YouTube golf vrs TV golf

[Thomas Dai]

What does it say about golf (and maybe society and economic factors) when often not very well filmed (although improving) and produced ‘content’ released on YouTube frequently by non-elite golfers and personality influencers seems to have become more and more popular and yet the appeal of elite golfers playing in formal televised events seems to have declined?
Thoughts?

Atb

[John Kavanaugh]

We can control who we watch on YouTube, we have no choice who contends for elite golf tournaments.

[Andrew Harvie]

For one, the TOUR product is absolutely horrendous filled with a lot of names the common golfer hasn't heard of after the split in pro golf, there's an overwhelming of ads and meaningless content people these days don't care about (Comcast Business Top 10?!), and the TOUR cracks the DCMA whip anytime a creator posts content on platforms that people like Grant Horvath, Good Good, etc excel in—the platforms young people use every day, multiple times a day (Instagram, TikTok, etc). It really is mind-boggling leadership and not surprising to see Youtube golf grow as dramatically as it has

[Alex_Hunter]

Free to watch and consume at any time.
Fun personalities and its over in 20-60 minutes.
vs.
Buy this specialty TV package and watch 3-7pm Thursday through Friday and some expanded times on Saturday and Sunday.
One could say boring and slow too.

[Matt Schoolfield]

Professional sports orgs are rent-seeking monopolies. YouTubers are highly competitive whipper snappers, the vast majority of which never make a dime. It should be blatantly obvious that allowing the cream to rise to the top in a highly competitive environment will produce a better product than a dinosaur vacuuming up as much money as possible.

[Steve Lapper]

So many golf fans, especially those in a younger demographic, are turned off by the PGA Tour and professional golf.

These fans run the gamut of golf proficiency and can't relate whatsoever to the tired tour-tv broadcast productions nor the profiles of their banal professionals. There is near zero "cool" or "rizz" about network golf nor anything remotely approaching an attractive vibe. Everything from pace of play to the predictable and mostly vapid personalities of the players turn them off, especially when compared to the entertaining, engaging and often humorous characters that inhabit the online golf content world.


The platforms for delivering content are vastly different with very little overlap. TV is now a nearly bygone technology, certainly on its back nine, that usually suggests a fixed focus in a singular place. While the younger generations will consume some television on their laptops or phones, tour golf hardly shines on those smaller, more mobile, platforms. YouTube golf content, and it's less-polished production values resonate far better with the under 30 set.


Engagement, identification, and personalities especially matter to younger (if not all) audiences. Pro golf, post Jack, Arnie and Tiger, has failed at most of those important qualities. Where it does succeed,  is with a handful of individual influencers, or more likely, smaller groups of entertaining people that mirror the camaraderie, competitiveness, and humor of their viewers local participation. These people understand the benefit of curating and customizing their content on YouTube. Even the large OEMs realize this.


Another reason for elite golfer viewership continuing to shrink is the perception of rampant greed amongst the tour professionals, its organizations and corner office management. Be it LIV or the PGA Tour, the stories about $$$ have been relentless and several market studies have already noticed its negative impact on viewership.


All the above, IMO, is but a start and inflection point in the inevitable shift away from the old standard model of golf, one dominated by the inhibiting influence of the pro-tour golf over to golf as an activity predicated on personal fun and enjoyment.

[Pierre_C]

Thomas,

 Do you have the viewing numbers for YouTube? I would be curious of the trend in and number of viewers.

In 2024, the average viewership per event for the PGA Tour was down 3% compared to the previous year (source).While it is premature to make definitive predictions, the viewership for PGA events in 2025 are on a downward trajectory from the prior years. Both Sentry and Sony Open had less than 500,000 viewers for the final round. The Amex event drew 232,000 viewers, nearly half the 534,000 viewers in 2024 (source).

The PGA's viewership on Saturdays and Sundays in 2024 averaged 1.5M and 2.2M viewers, which were both down 17% and 19% from their averages in 2023 (source). Incorporating all four majors, viewers averaged 2.8M, which is a 15% decrease from 2023 (image below, source).

The biggest golf TV audience is The Masters. Since the mid-1990w, the average viewership for this event has trended down.  (image below). Last year's Sunday 9.59M viewers for The Masters was down 20% from 2023's number (source).

LIV's ratings are not much better, averaging under 200,000 viewers per event.

It is premature to draw conclusions; however, TGL is facing challenges in achieving a stable viewership (source ). To ensure TGL's longevity, the league must maintain a robust viewer number to entice advertisers. The TV ratings for TGL's last 3 events suggest that investors may be concerned about the league's future. Prize money for TGL in 2025 totals $21M and its $50M accommodates 1,500 spectators (source).

9 pm Week 1 — 919,000 (Debut)
7 pm Week 2 — 1,005,000 (TW)
7 pm Week 3 — 682,000
7 pm Week 4 — 864,000 (Rory/Tiger)
9 pm Week 5 — 544,000
(source)

With that said, there were several 2024 PGA events which had an increase in viewship: PGA Championship
Rory's win at Pebble topped 3.3M viewers for Sunday's final round, biggest since 2021 tournaments which had 4.19M viewers (source).






(source)





https://apnews.com/article/masters-2024-pga-liv-tv-ratings-a9aacc490c6e3b99e09c7c2f91641f23

What does it say about golf (and maybe society and economic factors) when often not very well filmed (although improving) and produced ‘content’ released on YouTube frequently by non-elite golfers and personality influencers seems to have become more and more popular and yet the appeal of elite golfers playing in formal televised events seems to have declined?
Thoughts?

Atb

[Chris Hughes]

Thomas,

The PGA's viewership on Saturdays and Sundays in 2024 averaged 1.5M and 2.2M viewers, which were both down 17% and 19% from their averages in 2023 (source). Incorporating all four majors, viewers averaged 2.8M, which is a 15% decrease from 2023 (image below, source).

...yet the appeal of elite golfers playing in formal televised events seems to have declined?
Thoughts?

Atb

When 40% of the OWGR top-50 (20-of-top-45) decamp including 13 Major Champions with close to 30 Majors -- including the vast majority of the villains/bad boys (Reed, Koepka, Poulter, Garcia, Hatton, DeChambeau, Mickelson, etc)...


...it's gonna leave a mark.

[Mike Bodo]

IMO YouTube golf viewers prefer to engage with professional players than they do amateurs who may be slightly more entertaining, but not quite as good at the craft. Look no further than Bryson DeChambeau's YT channel as evidence and the deal Rick Shiels struck recently with LIV Golf to be their official content creator/brand ambassador and the views he's gotten in two days from his time playing a competition with Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka. Over half a million views since it posted and still going strong. A lot of top creators, i.e. Grant Horvat and Peter Finch, The Average Golfer, etc. are now getting endorsement deals with equipment and apparel manufacturers, as they see where viewership is trending and it ain't the PGA Tour.


Problem is even avid YT golf viewers are starting to check out, as over-saturation has occurred and is contributing to most channels losing subscribers. It's been bandied about that the primary reason Rick Shiels struck the deal he did with LIV was for his and his families financial security, as he'd been steadily losing subscribers and views the past year, which results in a loss of income. Many once thriving creators have come to the realization that it's hard to continue producing fresh content that hasn't already been done in order to keep subscribers engaged and coming back. Even Paige Spiranic is losing subscribers, as how many times can one continue to stare at her 'assets' and have it be revelatory? Even Bryson's struggling to come up with new ways to grow his channel and keep viewers engaged and he's arguably the biggest YT golfer out there.


There will be a "culling of the herd" on the YT side of things, as we've reached a tipping point where there's too much competition for eyeballs and no room for new creators to enter the space. TGL has a great chance of appeasing fans of both professional golf and YT golf, as it's more engaging than a typical PGA Tour or LIV event, yet has an air of being a legitimate competition featuring some of the worlds best golfers. I've actually enjoyed watching it and feel it's a bridge or conduit between green grass professional golf and YT golf.

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