The three-day event, to be held September 12-14 at BarsebC$ck Golf and Country Club in Malmo, Sweden, is scheduled to be broadcast live on The Golf Channel in the United States in its entirety - a first for the event.
The Golf Channel, which is available in more than 53 million US TV households, will broadcast nearly 40 hours of Solheim Cup coverage - more than three times as many total televised hours than the event featured in 2002.
In the previous deal, NBC previously produced and aired the Solheim Cup with a complement of coverage from The Golf Channel.
Stated LPGA commissioner Ty M. Votaw: “With this move to The Golf Channel, we are able to expand the number of hours televised to deliver complete coverage to fans in the United States. For the first time ever in the United States, the Solheim Cup will be broadcast live from start to finish each day, allowing viewers to experience the drama of the unique team competition featuring the very best in women’s professional golf."
The Golf Channel will televise at least 27 hours of live golf during this year’s Solheim Cup, plus both the opening and closing ceremonies and a 30-minute wrap-up show after the first two days of competition. In addition, the network will re-air three hours of the most compelling portions from each day’s competition, which will air in primetime.
The new deal is an extension of The Golf Channel's existing contract with the LPGA which includes the broadcast of at least 12 tournaments in 2003, including early round coverage of the McDonald’s LPGA Championship - one of women's golf's four majors, which will consist of at least 130 hours of live television coverage.
