After enduring a months-long desolate sports landscape in 2020, it was a crammed calendar that ultimately opened the door to a massive shift for the USGA. On Monday, the organization officially announced that media rights for its championships have moved from Fox Sports to NBCUniversal. The Associated Press first broke the story, noting that the move ended a 12-year deal with Fox Sports worth about $1 billion.
The new deal is effective immediately, which means NBCUniversal will not only broadcast the U.S. Open at Winged Foot Sept. 17-20, but also the two U.S. Amateur championships before it, with the women kicking things off Aug. 3-9 at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Maryland. The men will play the following week at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon. The 75th U.S. Women’s Open will round out the rest of the USGA’s shortened calendar from Dec. 10-13 at Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas.
After the COVID-19 pandemic forced the USGA to move the dates of the U.S. Open from June to September, Fox Sports struggled to find the broadcast hours needed for the championship, USGA officials noted, given their additional commitments to the NFL, MLB and college football. Talks that began looking into how Fox Sports and NBC/Golf Channel might work together this year ultimately ended in NBC taking over entirely.
USGA officials went on to say that while the details are confidential, the length of the agreement with NBCUniversal will be the same as Fox in that it extends through Dec. 31, 2026, and the financial remuneration for the USGA will also remain the same for the duration of the agreement.
“Partnering with NBCUniversal, including Golf Channel, gives us an unparalleled opportunity to connect and engage with the core golf audience more directly and routinely, and as a non-profit, to continue to have a significant and lasting impact on the game,” said USGA CEO Mike Davis in a release.
NBC previously had the TV rights deal with the USGA from 1994 to 2013. Fox’s first broadcast of the U.S. Open came in 2015 at Chambers Bay with Greg Norman in the booth as lead analyst. Paul Azinger replaced him.
“Fox Sports has cherished its time as home to the USGA championships for the past six years. This is a relationship and partnership that has been second to none,” said Eric Shanks, CEO and executive producer of Fox Sports in a statement. “Recent events calling for the shift of the U.S. Open created scheduling challenges that were difficult to overcome. While we are proud of the success we’ve built over these years, this is a win for golf fans everywhere, a win for the USGA and a win for Fox and NBC Sports.”
The move back to NBC/Golf Channel should especially benefit the Women’s Open and amateur championships, which were sometimes hard to find for even core golf fans, given that Fox’s golf coverage was limited to USGA championships. Last year’s ratings at the U.S. Women’s Open in Charleston were the worst on record for the championship at 728,000 viewers.
Viewership numbers should benefit from the run-up to the championships that Golf Channel will undoubtedly provide as well as cross-promotion during other broadcasts. They’ve already agreed to bring their “Live From” program to the U.S. Women’s Open in 2021.
“We are thrilled to acquire the remainder of FOX Sports’ USGA agreement, and will carry the designated USGA events, including the U.S. Open, through 2026,” said Pete Bevacqua, president of NBC Sports Group. “Adding these prestigious USGA events to our already incredibly deep golf business, led by our long-term PGA Tour partnership, as well as The Open Championship and the Ryder Cup, positions us as absolute leaders in the golf space. This deal is advantageous for all parties, including NBC Sports, Golf Channel, Peacock and the USGA, but also FOX Sports, and we thank them for working with us to complete this transaction.”
How important are these media rights? Earlier this year at the USGA’s annual meeting at Pinehurst, the organization revealed that of the $211 million in total revenue for 2019, media rights represented 54 percent of the total revenue at $114 million.
How important is a healthy U.S. Open? Consider that every other championship the USGA conducts loses money, with the U.S. Women’s Open losing around $10 million each year.
The USGA says that profits made from the U.S. Open (last year $70 million) go directly back into the game, with $22 million of it going toward women’s championships and participation.
Fans will appreciate that the new deal also allows for commercial-free golf to continue thanks to a partnership with Rolex. Next year, eight of the USGA’s televised championships will be completely uninterrupted, including the U.S. Women’s Open and the Walker Cup. For the U.S. Open, NBC will continue the tradition of showing the last hour of the final round uninterrupted.
The timing of the news is interesting given that Golf Channel recently announced massive layoffs to its Orlando-based staff. In February, Golf Channel announced that it would move its officials from Orlando to Stamford, Connecticut, as part of a corporate consolidation.
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