Golfing legend Jack
Nicklaus has sold his majority interest in a golf show productions company
to Gaylord Entertainment Co.
Terms of the sale
of the privately held company were not disclosed.
Jack Nicklaus Productions,
based in Los Angeles, produces more than 50 hours of programming for ABC,
CBS, FOX and ESPN networks each year. During its 13 years, the company
has produced events including Diners Club Matches, Shell's Wonderful World
of Golf and The Quality Challenge, as well as home videos, pay-per-view
events, video magazines and an interactive online golf tournament.
Nicklaus said in
a statement today that the sale should provide "significant growth opportunities
and a bright future" for the company he founded in 1987 with Terry Jastrow
and Ken Bowden.
Jastrow, who has
won seven Emmy Awards, will continue as president through 2002 with an
option through 2004. The company will continue to operate from Los Angeles.
Terry London, president
and chief executive of Nashville-based Gaylord, said the businesses would
complement one another.
Gaylord's golf interests
include Cornerstone Sports, which manages several professional golfers,
and the Springhouse Golf Club, site of the PGA Senior Tour's BellSouth
Senior Classic.
Other Gaylord properties
include the Grand Ole Opry, Opryland Hotel, CMT International and Word
Entertainment.
"Golf is important
to our hotels and to the 80 percent of our hospitality business that comes
from corporate and association meetings," London said. "Jack Nicklaus Productions
will create original programming for our interactive media and creative
content groups."
