When former Royal & Ancient Golf Club CEO Peter Dawson "swept away 60 years of tradition on the BBC and contentiously ushered in a new era for live broadcasting of The Open," he did so with the words, "Believe me, if you had the same information, you would have made the same decision," according to Derek Lawrenson of the London DAILY MAIL. He was not "just referring to the size of the fee paid by new partner Sky, but promises made regarding quality and breadth of coverage." This week, as Sky takes over at the 145th edition at Royal Troon, "we will get to see those promises for ourselves." Not surprisingly, "given the momentousness of the occasion, there is a palpable air of nervousness and excitement among Sky’s 120-strong team," which is bracing itself not only for a series of 2:30am alarm calls but also the public reaction.
One of its commentators said, "Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great privilege to be doing The Open, but you do worry we’re on a hiding to nothing." Naturally, it is "not a view shared completely" by Sky Sports Managing Dir Barney Francis. He said, "I like the fact that our talent recognize it’s different from the usual golf events we cover, because that frisson of excitement brings out the best in them. As for the other bit about taking over from a free-to-air broadcaster, we’ve been here before. ... We win people over because we do things properly." Given the way football dominates large parts of the sporting agenda, it is "quite cheering to see vast murals underlining Sky’s commitment to golf." Intriguingly, there "are no obvious ones for other sports apart from football." Francis said, "It’s an interesting one where golf stands, and we’re spending a lot of time right now looking at the various interests of sports fans in this country. What we’re finding is that people have a lot of sports that are their second favorite, and golf figures very highly in that, as do rugby union, cricket and Formula One." There is only one thing Francis is not looking forward to, and that is "the inevitable phone calls on Friday morning pointing out that the overnight viewing figures are minuscule by comparison to the BBC." He said, "That antiquated argument just drives me mad" (DAILY MAIL, 7/10).
