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Notebook: PGA Tour TV Deal Big Win For USABy Gary Van Sickle
Overlooked in the breathless analysis of the PGA Tour's new four-year,
$850 million television contract was the fact that, starting in 2003, the
network that will air the most Tour action (about 200 hours) will be the same
one whose current prime-time lineup features reruns of Jag, Nash
Bridges and Walker, Texas Ranger. That's right, the USA Network is
the new sheriff on
Tour.
Other than the giant step backward taken by the Golf Channel, which was shut out of Tour telecasts, USA's great leap forward was the most significant aspect of the contract. USA signed on to cover an average of 30 events a year, although mostly only the first and second rounds. The Golf Channel showed early-round action from 10 Tour events this year and added the weekend rounds from the two tournaments held opposite majors, such as last week's B.C. Open. The Golf Channel was left with the booby prize -- 18 Buy.com tour events. Golf Channel officials tried to put a positive spin on the outcome, saying that the 70 to 90 hours of Tour coverage it lost were a drop in the bucket compared with its thousand-plus hours of live coverage of 30-plus European tour events, six Canadian tournaments and up to 16 LPGA events. Nonetheless, imagine a Football Channel without the NFL. The bottom line is that the Golf Channel still can't play with the big boys. The channel has almost 40 million households, but that's less than half as many as USA and ESPN each have. "The Golf Channel didn't look ready to pay the big money, and it doesn't have a lot of distribution," says a high-ranking executive at a major broadcast network. "When you're trying to give your sponsors distribution and you've got only 40 million homes, that's a tough sell. For USA, Thursday and Friday golf brings in a viewer who might not watch USA for any other reason. The audience that golf attracts -- affluent males -- is attractive." USA's haul of 120 events over four years makes the other networks' numbers seem puny. ABC will average 18 Tour events a year, CBS 17, ESPN nine and NBC only five. USA's quantity of telecasts may finally raise the cable channel's golf profile. "USA probably wouldn't be a golf fan's first channel to go to, but this new package will change that," says Gordon Beck, USA's senior vice president and sports executive producer. "It makes us a consistent destination for golf fans." USA lacks a strong golf identity because it works in conjunction with the over-the-air networks. If you saw Chris DiMarco's first-round 65 at the Masters, a CBS event, you were watching USA. Tiger Woods's second-round 67 at the Bay Hill Invitational, an ABC tournament, was on USA. Jerry Kelly's second-round 66 at the Players Championship, an NBC event, was on USA, which also carries first-day coverage of the Ryder Cup. USA piggybacks on the host broadcast network's trucks, lines, crews and announcing talent. USA provides two announcers -- Peter Kostis and Bill Macatee, who work for CBS on the weekends -- and a studio report based in the World Golf Village in St. Augustine, Fla. "We can work with any of the networks," Beck says. "Frankly, if you're a good announcer, it's not important to me what network the viewer attaches you to. If you see one of the better announcers on USA on a weekday and on another network on a weekend, hey, that works for me." With 21 years together, USA's Kostis and Macatee have the oldest 18-hole-tower partnership in golf. They stand to get even more exposure starting in 2003.
Battle at
Bighorn
Regardless of what you think of contrived sports events, you have to admit this about the July 30 Battle at Bighorn on ABC: The prime-time match pitting Tiger Woods and Annika Sorenstam against David Duval and Karrie Webb got a major shot in the arm when Duval won the British Open. The question remains, though: Will this made-for-TV golf event be fun or will it be phony? Here are the pros and cons. Televised live from Bighorn Golf Club in Palm Desert, Calif., starting at 8 p.m. EDT, the event will finish under the lights. That will give the whole thing a cheesy, par-3 kind of feel. On the other hand, if you're going to be watching golf that night, what would you rather see, the real thing or another call-in instructional show on the Golf Channel? The winning team will split $1.2 million (the losers will get $500,000), and as you know, Tiger really needs the money. Still, this foursome has won five of the six majors so far this year. The Skins Game wishes its field had this kind of credentials. The format will be alternate shot, with the guys teeing off on the odd-numbered holes and the women on the even-numbered ones, so admit it, we won't see what we really want: how far Woods and Double D bomb their drives past the ladies'. We will get to compare the tee shots of Woods and Duval, though, and I can't wait to see the look on Tiger's face when Annika reads a putt for him for the first time. (She's a member at Bighorn and has local knowledge.) After the match Sorenstam and Webb will take an all-night flight to London to play in the Women's British Open at Sunningdale Golf Club. Do you believe Duval or Woods would prepare for a major this way? "I'll have many more British Opens," says Webb. "This may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." In truth she and Sorenstam are taking one for the LPGA, which never gets this sort of television exposure -- except maybe in Korea. Webb has never met Duval, and Sorenstam has never spoken directly to Woods. Annika did, however, send Tiger a message via Mark Steinberg, the agent who handles affairs for both of them. "I told him to bring his A game," says Sorenstam. I don't think she was kidding. Issue date: July 30, 2001
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