Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, United States: The PGA Tour has announced an agreement with Facebook to distribute exclusive Saturday and Sunday live competition coverage, on a free basis, from eight tournaments leading into the FedEx Cup Play-offs for the 2017-18 season.
Airing on Facebook Watch in the United States, the coverage will be produced under the PGA Tour Live brand and, similar to the Tour’s subscription OTT service, will follow two featured groups that tee off in the morning of the third and final rounds. The PGA Tour will uniquely produce this coverage for Facebook’s social video platform, with interactive elements aimed to engage fans. For example, the coverage will incorporate fan questions and comments.
“We are thrilled to add Facebook to an already impressive line-up of global digital and broadcast partners,” said Chris Wandell, VP Media Business Development of the PGA Tour. “The PGA Tour has put a premium on distributing exclusive content on emerging media platforms with a goal of reaching new and diverse audiences.”
The Facebook Watch coverage began at the Travelers Championship this weekend. The remaining events in 2018 include: Quicken Loans National; A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier; John Deere Classic; RBC Canadian Open; World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational; Wyndham Championship; and The Northern Trust.
“No matter if it’s a weekend foursome or water-cooler conversation about a top moment on Tour, golf brings people together,” said Devi Mahadevia, Facebook’s North America Live Sports Programming Lead. “So we’re delighted to partner with the PGA Tour to help it reach new fans and deliver interactive, live coverage on Facebook that taps into the social nature of the sport.”
The Facebook Watch-exclusive coverage window will begin at approximately 8:30 am (Eastern Time) on both Saturday and Sunday of each event and will conclude when Golf Channel’s lead-in coverage begins.
Following the featured group coverage, PGA Tour Live Featured Holes coverage will be streamed globally on a non-exclusive basis on Facebook. To watch PGA Tour’s coverage on Facebook, users can follow the PGA Tour Live show Page at www.facebook.com/pgatourlive
The agreement also calls for a range of on-demand programming, including tournament previews, round recaps and extended player highlights – all of which will be available in the United States on Facebook Watch and globally via the PGA Tour Live show Page.
In May, the PGA Tour and Facebook teamed up to stream more than 30 hours of live coverage from The Players Championship.