Golf and sports media for Sports Business Journal (@SBJ). Contributor: @5ClubsGolf on Golf Channel. Proverbs 3: 5
Charlotte, NC
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Sports television at its finest. Barely a word said by CBS over nearly 7 minutes.
The Masters
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I love this Bill Walton story about the Celtics seeing the Dead for the first time:
Grateful Dead
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PGA Tour debuts a new “smart trace” that changes colors based on fairway probability
PGA TOUR
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Bryson DeChambeau’s YouTube video with Donald Trump has more than 1.8M views around 8 hours after its posting earlier today.
It’s currently the #1 trending video on YouTube
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Andy Nesbitt
NBC is using moving drone tracing tech for the first time at the US Women’s Open. This is the same tech that won the @PGATOUR a Sports Emmy recently
U.S. Women's Open
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Shrink the game.
The 🐐 Jack Nicklaus in Good Good
Video with Jack Nicklaus is live now on YouTube!
piped.video/i5oqHKgp7WI?si=1RoV…
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. @CaitlinClark22 will appear at a women's leadership summit for @ANNIKA59's LPGA event next month, @theANNIKAlpga. Clark will also play in the Wednesday pro-am. Both Clark and the tournament are sponsored by Gainbridge
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Say it louder for the folks in the back, EVR.
Erik van Rooyen was asked about qualifying for next week's $20 million, no-cut Truist Championship via the Aon Swing 5, and he responded:
"How honest do you want me to be?"
He then continued: "I hate it (laughter). I strongly believe that the strongest fields are the ones with the most players in them. The guys on the PGA Tour are so good. It’s so deep. I get that you’ve got the Scotties of the world, the Rorys of the world, and people want to see them, it’s entertaining. Like the PGA Championship coming up, for example, I think it’s the strongest field in the game, similar to The Players. I love competing, so selfishly I want to compete against those guys. Again, really proud of playing my way into it."
Van Rooyen has been consistent on his opposition to the PGA Tour's new signature-event model. At last year's Arnold Palmer Invitational, he shared with Golf Channel his opinion of remarks by Rory McIlroy and Wyndham Clark wishing for a leaner, meaner tour:
“I saw Wyndham’s comment. Two years ago, Wyndham was in the 100-125 spot. He would’ve lost his card, and now he’s a major winner, and all of a sudden…"
"And Rory, I know he said he wants the Tour to be more cutthroat. Well, this is the most cutthroat sport there is; you miss the cut, you’re gone, bro. You’re not making money. … The NBA has over 300 guys playing. We have 144 guys playing [next week at The Players]; that’s not a lot, and more than half of them aren’t making money."
"I think this idea that we’re worth what Premier League soccer players are worth is completely mind-blowing. I’m sorry, Jon Rahm, you’re a fantastic player, but you’re not worth the zeroes they gave you, you’re not worth more than what Cristiano Ronaldo is making. I’m sorry, we don’t have the following. We’re not the NBA, we’re not the NFL. I get there are a handful of really famous and really good golfers; how many of them have won tournaments so far this year?"
That story from 2024: nbcsports.com/golf/news/a-le…
Today's article: nbcsports.com/golf/news/erik…
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The PGA says first tee emcee Heather McMahan extended an apology to @McIlroyRory and Ryder Cup Europe and stepped down from the role
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True golf sicko story from “Rainmaker.” Playing the Old Course, Winged Foot and Pebble in ONE DAY
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CBS says final round of @TheMasters drew 12.7M viewers, up 33% from 2024 and the most-watched since 2018 (Reed).
The number peaked at an insane 19.5M between 7-7:15.
If you go back 25 years, this would rank 14th overall, but among the strongest without Tiger.
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Is Tommy Fleetwood a needle-mover? His close finishes at the FedEx St. Jude Championship (3.662M) and Travelers Championship (3.519M) have been the second and fourth most-watched @PGATOUR events this season, respectively.
Tommy leads @TOURChamp by 2.
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Bryson shot 78 today and didn’t make a birdie.
Has Bryson DeChambeau mastered links golf?? The tracer on that stinger driver is a thing of beauty and it still had 183mph ball speed! 🚀
@brysondech @theopen
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Estimated golf viewership from the weekend, per a source:
LIV Mayakoba: Saturday 286K, Sunday 291K
PGA Tour: Saturday 1.61M, Sunday 2.38M
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NEWS: Alexis Ohanian has purchased the first of six teams that will be part of the @TGL, the golf league that will launch next year with backing from Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.
◾️Ohanian's wife, Serena Williams, is also part of the ownership of Los Angeles Golf Club.
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Pat McAfee
Signature model worked well for the tour this year: Hideki, Rory, Ludvig, Henley, JT, Sepp, Scottie, Keegan. Still feels odd to me though that it’s June 22 and they’re done
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PGAT really couldn’t have asked for a better season narrative-wise. Rory wins early and often. Scottie steamrolls through middle of the year. Ongoing Keegan drama. And then this late push from a feel-good story like Fleetwood.
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. @TheMasters begins next week.
Today, @SBJ has an exclusive look inside Berckmans Place, Augusta National's premier hospitality offering: tinyurl.com/2pcsvkyz
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Some numbers are in for @barstoolsports' stream of the @NV5Invite last month on the @KornFerryTour.
◾️KFT social channels grew 220% over the average week.
◾️KFT section of PGATour.com saw a 98% increase in traffic over same week in '22.
◾️82% of audience under 35
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LIV Golf has a new tech partnership with @Google that will allow fans to watch any group or player, live, throughout a tournament round.
The "Any Shot, Any Time" feature is expected to roll out in full this summer: tinyurl.com/fre9zafc
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Golf Channel drew a whopping 1.5 million viewers for the Rory McIlroy-JJ Spaun playoff yesterday morning 9-10am (including NBC’s digital streaming properties). Big, big number for that time of day on cable
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CBS gets 3.3M viewers for Pebble Beach final round, which would be the highest for the event since 2021 (Berger won, Spieth T3) at 4.19M.
That would rank as the most-watched non-major, non-Players broadcasts for all of last season.
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Cool video from ANGC on the sod being laid down at the Augusta Municipal Golf Course
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Interesting discussion here. Maybe wrong but first time I can recall someone like Hicks, Nantz, etc. referring to a LIV team
by name.
Vid Clip Hero
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There will be fewer TV commercials at the API this week on NBC and Golf Channel.
Mastercard is sponsoring segments during live play tailored around player-caddie strategy in lieu of traditional ad breaks
sportsbusinessjournal.com/Ar…
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NBC once again will make the final hour of US Open coverage commercial free on Sunday night, thanks to presenting sponsorship from Rolex.
◾️NBC has done this every year since it re-acquired US Open rights in 2020.
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Been a while since Sean O'Hair popped up. Last man in the field. Drove from Lubbock to Dallas yesterday morning (5 1/2 hours), arrived in Canada last night. No practice round. Shoots 63 this morning to lead the tournament. Golf.
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Nick Faldo will temporarily come out of broadcasting retirement to call the Open Championship next week across NBC/USA.
◾️NBC Sports is also bringing on Trey Wingo to host its "All Access" whip-around show on Thursday-Friday on Peacock.
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Trout National, the golf club Mike Trout is building with Tiger Woods, released some AI renderings of what the property will look like.
The club, expected to open next year, includes five-star lodging and a chapel, among other amenities
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BIG numbers for the RBC Canadian Open on Sunday.
◾️CBS draws 3.304M viewers for Nick Taylor's walk-off win, the highest total for the final round of the event in 23 years (Tiger in 2000). It peaked with 6.767M.
◾️Sunday also up 19% from 2.78M for Rory McIlroy's win last year.
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Big number for the RBC Heritage: CBS draws 4.152M viewers for Sunday's final round, up 11% from 3.676M last year.
That is the most-watched final round on the @PGATOUR this season, excluding the Masters.
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The @LPGA and @GolfChannel are expanding coverage of @CaitlinClark22's pro-am round next week in Florida.
Her range warmup will be live streamed, with a walk-and-talk interview and live look-ins also expected. tinyurl.com/mrywrrnb
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Pretty cool media storyline around the @uswomensopen.
◾️Emilia Migliaccio has a 4:18pm tee time tomorrow at Pebble Beach. But before she tees off, she'll be calling featured groups on Peacock.
◾️On Friday she'll call the afternoon on Peacock following her morning round.
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Golf viewership from Sunday
PGA Tour: 1.746M viewers for Brian Harman's win in the Valero Texas Open (NBC).
LIV Golf: 484,000 for Marc Leishman's win at LIV Miami (Fox).
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The Sunday number for RBC (4.36M) on CBS was the largest for the final round of the event since 2002.
For the weekend CBS averaged nearly 3.3M, up 62% from 2024.
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Meanwhile, there are new billboards in the Dallas area with DeChambeau promoting LIV Dallas later in June
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Captain America delivers: CBS draws 3.519M viewers for Keegan Bradley's come-from-behind win in the @TravelersChamp, up 35% from 2.607M last year (Scheffler).
Prior two years were 2.440M (Bradley) and 2.585M (Schauffele).
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It's Ryder Cup week.
Looking ahead to 2025 at Bethpage Black, officials will move the first tee up by about 40 yards to allow one grandstand to wrap that teeing ground as well as the nearby 18th green.
The shorter distance at No. 1 may bring the green into play off the tee.
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The kiddo asked to put the Masters on YouTube so we went with 2020. I’d be on board with ANGC playing a November Masters every five years or so
The Masters
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A big win for Tommy Fleetwood and NBC. Sunday's final round of the Tour Championship averaged 4.491M viewers, up 34% from last year when it drew 3.358M.
Sunday is the most-viewed non major of the season
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Why spend $10,000 on a daily ticket to the Ryder Cup when you can bid that much for a used vice captains cart from Bethpage Black?
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Talked to the USGA this morning. Because of the layout of Oakmont's 18th, there is no corporate hospitality on that hole. Only general admission grandstands.
My biggest issue with the buildout here: If you’re paying $250+ for a general grounds ticket, even with F&B built in, there should be some general grandstand seating around 18. None here. All corporate
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Ratings! Players Championship on Sunday on NBC: 3.6M, up from 3.5M for last year's final round.
Prior two years: 4.1M (Scheffler) and 2.9M (weather, Smith)
Peak audience for Sunday was at 7pm: 6.2M, up from 6M last year.
Weekend average just over 3M
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The Open
My biggest issue with the buildout here: If you’re paying $250+ for a general grounds ticket, even with F&B built in, there should be some general grandstand seating around 18. None here. All corporate
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Golf viewership: CBS draws 3.4M viewers for Ludvig Aberg's win in the Genesis Invitational, up 5% from 3.2M last year (Hideki).
Prior two years: 3.4M (2023) and 2.6M (2022).
Sunday's 3.4M would be the most-watched non major since the 2024 Players (3.5M).
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CBS averages 2.918M viewers for Scottie Scheffler's dominating win Sunday in the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, up 66% from 1.757M last year for Taylor Pendrith.
Prior two years were 2.326M (Day) and 2.848M (KH Lee, Spieth 2nd).
CBS for the weekend: 2.224M, up 56% from 2024.
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Mel Reid giving it the Johnson Wagner treatment at the US Women’s Open
Golf Channel
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CBS has a big increase Sunday for Rory McIlroy's win at Quail Hollow, with the final round of the Wells Fargo Championship drawing 2.778 million viewers.
That's up 34% from 2.073 million last year for Wyndham Clark's win. Sunday peaked at 3.830 million.
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Big problems with Bobby Mac and the CBS drone. “I’m not gonna tell ya again. I spoke to the rules official before. That’s ridiculous.”
Nantz: “We’re going to have to back the drone away from him because he’s hearing everything.”
Dottie: “The drone’s headed to the airport.”
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Am so glad we’re maybe past drama around the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia and have moved on to a Padraig Harrington-Roger Maltbie beef at the US Senior Open
Brett Forrest
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Rendering of the first tee buildout at Bethpage. It will be moved up about 40 yards so the grandstand can cover the tee as well as the 18th green
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. @PhilMickelson's LIV team @HyFlyers_GC say they've donated 16 million golf balls and 1.6 million golf clubs to U.S. troops through their partnership with Bunkers in Baghdad
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Golf viewership from Sunday: NBC draws 3.5M for the final round of the BMW Championship (Scheffler).
That's up 43% from 2.5M last year for Keegan Bradley. Prior two years were 3.0M (Hovland on CBS) and 2.8M (Cantlay on NBC).
LIV Golf Indy on Sunday: 426,000 on Fox
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This is the first week the tour has done this type of sponsor integration with Morgan Stanley just overlayed on the tee box. Makes so much sense and I would think is pretty easy to execute
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. @fried_egg_golf has become one of the most popular young companies in golf over its first decade. What do the next 10 years hold in store?
“I want to be a part of changing the way that people play, experience and think about golf.” — @AndyTFE sportsbusinessjournal.com/Ar…
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Tracking NBC's commercial load for the final round today, 2-7pm ET.
Through one hour: 14 1/2 minutes of commercials, including 5 1/2 minutes of the Playing Through variety.
For comparison: CBS had 12 minutes, 50 seconds for the same hour at the PGA last month.
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The Min Woo Effect. NBC draws 2.676M viewers for the final round of the Houston Open (no streaming). That's up 44% from 1.858M last year (Jaeger).
This event replaced the old Match Play. That event drew 2.033M in 2023 (Burns) and 1.813M in 2022 (Scheffler).
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NBC is keeping with tradition this week in Phoenix, as Kevin Kisner and Smylie Kaufman will be stationed alongside the 16th tee at TPC Scottsdale on Saturday.
CBS has had Amanda Renner and Colt Knost there the last couple of years.
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Joel Dahmen (@Joel_Dahmen) has partnered with Bushmills Irish Whiskey, the official whiskey of the @PGATOUR.
Dahmen will get his own signature cocktail, "Joel's Juicy Lie," which will be available at tour events starting this week at the BMW.
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Golf viewership continues to drop: CBS drew 9.589M viewers for the final round of the Masters on Sunday, down 20% from last year.
Scottie Scheffler's four-shot win was the second-largest deficit of the season.
Lowest final round since 2021 (9.450M for Hideki Matsuyama's win)
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CBS taps NASCAR legend Richard Petty to set the stage for moving day at the PGA in Charlotte
Golf on CBS ⛳
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In addition to the strong U.S. audience, Sky Sports in the U.K. says Sunday was its most-watched day in network history on the heels of @McIlroyRory's win.
Sky says about 7.5M tuned in for the whole day, with a record peak of 1.85M around midnight, when the tournament ended
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Hideki Matsuyama gets the final player spot in the TGL and will join @commongolf. Fills the spot vacated by Tyrrell Hatton
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CBS draws 2.607M viewers for Scottie Scheffler's win at the Travelers Championship, up 7% over last year (Keegan Bradley, 2.440M) and the most-watched final round since '21
Two years ago: 2.585M for Xander Schauffele
Sunday peaked at 4.330M during the Scheffler-Tom Kim playoff
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Viewership: Thursday's first round of the @TravelersChamp drew 537,000 on Golf Channel, up 37% from last year and the most-watched first round for the event in more than 19 years
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Rewatched CBS's telecast today and tracked some shot totals.
Overall: 338 shots shown from when the network broadcast came on at 2pm ET.
McIlroy (76), DeChambeau (69), Aberg (52), Rose (37) and Scheffler (29) were the top 5.
Patrick Reed (third alone) had just 17 shown.
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The @TGL is expected to announce later today that it will not launch until 2025 due to the damage caused at its venue in Florida.
Postponing only a short time would impact ESPN's TV windows, as well as player schedules.
Launch expected to be a similar timeframe in 2025
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Sam Harrop
NBC draws 2.187M viewers for Viktor Hovland's win in the Valspar Championship on Sunday (no streaming included). That's up 16% from 1.886M last year (Peter Malnati).
Prior two years were 2.594M (Moore) and 2.454M (Burns).
For the weekend, NBC averaged 1.745M (+10%)
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Pumped to say that after nearly 13 years on the operations/edit side of @SBJ, I'm moving to a full time reporter role.
This will allow me to focus more on golf, and I'm also going to be helping @AustinKarp cover sports media. Onward!
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For reference on CBS's peak 19.5 million number yesterday: That's only about 700K less than than the 20.2 million average for Tiger's win in 1997.
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. @livgolf_league says it drew more than 50,000 fans for its Dallas event this past week. That includes a single-day record in the U.S. for Saturday, which the league said drew 20,000.
LIV says there were ticket-buyers from all 50 states and 17 countries
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Tomorrow at 10am local time at Pebble Beach: Wyndham Clark and Vox Studios' @chadmumm will meet with the media.
Details expected around Season 2 of "Full Swing" on Netflix.
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LIV Chicago viewership: Sunday drew 344,000 from 12:00-3:45pm (Burmester playoff)
Saturday: 269K from 1:00-3:00pm on Fox.
Friday: 332K from 2:00-5:15pm.
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Nice tribute to Mark Carnevale on CBS today. Jim Nantz: “He may have led the tour all time in friends made.
Golf on CBS ⛳
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