Golf’s US Open is arguably the second biggest tournament of the year behind The Masters. But its television rights, and all of the other USGA tournaments, have been nomads on the television landscape.
Fox made an audacious deal to get into golf for the first time in 2015 with the USGA and all of its tournaments across men’s, women’s, professional, and amateur golf with the US Open at its centerpiece. However, Fox opted out of the deal in 2020 with NBC picking up the rights once again. After things didn’t work out with Fox, NBC ended up with the last seven years of the Fox contract in a deal that expires in 2027.
And now when it comes to its next television deal, the USGA is finding itself in the rough as deep as the US Open at Oakmont. NBC and the USGA are already out of their exclusive negotiating window with no deal in sight. And now the USGA is projecting a loss in revenue when it comes to their next deal in 2027 according to the Money in Sport substack, whoever it ends up being with.
The USGA is unfortunately trying to strike a deal at a time when many mid-level or niche sports are facing headwinds in the market. Sports rights are expensive. And with the industry wrestling through changes in linear television and streaming, the networks are finding it more challenging to justify mega investments in sports that may not move the needle to a great amount.
Another example of this is Formula One, who are looking like heading to Apple after not getting the rights fee increase they desire to continue a successful run at ESPN. And even Major League Baseball and their opt-out with ESPN falls into this category. The soft market facing the USGA makes the IndyCar-Fox relationship all the more remarkable given their network exposure and the recent equity deal between the two sides.
Where can the USGA go next? Contenders for their entire package seem few and far between. Could they look to break out the men’s and women’s US Open to try to maximize the revenue from those tournaments away from all of their amateur competitions? That may be the best way forward to attract a major media partner. ESPN has shown a recent interest in major championship golf, so they could be interested if they could get a cut deal. CBS already has plenty of golf. And Fox couldn’t get out of the USGA deal fast enough. The entire USGA package could give a lot of inventory to a streamer, but it’s hard to see where it would fit in the Amazon, Apple, or Netflix portfolios.
The most likely scenario may just be a deal with NBC given their long-standing relationship and lack of other suitable dance partners. And it may come at a discount rate.
About Matt Yoder