Eurosport to present 43 weeks of live PGA Tour coverage each year beginning in 2021
ISSY-LES-MOULINEAUX, France (DEC. 30, 2020) — Ahead of what promises to be a momentous year for golf, Eurosport has announced a new partnership with the PGA Tour to bring sports fans 43 weeks of live golf throughout the year.
Beginning in January 2021, Europe’s No. 1 sports destination will present live tournament coverage and highlights in more than 30 territories, including Czech Republic, Greece and Turkey, with new markets set to come on line in subsequent years, as well as continue its coverage in Denmark, Italy, Norway, Portugal and Russia.
Eurosport will feature an average of 16 prime time live hours every tournament week (Thursday to Sunday) complementing Eurosport’s premium content offering perfectly. Building on the established reach of its linear channels, Eurosport will localize coverage with local language commentary and experts, whilst leveraging the PGA TOUR’s world-class live tournament production.
The new partnership will extend the reach of the PGA TOUR to even more viewers, particularly those audiences choosing to watch via their existing television subscriptions. The coming months will offer Eurosport viewers some of the most highly anticipated tournaments on the PGA TOUR, including THE PLAYERS Championship, Farmers Insurance Open, The Genesis Invitational, and the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, as well as all the subsequent action through the FedExCup Playoffs starting in August.
It builds on Discovery’s long-term PGA TOUR partnership, announced in June 2018, and complements the existing offer from GOLFTV powered by PGA TOUR, the ‘digital home of golf’ streaming service offering the best live and on-demand content for golf fans and enthusiasts around the world. While GOLFTV will continue to be the best place for golf fans to enjoy more, deeper and richer content to satisfy all of their golf needs, Eurosport promises to continue to grow the audience in Europe with its reach into millions of homes.
Andrew Georgiou, President, Eurosport and Global Sports Rights & Sports Marketing Solutions, said: “We couldn’t be more excited to extend Discovery’s relationship with the PGA TOUR and enrich Eurosport’s offering with year-round world-class golf. This brings completely new content to the sports fans in these countries who enjoy Eurosport’s channels and platforms every day. As Home of the Olympics and as look ahead to Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, Eurosport will also be able to follow the journeys of many of the top players in the world all the way to Tokyo next summer.
“With the benefit of Eurosport’s multi-market experience and remote production expertise, we are able to deliver a level of localisation that will offer an outstanding viewing experience. As additional market rights become available to us, we are excited to help bring more fans to golf, as well as offering a new opportunity for brands looking to engage a golf and sports audience at scale,” Georgiou said.
Rick Anderson, PGA TOUR Chief Media Officer, said: “Today’s announcement is another example of why we have always been confident that our landmark partnership with Discovery would be good not only for the PGA TOUR, but also for golf fans around the world.
“Through Eurosport’s wide-reaching and ever-growing network, we’ll be delivering year-round, world-class coverage of the TOUR to more sports fans than ever before, and with localized, thoughtful programming that brings those fans closer to the game,” Anderson added.
Alex Kaplan, President and General Manager of Discovery Golf and GOLFTV, said: “Together with the PGA TOUR as our long-term partners, we are always seeking to reach more audiences and bring new fans into golf which is just what our new partnership with Eurosport promises to deliver. We have an incredible opportunity to utilise Eurosport’s scale to take this even further.
“GOLFTV continues to super serve golf fans and enthusiasts with an unrivalled offering of live PGA TOUR coverage, feature groups, deep library of on-demand content including world-class instructional series, as well as exclusive originals such as the My Games: Tiger Woodsfranchise in partnership with Tiger. The coming year will be a huge one for golf and there is no better place for golf fans to enjoy their passion than GOLFTV,” Kaplan added.
Eurosport and GOLFTV are part of Discovery, the global leader in real life entertainment, serving a passionate audience of superfans around the world. Discovery signed a ground-breaking 12-year strategic alliance with the PGA TOUR in June 2018. Its golf ecosystem also includes Golf Digest, the No. 1 most visited golf destination in the United States and the authority on how to play, what to play, and where to play.