believe they also have to cover their own healthcare which ain't cheap. Wonder how many have families.

If that's true, then you're right there. Depending on age it can get down right dumb founding for costs, too. Considering is seems like a lot of caddies are over 40, a lot over 50, too.
 
I just have a hard time sympathizing. Caddying has to be an incredibly cool experience, but it's clearly not for everyone. Do we look at them like they should be making 100k+ a year because they loop for millionaires (in many cases) or are they no different than the folks that work the events behind the scenes earning a relatively normal salary like the rest of us?

I hear what you're saying, but I guess I look at them (those not caddying for Tiger, Rory, Jordan, and Phil for example) as normal people. Most of us (me including) couldn't name 10 caddies by first and last name....at least I can't.
 
I hear what you're saying, but I guess I look at them (those not caddying for Tiger, Rory, Jordan, and Phil for example) as normal people. Most of us (me including) couldn't name 10 caddies by first and last name....at least I can't.

I'm not even sure I could name five. They serve a purpose, and I am certain some of them are great at what they do, but they aren't the talent. Same reason why every other sport features players making the big bucks, and everyone else making a fraction of.
 
I'm not even sure I could name five. They serve a purpose, and I am certain some of them are great at what they do, but they aren't the talent. Same reason why every other sport features players making the big bucks, and everyone else making a fraction of.

Couldn't agree more with that. Who knows of a "famous" caddie? When was the last time you've seen a Tour caddie on SportCenter or The Tonight Show?
 
I just have a hard time sympathizing. Caddying has to be an incredibly cool experience, but it's clearly not for everyone. Do we look at them like they should be making 100k+ a year because they loop for millionaires (in many cases) or are they no different than the folks that work the events behind the scenes earning a relatively normal salary like the rest of us?

I wouldn't doing it's a cool experience and for guys that have some serious game but not enough to play on tour themselves it's has to a be great way to stay involved in the game at a high level. These guys put in lots of hours scoping out courses, getting distances, figuring out how greens react to shots from different angles. I don't look at them either as should be getting $100k or minimum wage. There are days I wish I was toting a bag for a tour player, but cutting ones teeth on the smaller tours hoping to get a bag on a web.com bag can though money will be tight there or be lucky enough to get a pga tour guy brings it all into perspective

i see their side of this argument too. I believe they are limited in what they can do endorsement wise so it was nice to see their deal with kentwool.
 
The amount of money any caddie makes is irrelevant to me. IIRC it isn't just that they wear a branded bib, its also that they can't wear any other branding anywhere. Obviously, the tour can't have people wearing conflicting advertising with an event sponsor. But that aside, these guys work for the player and not the tour so at some point you have to question the Tour's right to mandate the terms of a non-employee's employment.

Let's use a simple, non-offensive example. Lets say the caddies want to contract with Buick - a regular PGA sponsor - to wear a Buick patch in all events that aren't sponsored by another automobile company. Caddies who work for players that are sponsored by competing auto companies are exempted. There's no harm to the tour. Why shouldn't they have that right? Why should the tour have the right to tell them they can't do it?
 
The amount of money any caddie makes is irrelevant to me. IIRC it isn't just that they wear a branded bib, its also that they can't wear any other branding anywhere. Obviously, the tour can't have people wearing conflicting advertising with an event sponsor. But that aside, these guys work for the player and not the tour so at some point you have to question the Tour's right to mandate the terms of a non-employee's employment.

Let's use a simple, non-offensive example. Lets say the caddies want to contract with Buick - a regular PGA sponsor - to wear a Buick patch in all events that aren't sponsored by another automobile company. Caddies who work for players that are sponsored by competing auto companies are exempted. There's no harm to the tour. Why shouldn't they have that right? Why should the tour have the right to tell them they can't do it?

My assumption is that they don't want walking billboards for non-event sponsors getting a majority of the TV coverage, and I can respect that. Same reason why an NFL coach or referee isn't waltzing around the sidelines with a big old RBC logo on their person. At the end of the day, they will never have the same liberties the players have because they aren't the talent.
 
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