PGA Tour Inks New Rights Deal with CBS, NBC

The PGA Tour has inked a nine-year media rights package with incumbent broadcasters CBS Sports and NBC Sports, while carving out a new over-the-top package which places streaming exclusivity in the hands of ESPN+, AdAge reports.

Finalized 18 months before the current rights portfolio was set to expire, the agreements will keep the PGA Tour rights sewn up from 2022 through 2030. While financial terms were not disclosed, multiple executives with first-hand knowledge said the PGA was able to command a 70 percent rate increase. As the current CBS and NBC deals are each valued at $400 million per year, that puts the new rate in the neighborhood of $680 million to $700 million annually.

CBS was the first to secure a renewal with the Tour, with NBC falling into step soon thereafter. After fending off incursions by would-be usurpers Fox Sports and AT&T’s Turner Sports division, the two broadcasters effectively closed out their respective TV deals in December 2019. The over-the-top rights called for a bit more in the way of haggling, as the PGA Tour Live digital package shifted from NBC Sports Gold to ESPN+.

For the most part, golf enthusiasts won’t notice a big difference in Tour coverage once the new agreements kick in. Both CBS and NBC will broadcast the same regular-season packages that they currently handle, while the layout of the FedEx Cup Playoffs will be made more uniform. In place of the present format, in which CBS carries the first FedEx Cup event (The Northern Trust) before the series jumps to NBC (BMW Championship and Tour Championship), the three playoff tournaments will remain with one of the two networks before shifting to the other partner the following year.

According to the terms of the new deal, NBC will carry the FedEx Cup matches in five of those nine years, with the remainder going to CBS.

As CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus notes, the new alternating plan allows for “greater consistency in terms of programming and promotion.” McManus adds that under the terms of the new deal, CBS will remain “the predominate broadcast partner of PGA Tour events.” The network this season is on track to air 18 PGA tournaments plus two of the four majors (April’s Masters Tournament and May’s PGA Championship).

The new PGA Tour contract does not impact the broadcast rights to golf’s four major tournaments, which are treated as their own individual entities. CBS, which has carried the Masters every year going back to 1956, renews those very singular rights on a year-to-year basis; meanwhile, 2020 will mark the 30th straight year in which the network will broadcast the PGA Championship. An 11-year renewal announced in 2018 will keep the championship on CBS through at least 2030.