GolfTV

Last updated

GolfTV
GolfTV.svg
CountryUnited States
Broadcast areaInternational excluding United States, US Territories, China, Cuba, North and South Korea
Programming
Language(s)English
Ownership
Owner Warner Bros. Discovery
Parent Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe
History
LaunchedJanuary 1, 2019;5 years ago (2019-01-01)
ClosedDecember 12, 2022;13 months ago (2022-12-12)
Replaced by Discovery+
Max
Links
Website www.golf.tv

GolfTV was an international streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its international sports unit and run by its Warner Bros. Discovery Golf division, which aired golf tournaments, news and documentaries.

Contents

History

In June 2018, Discovery Inc. and the PGA Tour agreed to a US$2 billion, 12-year deal for its media rights outside of the United States. Discovery stated that it planned to establish an international streaming service devoted to these rights. [1] In October 2018, Discovery formed its Discovery Golf division by naming Eurosport executive vice president Alex Kaplan as president and general manager of the division, and officially announced that the service would be known as GolfTV, which would replace PGA Tour Live international. [2]

GolfTV officially launched on January 1, 2019, [3] with PGA Tour events available for users in Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia and Spain. The rights will expand as existing deals with international broadcasters lapse, beginning with Poland and South Korea in 2020, Belgium, China, Germany and South Africa in 2021, Denmark, Finland, India, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom in 2022, and France in 2024. [4] [2]

In November 2018, GolfTV announced that it had signed Tiger Woods as a content partner under a multi-year deal. This includes an instructional video series, [5] and a series of events featuring Woods, inspired heavily by his 2018 event The Match: Tiger vs. Phil. [6] The first of these, The Challenge: Japan Skins, was held October 21, 2019, in Japan, and aired in the United States on Golf Channel. [7] With the 2022 merger of Discovery with WarnerMedia, whose Turner Sports division produces The Match , GolfTV will serve as one of the international distributors of the franchise beginning in 2022. [8] [9]

In December 2018, Discovery and the European Tour reached a multi-year rights deal, under which GolfTV would acquire streaming rights to the Tour in various Asian, European, and Latin American markets, including exclusive rights in Italy, Romania, Russia, Spain and Turkey, and digital rights elsewhere. The rights also include the 2020 and 2022 Ryder Cup in selected markets. In Europe, the deal excludes Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. [10] [11]

In November 2022, as part of a reorganization associated with the merger, it was announced that GolfTV would be shut down on December 12, 2022. Its content was to be dispersed to other Warner Bros. Discovery platforms, particularly Discovery+ and Max which replaced HBO Max on May 23, 2023. [12] Bell Media, which has partnered with WBD on Canadian versions of some of its other services, acquired the Canadian rights to PGA Tour Live coverage for inclusion in its new TSN+ sports streaming service. [13]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Max (streaming service)</span> American video streaming service

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The Match is a series of exhibition match play golf challenge matches that began in 2018. The event features major professional golfers or other notable athletes facing each other in a head-to-head competition. The format has varied throughout the run of the event; in all of the events, sports entertainment elements were included, particularly with the inclusion of sports betting elements in that the contestants wager portions of their prize on side bets during the contest. TNT Sports has televised all eight iterations of the event. Since 2020, two iterations of The Match have been held each year, one in the spring or early summer and the other (usually) on Thanksgiving weekend. The Thanksgiving contest features professional golfers, often paired with an athlete from another sport; the spring contests, taking place during the PGA Tour season, normally consist solely of non-golfers, which to date have consisted of current or retired American football and basketball players competing during their respective sports' offseasons.

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References

  1. Clarke, Stewart (June 4, 2018). "Discovery Inks International Deal for PGA Tour Golf Rights". Variety. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  2. 1 2 Clarke, Stewart (October 22, 2018). "Discovery and PGA Tour Tee Up 'GolfTV' Streaming Brand for 2019 Launch". Variety. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  3. Connolly, Eoin (March 26, 2019). "Going deep with Discovery: Peter Faricy on building GolfTV and global digital platforms for fans". SportsPro. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  4. McDonald, Andrew (October 22, 2018). "Discovery to launch GolfTV streaming service in January". digitaltveurope.com. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  5. Steinberg, Brian (November 27, 2018). "Discovery Strikes Content Pact With Tiger Woods". Variety. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  6. Levy, Joe (April 4, 2019). "GolfTV plotting Tiger Woods head-to-head matches". SportsPro. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  7. Bucholtz, Andrew (September 19, 2019). "Tiger Woods' first GolfTV match will be "The Challenge: Japan Skins"". Awful Announcing.
  8. "Turner announces The Match will be distributed through Warner Bros. Discovery Sports platforms internationally". Awful Announcing. May 18, 2022. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
  9. "Turner Sports' presentation of The Match to be distributed internationally through Warner Bros. Discovery Sports". Eurosport. May 18, 2022. Retrieved September 4, 2022.
  10. Lafayette, Jon (December 13, 2018). "Discovery Expands GolfTV With European Tour Deal". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  11. Bassam, Tom (December 13, 2018). "Discovery announces European Tour rights swoop". SportsPro Media. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  12. Fry, Andy (November 14, 2022). "Golf TV in the bunker as WBD dispenses with another niche streamer". Digital TV Europe.
  13. Bell Media (January 12, 2023). "TSN Acquires Media Rights to PGA TOUR LIVE and Launches All-New Streaming Product TSN+, Available for Free Preview Beginning Today" (Press release). Retrieved January 13, 2023.