Lack of golf on terrestrial TV - Golf Monthly Feature

[patricks148]

How about a Love Island style golf show on TV??

scantily dressed simpletons and muscle bound dimwits.... all fighting it out to be in the final 4 ball sure to be a great success.... Instagamand social media followers galore

 

[Deleted member 1147]

I'm a massive golf fan, and will pay for the opportunity to watch it. But I became a golf fan from watching it for free on the Beeb when I was a kid. If it had been unavailable for me to watch back then I may not have gotten into the game and become the mad, forum posting, live tournament attending, up all hours watching the west coast swing, obsessive I am today.

As such I believe there is a place for both, terrestrial & pay options.

Personally I believe that the powers that be should make it such that the home nation for each Open should be able to watch for free on terrestrial telly in that country.

 

[ScienceBoy]

I love watching golf but will not pay the prices Sky charge to view it.

I barely watch TV anyway and already have Netflix, Apple TV and Freeview catchup (iPlayer etc).

I wouldn’t mind another £6-10 a mint Sports only Netflix alternative but £45 a month... No thanks! (That’s with all the new customer discounts)

 

[Deleted member 15344]

If, when it was on terrestrial TV getting allegedly far more viewing figures than what it is now on subscription channels, then why did golf decline in its numbers over so many years when that was only the place to watch it?

I didn't see or watch or know anything about golf throughout my childhood or main adult life, and that is well before subscription channels were about, so I don't buy into the 'hmm, that looks fun I'll give that a go' philosophy, unless you smoked a pipe and had leather patches on your jacket!

If you came across golf on the TV, any TV right now or before, I personally doubt many who don't have a natural interest in it wouldn't find it engaging enough to try, and I still think that's the case now.

The only difference now is that more money is available through buying the rights which can filter through to grassroots so that clubs can introduce schools to visit and market out schemes [get into golf] to local people with group introductory classes! Also, through all that money it creates far more visibility than what terrestrial TV could ever offer, SKY and the likes are not going spend all that money and not publicize it everywhere, billboards, TV adverts, magazines etc, the BBC wouldn't do that!

For me terrestrial TV pinned its colours to the mast and didn't want to pay anymore for it than they thought was justifiable, I'm sure they did their due diligence and saw it for the value it was, and hence didn't push themselves to cover certain tournaments that 'club golfers' felt should be free to view, after-all, they could still watch it down their club before or after they play themselves, it's only existing golfers I hear moan, but they have it freely available to them at their club!

We all go on about draconian views and opinions we still come across within our golf clubs, well I think wanting golf on terrestrial TV is in the same vein, as it isn't or wasn't presented anywhere near the same as it is now on the likes of SKY with all the bells and whistles, SKY experimented and have succeeded in making golf more attractive and interesting to the casual viewer imo, only those that can sit through hours and hours of golf riveted to a screen in a typical boring BBC format don't want change, and I think its those same people that are adverse to many of the changes in other areas of the game we are seeing come though.

If you can't afford a subscription to watch, and there are so many cheaper options available now like NowTV where you can buy into it for a week or month with no contract, then I doubt if golf is for you anyway, it's not exactly a cheap hobby to get into!

If someone is sat at home on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday when a golf tournament is on the TV (terrestrial), are they really going to find out where there local club is or range is or say to mates 'lets give that a go', I don't think so....

Local marketing and advertising and encouraging people of all ages and genders to come to your local club swells numbers, not sat on their asses watching TV, that's gatling gun sales at best, which may catch the odd sprat, but more will fall away from that kind of marketing catch than that of targeted marketing, imo, and that's no good for any business model, of which golf clubs have to be run like now, a business.

The main people moaning about it not being on terrestrial TV are already playing and involved, so they're the wrong people to ask to get a balanced view, imo!

Sounds like a rant, but when have I ever cared.....

In regards the drop in participation- a lot of that started around 07/08 at the same as the financial crisis- when we were losing our members it was all done to cost and having adjust costs because of the financial crisis. And that’s a massive reason why golf and indeed a lot of costly sports lost members - throughout the 80/90’s until then golf participation was on the rise and golf courses were being created all over the place - now I would prob expect that the levels of participation are at those pre boom levels if not a bit more.

As for the money filtering down - I doubt anything filters out of the pro game - the increased money from the likes of sky and Rolex seems to be going to the Pros and stopping there - the funding for grassroots schemes seems to come from Golfing unions , lottery and local schools governments - R&A no doubt imo have kept that little bit extra for their working and prize money

 

[GB72]

I am not sure that golf on terrestrial TV will have much of an impact. I think that you will find that a majority of kids who are attracted to the game are those that have golfing parents or similar who encourage them to give it a go. In fact, I think that is true of many sports and not just golf.

With regards adult golfer, again, I feel that many head for golf when they can no longer play the more physically demanding sports like football or rugby.

I also think that the viewing habits of kids are changing as are those of adults. Kids do not watch as much live terrestrial TV, they use streaming apps. Putting golf on Youtube or similar may have more of an impact than putting it on BBC. Even then, the coverage needs to be livened up. The older person or existing golfer may be happy to follow the more staid golfing coverage or commentary but others want something a bit livelier.

You also have the attention span issue. Watching a full day of coverage is just not appealing to many and so 4 days is just too much. Even on the final day, for the non-golfer, it is only the last couple of hours that have any real drama attached to it that may catch the attention. Even if you can get over the length of a tournament, golf does not stand out as a great viewing spectacle. Until you have tried it and appreciate the skill involved, it looks easy to an outsider and to some is nothing more than watching someone hit a ball with a stick. Most can appreciate the skill and spectacle in a beautifully threaded pass or a volley into the top corner but the same cannot be said of knocking a bunker shot to within a couple of feet.

There is also the matter of the skill that golf takes. Most sports allow you to play at a very basic level pretty much immediately. Golf requires lessons and dedication before you can even hit the ball properly let alone consider going out on a course. This will always remain a major no point for quite a few.

Despite the above, let’s imagine that the Open is back on terrestrial TV. Someone watches it and shows interest. How is that followed up? They want to go and watch the top pros live. Sorry, cannot do that until next year. What about watching more golf on TV. Nope, no highlights show, no PGA coverage, no European Tour coverage so no golf without a subscription. What about reading about it in the papers. Again, no. Most do not have a golf reporter anymore and those that do report it limit it to the big events.

You then have the elephant in the room that is the premiership. It eats up all of the media space, online promotional space, radio time and TV time. It is, for want of a better word, cool. It is what the kids want to watch and aspire to play. It is now preseason and yet the Premiership still dominates everything from back pages to social media. With that around, are kids going to have even the slightest interest in a sport seen as old fashioned, out of date and that rarely appears in the mainstream media.

Golf is a niche sport and will remain that way. The time it takes to even reach a rudimentary skill level, the perceived image, the equipment needed, the attitudes shown by some golf clubs and some members and the fact that the pros are hardly playing in this country all have a bigger impact on the sport than the lack of terrestrial TV. The cynic in me feels that it is existing golf fans who do not want to pay for Sky who are crying out for a return to the BBC under the false flag of ‘Think of the Children’ rather than people with any actual belief that putting golf back on Terrestrial TV will have children and adults alike flocking to their local club.

 

[garyinderry]

I would think people would be far more likely to stumble across some interesting, amusing, golf related content on you tube, and want to try it, then be dragged in by seeing 8 hours coverage of the open.

Sometimes the most brilliant pro golf, is also the most boring to watch, even for a golf fan. Koepka springs to mind, or Jason Day.

In a cult of personality worship, people are far more likely to take up something if a celeb they follow is passionate about it. Nothing to do with it being on telly.

100% agree

A video that makes golf look cool and fun will attract kids much more than the Thursday afternoon coverage of the open.

 

[abjectplop]

The costs of accessing Sky Sports year round golf coverage are significantly less than they were even a few years ago. NOW TV is currently offering a 10 month Sports Pass for £199. Plus there's far more free content around online than ever before.

 

[GB72]

The esteem that Golf is held in these days is also reflected in another market aimed at younger people, video games. Gold games have been one of the staples of EA sports for decades, going back to the PGA Tour Games, then to the Tiger Woods games. They had one go at a Rory McIlroy game and have not made one since. Looks like they have even let some of the PGA Tour rights slip as they are now being used by a small, independent developer in The Golf Club game.

Bearing in mind that FIFA brings in millions in revenue every year and every kid wants the latest version, how rugby and even cricket get some form of game most years and then you have golf, the stalwart of any video games console for generations, has pretty much nothing produced now.

 

[Hobbit]

Growing up I can only remember seeing the Open, the Master, The Matchplay and the PGA. And it wasn't wall to wall coverage of those events.

During Wimbledon fortnight we'd struggle to get a court, and then participation would die off till the following year. When the Ashes was on the TV we'd have no problem getting 2 teams together, but then it would die off till Test cricket returned the following year. During a World Cup you'd struggle to get a pitch at the local recreation ground, but a few weeks later it wouldn't be a problem. And during Open week participation wouldn't really increase at all because of the lack of equipment and cost.

The attitudes to sports participation now is different, or it appears to be. How often do you see full football pitches, tennis courts and ad hoc games of cricket going on? Those that are retiring from more physical sports might be interested but just look at the cost of golf now for a new starter, especially when you ally that to the desire for the best kit and changing it frequently. The numbers for a lot of sports appears to be down and, coincidently obesity rates are up.

Does having golf on Sky Sports 'v' terrestrial TV really impact the numbers? Anecdotally I'm inclined to think no. There's probably surveys out there that might suggest differently but I doubt the difference between perception and fact is too far apart.

 

[Wolf]

I think @Jacko_G and @GreiginFife have summed it up perfectly already.

Golf for kids is simply not fun, putting 8 hrs of coverage of the open on terrestrial TV will not entice them it'll more likely bore them and put them off. When I was a kid we had the Masters, Open and Matchplay. None of those made me want to play, it was only my dad playing that introduced me to the game, the same of which applies to majority of juniors at most clubs they play because a parent or grandparents have introduce the game to them.

Most people that take up the game are older 30s+, when they realise can't play football or other sports as well anymore and so gravitate to golf. That's not because of TV either.

Golf has far bigger issues getting people involved at grass roots than where it sits in a broadcasting schedule that could be addressed first to get more participants.

 

[GB72]

If you want to promote golf to the right crowd, forget the Open, just advertise on the TVs in the local A&E on a Saturday and Sunday Afternoon when the 40 somethings are wheeled in off the rugby and football pitches with their breaks, sprains and ligament injuries. That is your target market, those who already are interested in playing a competitive sport but their bodies are starting to tell them to tone it down a bit.

 

[GreiginFife]

I think @Jacko_G and @GreiginFife have summed it up perfectly already.

Golf for kids is simply not fun, putting 8 hrs of coverage of the open on terrestrial TV will not entice them it'll more likely bore them and put them off. When I was a kid we had the Masters, Open and Matchplay. None of those made me want to play, it was only my dad playing that introduced me to the game, the same of which applies to majority of juniors at most clubs they play because a parent or grandparents have introduce the game to them.

Most people that take up the game are older 30s+, when they realise can't play football or other sports as well anymore and so gravitate to golf. That's not because of TV either.

Golf has far bigger issues getting people involved at grass roots than where it sits in a broadcasting schedule that could be addressed first to get more participants.

Thinking back to when I grew up and where I grew up, I can see the issues even then.
Small village, loads of kids but nearest course 6 miles away with no bus route.
3 football pitches and even a tennis court (of sorts, basically a red ash square with holes for net posts).

Say to the kids want to play golf 6 miles away where you need all this gear or go down the pitches for a kick about with 6 quid ball and nowt else. See where that takes you.

Retrospectively it makes not one iota of difference about how TV influenced us, its the culture now, not then that's in question.

 

[Wolf]

Thinking back to when I grew up and where I grew up, I can see the issues even then.
Small village, loads of kids but nearest course 6 miles away with no bus route.
3 football pitches and even a tennis court (of sorts, basically a red ash square with holes for net posts).

Say to the kids want to play golf 6 miles away where you need all this gear or go down the pitches for a kick about with 6 quid ball and nowt else. See where that takes you.

Retrospectively it makes not one iota of difference about how TV influenced us, its the culture now, not then that's in question.

100% agree and the same for us, I could literally walk to the school field 500yards away that had goal postsand have a kick about with dozens of mates already there. Nearest golf course was half hour drive away, even when I did start playing after my dad introduced me I still needed all the gear that went with it, membership had to be paid for me and as a kid I had to abide by ridiculous rules I simply couldn't understand like not being allowed to play at certain times, can't go into certain areas of a club, couldn't play with certain people or in certain comps.

As a kid playing footy I turned up paid a registration fee and that's me done for the season plus with my 5 quid ball could go hone my skills in the street or the local fields with jumpers for goalposts.

School was football, rugby, tennis, cricket and hockey.

TV isn't the issue with accessibility to golf far to many other factors to consider when trying to get younger players.

 

[GB72]

Thinking back to when I grew up and where I grew up, I can see the issues even then.
Small village, loads of kids but nearest course 6 miles away with no bus route.
3 football pitches and even a tennis court (of sorts, basically a red ash square with holes for net posts).

Say to the kids want to play golf 6 miles away where you need all this gear or go down the pitches for a kick about with 6 quid ball and nowt else. See where that takes you.

Retrospectively it makes not one iota of difference about how TV influenced us, its the culture now, not then that's in question.

Same here, even living in some pretty remote villages, they all had a football pitch and most even had a cricket team in those days. Kids were brought up around those sports and took part. Parents all helped out with training etc. Golf needs travel, equipment, knowledgeable coaching etc that just seems far to much hassle compared to other options.

 

[Jimaroid]

and then you have golf, the stalwart of any video games console for generations, has pretty much nothing produced now.

I agree it's a poor reflection on the esteem and marketing appeal of golf but no golf game was ever a real stalwart. The continual decline in sales figures are what killed the PGA Tour games, even at the peak of Tiger's dominance they were pretty poor in comparison to other games. Even at peak they only had real value in being the games you'd buy for the Dads at Christmas.

In general though, we're seeing that real world sport simulation games are coming to the end of their life in videogames. It's only really FIFA and NFL sports games that have any worth left in them due to volume. More people are buying into pure eSport games that have no real world equivalence and all the platform holders and publishers only want to back those now.

It's a good lens to look through though. One thing that golf simulation videogames do is demonstrate how awfully slow, boring and uninspiring golf can be when it's reduced to its core gameplay. Golf's appeal for me is more about the social and outdoor aspects than it is about the game. Don't get me wrong, golf is a great sport, but not because of the basic gameplay mechanics of ball, stick and hole.

 

[GB72]

More I think about the more I realise that I went on to play the sports that I was brought up around. Not just in later years but even as a toddler running around in cricket and rugby clubs. How many golf clubs would honestly welcome that. Not junior members but young kids playing around the putting green or toddling around the clubhouse with one parent whilst the other was golfing.

 

[GB72]

I agree it's a poor reflection on the esteem and marketing appeal of golf but no golf game was ever a real stalwart. The continual decline in sales figures are what killed the PGA Tour games, even at the peak of Tiger's dominance they were pretty poor in comparison to other games. Even at peak they only had real value in being the games you'd buy for the Dads at Christmas.

In general though, we're seeing that real world sport simulation games are coming to the end of their life in videogames. It's only really FIFA and NFL sports games that have any worth left in them due to volume. More people are buying into pure eSport games that have no real world equivalence and all the platform holders and publishers only want to back those now.

It's a good lens to look through though. One thing that golf simulation videogames do is demonstrate how awfully slow, boring and uninspiring golf can be when it's reduced to its core gameplay. Golf's appeal for me is more about the social and outdoor aspects than it is about the game. Don't get me wrong, golf is a great sport, but not because of the basic gameplay mechanics of ball, stick and hole.

Fair point and the fact that the Rory McIlroy one was released in an awful state with few courses killed it off. That said, it was always a reasonable money maker as a game that could be released in the summer when the release schedule was pretty empty.

 

[Jimaroid]

I only got into golf when I was kid because it was the only thing I could do on my own in our sheep fields. Without access to buses or a car, there were no other sports local for me to play on my own, other than my sheep field golf and fishing. The nearest golf course to me when I got to the age of 17 and learned to drive, they basically told me to get stuffed because I had to become an adult member at then extortionate pricing. It put me off golf for 15 years.

I think golf's biggest gap to fill is that of the 18 to 30 year olds. It's that period in life when most people have little free money and time even if they have a desire to play. But even then, when I did have the money and time I blew it all on drink, drugs, partying and women. Good times.

 

[DCB]

Times have changed, I remember the season started with The Masters as the season opener, the (European) PGA Championship in May, we then had The Open in July and if we were lucky the Sun Tory Matchplay in the autumn. In those days we only had tree TV channels, so it was easier to programme live events. In those days there was no live football to worry about. I was certainly enthralled by The Open each year, partly because it was sometimes held fairly close to home, but, it was the biggest event of the year. It was Trevino beating Jacklin at Muirfield that made me want to take up the game more seriously as a youngster.

Move on 40-45 years and everything is very different. As has been said, golf takes too long for the young people of today to be interested in it. A shortened version, made for tV, like the recent Sixes event may well be a route ahead, but, the bottom line is that youngsters have so many other things they are doing nowadays that getting them into a game that can take 4hrs plus to complete is going to be very difficult indeed.

 

[Jimaroid]

More I think about the more I realise that I went on to play the sports that I was brought up around. Not just in later years but even as a toddler running around in cricket and rugby clubs. How many golf clubs would honestly welcome that. Not junior members but young kids playing around the putting green or toddling around the clubhouse with one parent whilst the other was golfing.

Can't agree more with this. Being the parent of a 7 year old, the one opportunity that many golf clubs have almost for free in front of them is undercutting childcare costs over the summer holidays.