"The Tour needs to help Golf Channel and the networks deliver a much better broadcast product than viewers currently are getting."
/Martin Kaufman, writing about the Golf Channel's new graphics package and desire to mike players at Kapalua this week, pens this cautionary note to PGA Tour players who are resisting the mikes.
Bluntly, this is a huge missed opportunity for the Tour. Back in 2001, Commissioner Tim Finchem talked of his vision of the Tour being as popular in the U.S. as the NFL by 2020. Putting aside the fact that that’s an even bigger pipe dream now than it was 10 years ago, the players aren’t doing anything to help the cause by being so inaccessible.
Perhaps the NFL’s biggest marketing tool for decades has been NFL Films, which has glamorized the sport not just with amazing images, but by mic’ing up players and coaches for more than 40 years. That has allowed NFL Films to capture countless memorable moments over the past several decades and bring fans much closer to the game.
With TV negotiations starting later this year, I suspect that Finchem is going to have to lean on players – including his biggest stars – to wear microphones. The Tour needs to help Golf Channel and the networks deliver a much better broadcast product than viewers currently are getting.
While I wholeheartedly agree with Kaufman, I've yet to see comments from anyone at the PGA Tour or the networks suggesting they need to deliver a significantly better broadcast "product." I sense complacency and concerns about costs. But a desire to liven up telecasts? Not feeling it. Hope I'm wrong.