The first call Golf Channel President Mike McCarley made when NBC Sports Group picked up the rights to the British Open last summer went to Arnold Palmer, who was part of the crew that launched the channel in '95. “We talked about how proud the employees must be -- especially those who believed in what, in 1995, must have seemed like a far-fetched dream,” McCarley said. Golf Channel execs describe ad sales as healthy, with brands like Mercedes, MasterCard, Rolex and Geico buying time on TV and digital. Titleist, Srixon, TaylorMade and Callaway also are in. Golf Channel also set up partnerships with Buzzfeed, SB Nation, The Whistle and DirecTV to help court younger viewers. THE DAILY caught up with McCarley to get a sense of how the channel is approaching its first major championship.
Q: How do deals with SB Nation and The Whistle help your business?
McCarley: This is the power of these long-term deals. Everyone is doing sports rights deals for much longer periods of time. When we made our commitment to the R&A to raise the profile of their event, it was a complete commitment from our entire company. We have our “Champion Golfer of the Year” promos running on all 20 NBC television networks. We have new digital partnerships that our company has formed since we did a deal with the R&A a year ago. That’s where SB Nation and The Whistle come in.
Q: Why do those deals?
McCarley: It is about reaching a younger more digitally engaged audience in an authentic way. SB Nation knows their audience really well. It’s about speaking to them in an authentic way about the event. It’s a partnership. We’re giving them scoreboards, videos, leaderboards. There’s a sharing of assets between the two companies. The Whistle is similar. Obviously it’s video based. There’s a video series that’s being shot and edited now that’s using humor to inform and entertain this younger audience -- mostly younger men and boys -- about the unique aspects of links golf -- from the wind and the rain to having to bounce your ball up to the green.
Q: How will Golf Channel’s version of the DirecTV mosaic be different?
McCarley: We’re making an effort to bring more attention to the first tee. It’s a philosophy that producer Tommy Roy has for an event like this: when you qualify you earn the right to be there, which means you also earned the right to be seen on television. Starting at 1:30am Thursday, we’ll come on the air on Golf Channel and on the mosaic, there will be one dedicated feed to the first tee. You’ll see each pairing go off the first tee on that channel.
