Ken Griffey Jr. might not be the first person to come to mind when thinking of golf show hosts.
But that’s precisely what’s ahead, with Alex Weprin of The Hollywood Reporter reporting on Monday that the Hall of Fame slugger and ESPN golf analyst Michael Collins (“Griffey’s real-life best friend”) will host a show for Kevin Hart’s Laugh Out Loud (LOL) Network on YouTube.
Weprin notes in that piece that this series will premiere May 15. He also writes that Griffey and Collins are connected by golf and photography. That makes sense, as Griffey’s golf photography has even included covering the Masters this year.
The duo will host Caddie & the Kid, co-produced by content studio Bark Bark and Kevin Hart’s entertainment company Hartbeat. The show, which will debut new episodes on Hartbeat’s LOL Network on YouTube, will see Griffey and Collins tee off with celebrity guests, including Thursday Night Football analyst Ryan Fitzpatrick, Seattle Mariners stars and legends like Julio Rodriguez, Logan Gilbert, and Ichiro Suzuki, Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl champion Cooper DeJean, former LPGA pro Cheyenne Woods, former MLB outfielder Aaron Hicks, YouTube golf creator Micah Morris and others.
…“Mike and I became friends through golf and photography,” Griffey said in a statement. “We always talked about doing a show, and this is a great way for everyone to see my new retirement quest…beating Michael at golf all over the country and world. It’s gonna be a fun ride letting y’all into our circle one trip at a time.”
“We have been excited to do this for a long time — Caddie & the Kid is just a peek into what our everyday friendship is like,” Collins added. “The biggest compliment we get from people is, ‘you’re both the exact same off camera as on camera!’ Golf is such a ‘let your guard down, can’t hide who you are’ sport, so getting to hang out with athletes and celebrities at amazing bucket list venues…this show is the ultimate real life buddies trip where we can be ourselves. I’m just the lucky knucklehead who everyone gets to live vicariously through!”
This arrives at a pivotal moment for golf as the sport grapples with growing its audience beyond an aging viewership.
Sam Yardley of league-broadcaster linking firm Two Circles recently told Awful Announcing that traditional golf broadcasts are primarily geared toward an older demographic, noting, “Golf is very much targeted at the existing broadcast audience, which, the median age of that is in the 60s. If you’re a 20-something golf fan or a teenager filling in, it’s just not for you.”
In this context, Hart’s LOL Network — boasting over 5.3 million YouTube subscribers — provides an ideal platform for the series. Hart has significantly impacted sports media over the years, not just with his popular Cold As Balls cold-tub interview series but also through his appearances on mainstream sports shows, altcasts, and commercials. That even included his hosting of an Olympics show for Peacock last summer alongside Kenan Thompson.
Now, he’s leveraging that reach to launch this golf series from Griffey and Collins.