The PGA Tour has chosen “not to opt out of its current television deals” with CBS and NBC and will stick with the two nets through ’21, according to Brian Wacker of GOLF DIGEST. The Tour could have opted out of its current deal “as soon as 2018.” The deadline to do so was Friday. SportsBusiness Journal last year reported the Tour had “reached out to several outlets … to gauge interest in a potential deal, or in potentially helping the tour launch its own channel.” PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan earlier this year indicated that creating its own net was not “in the immediate plans.” Wacker noted the Tour’s deal with Golf Channel ”has no opt-out clause and is signed through 2021” (GOLFDIGEST.com, 9/3). Golf writer Geoff Shackelford noted the "cost of risking partnerships and jumping in with new partners was too great, with no clear sign of a positive outcome for such a move at a time ratings are down." Some people at the Tour were "reportedly pushing for change," but Monahan "made the right call to put off any shake-up for a few years" while the schedule is revamped. That will allow the Tour to "get a better sense of how the cable vs. streaming wars play out and strike a better deal going forward" (GEOFFSHACKELFORD.com, 9/3).
