The final major of the golfing year is set for a live TV blackout in the U.K. after "it emerged Sky Sports had lost the rights" to the PGA Championship, according to Ewan Murray of the London GUARDIAN. The PGA of America, which runs the tournament, confirmed that Sky’s deal -- which had run for a decade -- "has not been renewed because a completely different media model is being pursued." It is "an embarrassment to Sky," which has pitched itself as the home of golf in the U.K., owing to its live coverage of the PGA and European Tours. Sky launched a dedicated golf channel "only days ago with majors at the heart." The one taking place "at Quail Hollow in a month's time will not now be included." PGA of America CCO Jeff Price said, "We had a good partnership with Sky but the 2017 U.S. PGA Championship will not be on Sky. It was a multi-year deal that was up. Ultimately one of the key things for us is scale of distribution and obviously with all the new platforms that consumers are engaging with, we want to make sure we reach all of them." Price's comments "intriguingly suggest a move away from" the traditional TV rights scene, "a matter that will be of fascination to golf insiders." Social media will "inevitably play a key part." Price: "Broad distribution, multi-platform distribution is the key objective for us. I'm not in a position yet to share all the details but we want the ability to engage golf fans of all ages across all platforms" (GUARDIAN, 7/13).
