PGA Tour Alters FedEx Cup Times On NBC To Accommodate ND Games

NBC's Notre Dame Games Force PGA Tour To Alter Start Times For FedEx Cup Tournaments

Scheduling conflicts will force the PGA Tour's final two FedEx Cup playoff events, the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship, to "move up their time windows to accommodate NBC’s commitment to air Notre Dame home football games, which could further affect television ratings for events that will already suffer from the absence" of Tiger Woods, according to Jon Show of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. Saturday coverage of most Tour events airs from 3:00-6:00pm ET, but the two events will "move tee times up nearly three hours so the conclusion of Saturday’s rounds fit NBC’s" 12:30-3:30 window. Notre Dame's contract with NBC mandates that the net air September games at 3:30. Tour and NBC officials "were aware of the potential Notre Dame time conflicts when they signed a six-year television rights deal that began with the introduction" of the playoffs in '07. Tour and NBC officials said that there will be "other scheduling conflicts between playoff events and Notre Dame games in the remaining four years of the tour’s television contract" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 8/25 issue).

BARCLAYS RATINGS: CBS for its final round coverage Sunday of the PGA Tour The Barclays, the first tournament in the FedEx Cup playoffs, earned a 1.8/4 overnight Nielsen rating, down 14.3% from last year's 2.1/5.  Tiger Woods did not play in last year's event (THE DAILY).