Sky Television Loses Bid To Renew PGA Tour Broadcast Rights

Sky Television on Monday confirmed that "it had failed in its bid to renew the rights to US PGA Tour golf for three years, as well as the European PGA Tour and Asian Tour for an unknown period of time," according to Liam Hyslop of STUFF. It "was also yet to negotiate a deal with a different distributor for the rights to the LPGA Tour beyond the end of the year." A Sky TV spokesperson said that "it understood it was not outbid for the three tours by another company, rather the rights owners wished to trial a direct-to-customer approach to the New Zealand market." This meant that "the coverage was almost certain to switch to an online format." Sky TV "did retain the rights to the upcoming Ryder Cup, as well as three major tournaments including the Masters, US Open and Open Championship (British Open)." It "was another blow for Sky TV, after being outbid for the rights to the English Premier League by Coliseum Sports Media last year" (STUFF, 9/8).