Financial details of the agreement, which will run through to 2021, have not been disclosed. However, PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem did confirm there had been an increase in the rights fee and there would also be an increase in the prize money pool. The Tour’s existing 15-year broadcast contract with Golf Channel will also expire in 2021.
“A 10-year runway gives our sponsors a lot of confidence in where the television side of the sport is going to be, and that helps us in terms of creating value for our sponsors, maintaining continuity with our sponsors and extending our sponsors into the future,” Finchem told The Associated Press. Despite the economic crisis, the Tour has signed up 10 new tournament title sponsors and renewed contracts with title sponsors of 12 other events.
Under the terms of the new deal, CBS will have about 20 tournaments, starting with the West Coast at Torrey Pines and concluding with the first FedEx Cup play-off event. NBC will broadcast about 10 events including the last three play-off competitions. NBC will have two World Golf Championships early in the year while CBS will have the other at Firestone in late summer. Golf Channel will have the other tournaments, and the network deals with the major championships are separate.
NBC Sports chairman Mark Lazarus added: “We're thrilled to extend for nine more years and to be in business for the next decade. The NBC Sports Group is obviously very bullish on the sport of golf and the PGA Tour. It's a business deal that makes sense for our company and will be profitable.” The new agreements allow for live simulcast coverage on the broadcast partners’ websites.
