Discovery Golf and the European Tour have announced a new partnership that will see GOLFTV continue to expand its portfolio and move towards becoming the established ‘digital home of golf’ for fans around the world.
The wide-ranging agreement includes international multi-platform live rights, in selected territories, to all European Tour events and the next two Ryder Cups, as well as Discovery collaborating to further grow the European Tour’s digital platforms, showcasing the Tour’s innovative content worldwide.
The partnership will bring coverage of the European Tour and Ryder Cup together under GOLFTV, the global live and on-demand video streaming service launching in January 2019. Fans will be able to follow all the world’s greatest players, week in and week out, with a growing portfolio of content that will make GOLFTV an unmissable destination for golf entertainment worldwide.
GOLFTV will carry more than 40 European Tour events per year starting in January. These events will include:
–Every Race to Dubai event throughout the season;
– All Rolex Series events, including the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open, BMW PGA Championship, Italian Open, Turkish Airlines Open, Nedbank Golf Challenge and season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.
– All World Golf Championships (WGC)*** events, including the Mexico Championship, the Dell Technologies Match Play, the FedEx St. Jude Invitational and HSBC Champions.
– Golf Sixes and the Hero Challenge.
– The European Challenge Tour and Staysure Tour.
– Live coverage of the next two Ryder Cups from Whistling Straits, Wisconsin, in 2020 and Marco Simone Golf & Country Club, Italy in 2022, will be available to fans in selected territories through GOLFTV.
Alex Kaplan, President and General Manager, Discovery Golf, said: “Welcoming the European Tour and The Ryder Cup into the GOLFTV world is a significant step in our journey to becoming a premier global destination for golf entertainment. To offer fans the chance to watch some of the biggest tournaments of the year week in and week out, featuring the world’s greatest players and their national heroes, is the perfect foundation of must-have content that fans can’t live without.”
“To become the true ‘digital home of golf,’ we know we must think differently and go further than anything that has been done before,” Kaplan continued. “Forging a deeper relationship with the European Tour to help develop and grow its digital assets is a perfect example of that, and it highlights our long-term aim to build a true ecosystem around golf, leveraging Discovery’s global presence and expertise to achieve this at scale.”
Keith Pelley, Chief Executive of European Tour, said: “Discovery has a very a strong vision for GOLFTV as a multi-platform destination for golf and we are delighted to be combining our global reach in 2019.
“Our partnership with Discovery, combined with our other broadcast deals, means that every fan in every territory will now be able to watch the European Tour. This new partnership is therefore an exciting move for us, allowing us to showcase the stars of the European Tour and our innovative content to a new audience,” Pelley concluded.
GOLFTV’s portfolio, which already includes the PGA Tour, was boosted by a separate announcement last month, which saw the company strike an exclusive global content partnership with Tiger Woods. GOLFTV will collaborate with the 14-time major champion on a wide range of content creation opportunities, including instruction and exclusive access into his tournament preparation.