According to US press reports, ratings for the British Open were down by almost one-third from 2007, whilst a round in the tour’s Canadian Open drew a rating of under 1.0 – around a million viewers – despite being shown on US broadcaster, CBS.
The decline has been attributed to a number of factors, which include Tiger Wood’s withdrawal from the Tour due to injury and the weakened global economy - both of which could worry the Tour’s sponsors.
The majority of the Tour’s sponsorship deals are due to be renegotiated in 2011, and experts predict that the average tournament purse (thought to be around $6 million, with $7-8 million for bigger events) could drop, or at best will no longer increase as it has in recent years.
But the Tour will hope that ratings will resume in 2009 when Woods returns from his surgery.
