Bryson DeChambeau’s YouTube video with Donald Trump has more than 1.8M views around 8 hours after its posting earlier today.
It’s currently the
#1
trending video on YouTube
NEWS: Alexis Ohanian has purchased the first of six teams that will be part of the
@TGL
, the golf league that will launch next year with backing from Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.
◾️Ohanian's wife, Serena Williams, is also part of the ownership of Los Angeles Golf Club.
Some numbers are in for
@barstoolsports
' stream of the
@NV5Invite
last month on the
@KornFerryTour
.
◾️KFT social channels grew 220% over the average week.
◾️KFT section of saw a 98% increase in traffic over same week in '22.
◾️82% of audience under 35
LIV Golf has a new tech partnership with
@Google
that will allow fans to watch any group or player, live, throughout a tournament round.
The "Any Shot, Any Time" feature is expected to roll out in full this summer:
NBC once again will make the final hour of US Open coverage commercial free on Sunday night, thanks to presenting sponsorship from Rolex.
◾️NBC has done this every year since it re-acquired US Open rights in 2020.
Been a while since Sean O'Hair popped up. Last man in the field. Drove from Lubbock to Dallas yesterday morning (5 1/2 hours), arrived in Canada last night. No practice round. Shoots 63 this morning to lead the tournament. Golf.
Nick Faldo will temporarily come out of broadcasting retirement to call the Open Championship next week across NBC/USA.
◾️NBC Sports is also bringing on Trey Wingo to host its "All Access" whip-around show on Thursday-Friday on Peacock.
BIG numbers for the RBC Canadian Open on Sunday.
◾️CBS draws 3.304M viewers for Nick Taylor's walk-off win, the highest total for the final round of the event in 23 years (Tiger in 2000). It peaked with 6.767M.
◾️Sunday also up 19% from 2.78M for Rory McIlroy's win last year.
Big number for the RBC Heritage: CBS draws 4.152M viewers for Sunday's final round, up 11% from 3.676M last year.
That is the most-watched final round on the
@PGATOUR
this season, excluding the Masters.
Pretty cool media storyline around the
@uswomensopen
.
◾️Emilia Migliaccio has a 4:18pm tee time tomorrow at Pebble Beach. But before she tees off, she'll be calling featured groups on Peacock.
◾️On Friday she'll call the afternoon on Peacock following her morning round.
It's Ryder Cup week.
Looking ahead to 2025 at Bethpage Black, officials will move the first tee up by about 40 yards to allow one grandstand to wrap that teeing ground as well as the nearby 18th green.
The shorter distance at No. 1 may bring the green into play off the tee.
CBS has a big increase Sunday for Rory McIlroy's win at Quail Hollow, with the final round of the Wells Fargo Championship drawing 2.778 million viewers.
That's up 34% from 2.073 million last year for Wyndham Clark's win. Sunday peaked at 3.830 million.
Big problems with Bobby Mac and the CBS drone. “I’m not gonna tell ya again. I spoke to the rules official before. That’s ridiculous.”
Nantz: “We’re going to have to back the drone away from him because he’s hearing everything.”
Dottie: “The drone’s headed to the airport.”
Tracking NBC's commercial load for the final round today, 2-7pm ET.
Through one hour: 14 1/2 minutes of commercials, including 5 1/2 minutes of the Playing Through variety.
For comparison: CBS had 12 minutes, 50 seconds for the same hour at the PGA last month.
NBC is keeping with tradition this week in Phoenix, as Kevin Kisner and Smylie Kaufman will be stationed alongside the 16th tee at TPC Scottsdale on Saturday.
CBS has had Amanda Renner and Colt Knost there the last couple of years.
Joel Dahmen (
@Joel_Dahmen
) has partnered with Bushmills Irish Whiskey, the official whiskey of the
@PGATOUR
.
Dahmen will get his own signature cocktail, "Joel's Juicy Lie," which will be available at tour events starting this week at the BMW.
Golf viewership continues to drop: CBS drew 9.589M viewers for the final round of the Masters on Sunday, down 20% from last year.
Scottie Scheffler's four-shot win was the second-largest deficit of the season.
Lowest final round since 2021 (9.450M for Hideki Matsuyama's win)
CBS draws 2.607M viewers for Scottie Scheffler's win at the Travelers Championship, up 7% over last year (Keegan Bradley, 2.440M) and the most-watched final round since '21
Two years ago: 2.585M for Xander Schauffele
Sunday peaked at 4.330M during the Scheffler-Tom Kim playoff
The
@TGL
is expected to announce later today that it will not launch until 2025 due to the damage caused at its venue in Florida.
Postponing only a short time would impact ESPN's TV windows, as well as player schedules.
Launch expected to be a similar timeframe in 2025
Tomorrow at 10am local time at Pebble Beach: Wyndham Clark and Vox Studios'
@chadmumm
will meet with the media.
Details expected around Season 2 of "Full Swing" on Netflix.
NBC draws 3.5M viewers for Scottie Scheffler's win in the Players Championship (per
@SportsTVRatings
), down from 4.1M last year.
Two years ago: 2.9M for Sunday coverage (Cam Smith won on a Monday).
2021: 4.6M for Justin Thomas.
No golf telecasts were in the top 100 sports broadcasts in 2023.
With 12.1 million viewers (golf's most-watched event), the final round of the Masters was the 131st-most-viewed sporting event:
The
@bryanbrosgolf
will have their own alternate stream on
@PGATOURLIVE
for the FedExCup Playoffs opener in Memphis.
That and other plans for the tour's postseason:
John Deere Classic: 2.102M viewers on CBS for Davis Thompson’s win on Sunday, the most watched for the final round since 2015 (the last time Jordan Spieth competed).
That’s up 32% from last year and Sepp Straka’s win. Third straight week of final round gains for CBS
Some non-US Open golf news: The final hour of Sunday's KPMG Women's PGA Championship will get commercial-free treatment thanks to a sponsorship from Callaway Golf.
🔵 NBC Sports is nearly doubling its coverage from last year and will be on the air 26 hours this week.
NBC says 1.58M viewers for Allisen Corpuz's win in the final round of the U.S. Women's Open, the second-best for the event since 2009 (2014 Michelle Wie).
On the
@PGATOUR
, CBS drew 1.59M for Sepp Straka's win at the John Deere Classic. 1.91M last year for the Deere.
Sunday's final round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, won by Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry, drew 1.852M viewers on CBS, up 26% from last year (1.470M).
It's the most-watched final round for the event since '21 and second-best since 2015. Coverage peaked near 2.8M.
@GolfChannelPR
Are you saying you were not allowed to go live *at all* to cover the biggest breaking news story of the year? Can't even cut in to Stamford? We're talking about covering a new story, not live golf?
And I don't know what you're referring to regarding live play. It did not get
The
@LPGA
is adding a new event at TPC Boston next year, the FM Global Championship.
It’s a five-year commitment from commercial insurance firm FM Global.
Purse is $3.5M (highest non-major or Tour Championship), and will expand by $300k each year starting in 2025
Xander Schauffele's win in the PGA Championship draws 4.958M viewers on CBS, up 10% from 4.517M last year for Brooks Koepka.
CBS had big head-to-head competition with the Knicks-Pacers Game 7 (3:30-6:11) which drew 6.447M, the second best game of the NBA Playoffs to date.
Sources: Farmers Insurance is not expected to renew its deal for the Torrey Pines PGA Tour event when it expires in 2026.
It's part of a larger scaling back in golf for the company, which also did not renew its partnership with Rickie Fowler:
Pretty sizeable drop in Ryder Cup viewership on NBC:
Saturday: 1.414M
Sunday: 1.315M
Last European Ryder Cup (2018 in France):
Sunday: 2.467M
Saturday: 2.116M
The
@TGL
has finalized its media-rights deal with
@ESPN
, which will see matches air on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN+.
First telecast: Tuesday, Jan. 9 at 9pm ET on ESPN.
Additionally, more players for the league are expected to be announced later today.
Truist is officially the new sponsor of Charlotte’s
@PGATOUR
event.
The Truist Championship will go to Philly Cricket next year, as
@BrendanPorath
has said, before coming back to Charlotte.
It will be a signature event for the next seven years:
PGA Tour viewership from Sunday: 891K viewers for Grayson Murray's win at the Sony Open on NBC, up 24% from 720K last year.
Golf Channel coverage earlier in the day: 425K, up 16% from last year (365K).
A long-awaited viewership increase for the PGA Tour.
Sunday's final round of the Valero Texas Open drew 1.953M viewers on NBC, up 21% from last year.
NBC had head-to-head competition with the NCAA women's final, which drew 18.7M.
Two years ago for Valero: 2.324M
Patrick Cantlay has a new sponsorship with Apollo Global Management that will see the company's logo on his hat starting next week at the AmEx.
Cantlay is the company's first brand ambassador.
News: LIV Golf will add YouTube back as a streaming option starting today in DC.
◾️Viewers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico can stream LIV for $3 per day.
◾️Rounds will be free on YouTube in other select international markets.
◾️LIV is still free on The CW and LIV apps.
Nick Dunlap's historic win at the AmEx on Sunday drew 534K viewers on Golf Channel, up 37% from Jon Rahm's win last year (391K).
That's the best for the event's final round since 2019 (574K for Adam Long-Phil Mickelson)
There were 3 scores of 59 or better on the PGA Tour before 2010. There have been 10 since then. It’s obviously incredible scoring but just does not have the same pop from a historical standpoint anymore.
World No. 3 Jon Rahm has signed a long-term extension with
@CallawayGolf
.
◾️Rahm will play a full bag of Callaway/Odyssey equipment and continue wearing TravisMathew apparel.
◾️Rahm also gets an equity stake in Topgolf Callaway Brands.
Sources: The
@TGL
now has plans to build a steel-supported venue that can withstand a Category 5 hurricane.
The league still plans on launching in January of next year:
Sources: Change is coming to how PGA Tour event purses are funded starting in the 2025 season, with the tour asking tournaments for an additional fee.
One tournament director: “You’re playing in a sport that has a cap on it, and we’ve reached our cap.”
Golf viewership continues to drop: CBS drew 9.589M viewers for the final round of the Masters on Sunday, down 20% from last year.
Scottie Scheffler's four-shot win was the second-largest deficit of the season.
Lowest final round since 2021 (9.450M for Hideki Matsuyama's win)
Here at Trump Doral: Phil Mickelson is asked if there will be another exodus of players from other tours to LIV next year. He responds: “I know that.” Says he and others have been fielding many calls from players asking to join
Some Nielsen data on Season 1 of “Full Swing” and its impact on golf:
▪️63% of “Full Swing” viewers tuned in to PGA Tour golf in the two months following its debut.
▪️11% of viewers had not watched the PGA Tour in the six months prior to the show, but did so after
NBC says it drew 6.2M viewers across broadcast/Peacock for Wyndham Clark's win Sunday in the U.S. Open. That's up from 5.4M last year and the most-watched since 2019.
Five-year trend:
2023: 6.2M
2022: 5.4M
2021: 5.7M (West Coast)
2020: 3.2M (September)
2019: 7.3M (West Coast)
LIV Golf has made former PepsiCo exec Adam Harter its new chief marketing officer.
Harter led Pepsi’s sponsorship of the Super Bowl halftime show as well the brand’s sponsorship of LeBron James:
CBS draws 2.472M viewers for Cam Davis's win at the Rocket Mortgage Classic on Sunday.
That's up 1% from 2.450M last year for Rickie Fowler's win, which was shown on tape delay due to weather.
Sunday's number is the highest for a non-major/Signature event of the year
The
@PGATOUR
is requiring tournaments to make a number of enhancements in 2024, with many focused on player families, caddies and teams.
Among the notable items: Courtesy car programs at all events, more player restrooms on the course:
ESPN doesn’t provide viewership figures for ESPN+, but the PGA Tour says its Thursday/Friday
@PGATOURLIVE
featured groups coverage saw a 19% increase over 2022 with Lexi Thompson competing
@TGL
@alexisohanian
@serenawilliams
@SBJ
@GettyImages
@TMRWSports
More here: Ohanian's people were interested within days of TGL's creation.
◾️There are around 40 groups still in the bidding process for the remaining five teams.
◾️TGL plans to have the rest of the ownership groups announced by late summer:
Matt Goodman, the president of franchises for LIV Golf since May, is no longer with the organization, my colleague
@EricPrisbell
is reporting. LIV COO Atul Khosla also stepped down from his role recently
NBC draws 1.8 million viewers for Jake Knapp's win in the Mexico Open on Sunday.
That's down 23% from 2.3 million for Tony Finau's win last year on CBS, which aired in late April.
Two years ago: 2.28 million for Jon Rahm.
Maestro Dobel Tequila has signed a multiyear partnership with Jon Rahm's LIV Golf team.
Maestro Dobel first partnered with Rahm at the beginning of 2023.
Maestro Dobel is also an official marketing partner of the PGA Tour:
I was lucky enough to play Augusta National on Monday.
It was a very brief, but much needed, reprieve from the current climate surrounding men's pro golf:
This week's PGA Championship at Valhalla has set new records for ticket and hospitality sales.
Officials expect around 200,000 fans on the ground throughout the week:
The PGA Tour's "Every Shot Live" is back this week at TPC Sawgrass.
Tour executives hope to expand the product to more tournaments within 24 months, likely starting with Signature events:
NBC averaged 3.259M viewers for Kurt Kitayama's win at the
@APinv
on Sunday.
That's up from 2.825M for Scottie Scheffler last year.
The
@PGATOUR
has now seen year-over-year viewership increases for each of the full-field designated events this season
Arthur Blank is the latest owner in the
@TGL
and will have a team based out of Atlanta.
The Atlanta team is the third of six to be revealed, with others already announced for L.A. and Boston.
Dick Sullivan, who runs the PGA Tour Superstore, will manage team operations.
.
@jcorrigangolf
says the PGA Tour and PIF have extended their deal deadline and now hope to reach an agreement before the Masters, which starts 15 weeks from today:
The NYT's Dealbook is reporting that LeBron James and Drake have both invested in the
@PGATOUR
. Other name investors include actor Chris Pratt, Maverick Carter and Rich Paul:
NBC draws 5.9M viewers for Bryson DeChambeau’s win on Sunday.
That’s up from two years ago and 5.4M for Matt Fitzpatrick at Brookline, the last US Open in EST.
Down just a hair from 6.2M last year for Wyndham Clark, which finished in primetime due to the event being in L.A.