Tiger Woods of the United States plays his third shot from the rough on the 17th hole during the final round of the 147th Open Championship at Carnoustie Golf Club on Jul. 22, 2018 in Carnoustie, Scotland. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
NBC Sports is bolstering its OTT subscription service, NBC Sports Gold, by adding PGA Tour Live from 2019. The golf package will include live broadcast from 28 tournaments, starting from the first two rounds of each tournament on Thursday and Friday morning, as well as highlights, recaps, and other shoulder content.
Since launching in 2016 with a Cycling Pass for the Tour de France and other multi-stage races, NBC Sports Gold has been adding a number of sport-specific subscriptions for consumers seeking supplementary coverage to what airs on linear TV. The other offerings include soccer (English Premier League), rugby, track and field, figure skating, pro motocross, and speed skating. An IndyCar Pass will also launch next year.
“Since we launched PGA Tour Live in late 2015, the fan feedback has been tremendous,” said PGA Tour chief media officer Rick Anderson in a press release. “In 2018, virtually every key metric is up triple digits versus last year and the coverage gets better and better every week … Not only will Golf Channel and NBC Sports be promoting PGA Tour Live to its massive audience of millions of television and digital viewers, but also, PGA Tour Live will now be available on several new connected TV devices due to NBC Sports’ expanded platform distribution.”
PGA Tour Live is expected to air more than 360 hours of streaming coverage, enhanced by integrated statistical feeds, spotlight coverage of iconic holes, and entire rounds of high-profile golfers such as Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, and Rickie Fowler. Variety reported that the PGA’s deal with NBC is for three years (financial terms were not available).
SportTechie Takeaway
There are no shortage of competitors for golf content. BAM Tech had powered PGA Tour Live since its inception and, since Disney’s acquisition of that media company, some of the programming has been available on ESPN+. Over the last couple of years, the first 60 to 90 minutes of tournaments has also been available for free on Twitter. The future of the Twitter partnership hasn’t been addressed yet, but that could change with the new NBC deal.
NBC’s OTT service, which is operated by Playmaker Media, reported record numbers from last February’s Super Bowl, and its continued addition of new sports properties—such as IndyCar and now PGA Tour golf—positions NBC Sports as a serious player in the streaming space. With more content available, NBC can compete with ESPN+, Bleacher Report Live, and the soon-to-launch DAZN.
