The Tour is estimating showing more than 31,000 live shots over the tournament's four daysPGA TOUR
The beginning of The Players tomorrow will mark the debut of the PGA Tour's "Every Shot Live" product, as subscribers to the Tour’s OTT product, PGA Tour Live, will have access to the first-of-its kind stream, which will show every shot from every player in the 144-man field. The Tour is estimating showing more than 31,000 live shots over the tournament's four days. PGA Tour VP/Digital Operations Scott Gutterman said the plan is for every tee box to have an unmanned, fixed camera; each fairway will have at least one wireless camera; and every green at TPC Sawgrass will have a manned camera. The broadcast will have the same look and feel as the weekly PGA Tour Live product, from on-course audio to player statistics. The only missing component will be commentary from roving reporters and studio hosts. The biggest challenge, Gutterman said, will be getting content off the course and onto the Tour’s digital platforms. The Tour will have "speed round" recaps online of every player’s day just minutes after their round’s completion. The Tour tested the broadcast across the final five holes of the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February. As technology continues to evolve, the Tour does believe this is the way it will strive to present all its events in the future.
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING: Golf Digest's Brian Wacker noted the ability to show every shot of every player could change the "future of golf and how it's consumed." Specifically, gambling "stands to increase tremendously as more states make betting on sports legal." Live betting in golf has "long been popular outside the U.S. and it stands to grow even more, particularly when the bettor has the ability to see every shot as it happens." The Chicago Daily Herald's Barry Rozner noted this is the "future of sports TV." A camera focused entirely on a player will be chosen by each viewer, ultimately with the ability to "wager instantly on a specific at-bat, a particular shift, one pass play, a single possession or an essential putt, probably from the same site on which you view the action." It is easy to "envision a few years down the road this being available for every tournament and in every game of every sport."
