Perhaps the biggest off-course storyline of the year in golf has been a stark decline in TV ratings.
While LIV continues in relative obscurity, unable to draw a meaningful audience, the PGA Tour has been struggling mightily as well. There is still a massive chasm between the Tour and LIV when it comes to viewership, but it’s clear the Tour has gone backward in terms of generating attention.
TV ratings are a primary source of value financially, so they play an outsized role in golf’s future.
Is this a crisis, an overreaction or something in the middle? Here is what I’ll say…
Golf is a niche viewing sport. The inflated money going to the players, caused in part by LIV, is over market value relative to the genuine fan interest in the sport. Incessant talk of money has negatively affected interest because it seems like the top players care more about finances than winning tournaments (and perhaps they do).
And at the end of the day, fans just don’t care about money. Regardless of the sport, we all want to see athletes nervous, trying to achieve something they desperately want. We want to be entertained by people who need to win and hate to lose. There needs to be consequences to both.
Golf has a lot of players who want a piece of the pie but have no interest in baking it. There is a lot of self-interest but not a lot of interest in what fans want.
Over time, I think people will leave—to watch other sports, to watch other forms of golf, to play the game instead of watching it, etc. Not that pro golf will become boxing, but it’s in store for decreasing interest unless there is a huge shift in mindset.
This is a long-term, systemic issue that we are probably just at the start of getting our arms around.
Concerning Numbers
The Tour’s traditional linear TV ratings are down significantly across the board.
- The final round of the Masters (9.58 million viewers) was down about 20 percent from 2023 despite the drama being roughly equal both years. Taking out the two COVID Masters (2020 and 2021), it was the lowest-rated Masters since 1993. A part of the drop can be explained by the 2023 Masters being on Easter, which typically sees a bump in viewership, but it’s still a low number.
- The final rounds of the Phoenix Open (2.38 million viewers) and Arnold Palmer Invitational (2.29 million viewers) were down over 30 percent from last year.
- Despite an incredible finish at the Players Championship, the final round was only viewed by 3.53 million viewers. That was down 15 percent—and all four rounds of the tournament were lower than 2023.
While these numbers include popular streaming services like YouTube TV, they don’t touch on separate sources that go beyond the traditional broadcast. Ratings for platforms likes Masters.com and ESPN+ are not made available, although we know that golf on ESPN+ has been the most-watched sport from January-August the past two years.
Also, the PGA Tour’s social media and other digital assets are all up about 15-20 percent compared to last year, showing that other forms of engagement beyond watching the traditional broadcast are increasing.
However, the traditional broadcast is way more valuable financially. The current TV contract with CBS and NBC is worth $700 million and goes through 2030. Better streaming and engagement numbers are nice, but they are a drop in the bucket compared to the money brought in by linear TV.
This type of decline matters greatly. It’s a big problem.
Why Is Viewership Down?
Those defending the Tour will point to an unfortunate first four months of the year.
The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am was set for solid final-round drama until weather forced the event to be called after 54 holes.
The game’s stars—and several of them are on LIV—have been decidedly mediocre so far in 2024. While Scottie Scheffler has vacuumed four victories, other notables have yet to win or contend.
It’s created a boredom issue where the Tour is searching for storylines. The best one going is Scottie Scheffler, who is playing arguably the best golf since peak Tiger—but he doesn’t inspire much with his personality.
There needs to be other challengers to make his dominance more interesting.
The lack of storylines extends into the majors as well. Last year, we had the intrigue of LIV players coming back, rather triumphantly, to play well in the majors. That has faded.
But that can’t be the only reason viewership is down. For instance, last year’s Players Championship was a runaway victory for Scheffler and drew a more robust audience than this year’s edition when four fairly well-known players all had chances to win down the stretch.
There is, in my estimation, severe fan fatigue that borders on apathy.
We are coming up on one year since the PGA Tour and Saudi Public Investment Fund announced a “merger” that now appears to merely be a move for both parties to avoid court. There is little-to-no evidence that the best players will all convene again, even though common sense says pro golf can’t thrive without that happening. The only real news we have is the Tour offering players equity as part of a recent $3 billion investment from the Strategic Sports Group.
It’s also worth nothing that we are now living in a mostly post-Tiger golf world when it comes to serious tournament golf. The first two rounds of the Masters, where he broke the tournament made cuts record, drew the best ESPN audience for the event since 2015. Tiger still sells, but he is barely playing.
Who else sells? It’s not one player anymore. It has to be by committee—and even then, there is a personality shortage compared to other sports.
It should be noted that last week’s Zurich Classic drew 1.85 million viewers, up 26 percent from last year. That event was won by the team of Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry. One of the game’s stars came through and the ratings, while still low, were higher than expected for a lower-tier event.
Another Reminder That Golf On TV Is Broken
I’ve talked about this at length and won’t repeat everything again, but golf is a very tough watch on TV.
With 54 minutes of commercials for a typical three-hour broadcast window, the golf has to be outstanding for most people to stay connected. And I think it’s fair to say that my generation and younger people are not that invested in certain players anymore—not to the point of consistently watching a tired TV product.
Last week, I wrote about the “YouTube qualifier” for the Myrtle Beach Classic. That video had 16 golfers (pros and content creators) competing for one spot in an alternate-field Tour event.
Six days after publishing, the video has 800,000 views. The golf played is not particularly special, and that particular video needs some tweaks for future years, but there are entertaining people involved and the product is on-demand.
The content creators involved have a business that starts with what fans want—whether it’s engaging personalities, different formats or unique venues. And their videos, of which there are thousands, are being watched by millions over several years rather than exclusively in a four-day span.
Isn’t it obvious that people want to watch more than pure skill and serious competition? It’s about rooting for people and personalities, finding a connection deeper than the game itself.
Pro golf is lacking that.
Where Do We Go From Here?
I think there are elements of pro golf that can be reimagined to make a more compelling product.
For instance, I’m a believer that we need a form of meaningful relegation in golf. There also needs to be an investment in better player/caddie audio and entertaining snackable content outside the competition.
But ultimately this will all reside in the hands of the players to invest in the watchability of their sport.
Being able to play golf at a high level is only a valuable skill if people are interested in watching.
And, like all sports, the path to getting there is for the players to genuinely care. They have to care about how golf is watched and they have to care about the final result.
Until that happens, I don’t see how golf viewership on TV will increase.
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