Australian pay-television broadcaster Fox Sports has agreed a rights deal with the PGA of Australia through which it will broadcast the Queensland PGA Championship and New Zealand Open golf tournaments.
As an official media partner of the PGA and the PGA Tour of Australasia, Fox Sports will hold the Australian rights to broadcast the two events. They will be broadcast on Fox Sports and also available to stream live and on demand on the dedicated sports platform, Kayo.
Under the agreement, Fox Sports and Kayo coverage will be provided by the PGA’s streaming platform, PGATV, which has previously showcased the Queensland PGA, Western Australia PGA and Victorian PGA championships.
PGA of Australia commercial director Michael McDonald said the organisation was looking to transition more tournaments currently being streamed via PGATV onto broadcast television.
The Queensland PGA Championship will be staged at City Golf Club in South Toowoomba for the 11th consecutive year. The event, running from February 13-16, is one of the feature tournaments on the PGA Tour of Australasia. The NZ Open this year takes place from February 27 to March 1.
The deal comes with Fox Sports currently weighing up its position in the Australian rugby union market. Rugby Australia will reportedly commence a process to secure a new broadcast rights contract this week, with Foxtel said to be among those who will be approached.
The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper said Foxtel, commercial broadcasters Nine, Seven and Ten, digital platforms such as Amazon and telecoms operators Optus will be asked to sign non-disclosure agreements this week, ahead of Rugby Australia’s first open tender in 25 years.
Foxtel’s inclusion would come amid growing uncertainty over its status as the long-term home of Australian rugby. Fox Sports was last week reported to be ready to end its longstanding coverage as Rugby Australia’s rights from 2021 onwards come to market.
This week has also seen Foxtel conclude a deal for multi-platform rights to the 2020 Diamond League international athletics series.
