The PGA Tour is on the verge of signing new deals with CBS and NBC that will see its rights fees go up by around 60%, according to a report by John Ourand of Sports Business Journal.
The Tour’s current contracts with CBS, NBC and Golf Channel run through 2021. According to the SBJ report, the Tour has agreed to terms on a new deal with Golf Channel that will see those rights fees more than double. He reports it is not known if the Tour will take an ownership stake in Golf Channel as part of the deal. The current Golf Channel deal was negotiated in 2006, according to the report.
CBS and NBC will continue with their current regular-season packages, but with one big change: the networks will alternate years carrying the three FedEx Cup playoff tournaments.
The network deals, which have not yet been signed, are for nine years running from 2022-2030, the report says. NBC will get the FedEx Cup in five of those years, while CBS will get four.
Ourand estimates the new deals will bring in $700 million annually to the Tour, while its current deals were worth $400 million. An official announcement on the Tour’s new contracts is not expected until early next year.
Still to be worked out, it appears, are the digital rights. NBC Sports has those now, as part of the PGA Tour Live products. Ourand reports that ESPN is trying to make a play in that space with its increasingly popular ESPN+. Amazon showed initial interest but dropped out of the bidding.
This is the first big media rights deal negotiated by PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, who took over for Tim Finchem in 2017.
Perhaps in anticipation of the TV rights discussions, CBS has underdone an extreme makeover of its golf broadcast team in recent weeks. Longtime coordinating producer Lance Barrow is expected to announce that the 2020 season will be his final year.
In October, CBS announced that it chose not to renew the contracts of longtime broadcasters Peter Kostis and Gary McCord and signed Davis Love III as an analyst. CBS also wooed Frank Nobilo away from NBC/Golf Channel and expanded his role to full-time analyst. The network also promoted Dottie Pepper to lead on-course reporter and announced Michelle Wie will join its multimedia coverage this season, including at the Masters.
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