MLB Takes Priority! Fox Sends U.S. Open Coverage Back To FS1
/After an incredibly taxing and downright heroic 11.5 hours straight of bonus-infused coverage on Fox Sports 1 and Fox, the network sent the final 49 minutes of third round coverage back to its less-visible cable channel.
The conflict?
The network's Major League Baseball game of the week pre-game show prior to featuring Cubs-Pirates in much of the country. In the New York market, it was the Mets vs. the lowly Braves.
Given that golf fans are used to majors staying on network TV through the completion of play, the Twitter outrage over the Fox network broadcast of a major championship shifting to a network seen in fewer homes was swift and directed at the USGA.
Did FOX just leave the US Open for a baseball game!! What a dumb thing the USGA did selling out to those guys.....
— Sammy Lane (@samm1968) June 19, 2016
@FOXSports @FS1 dumbest thing ever - switching to a premium channel. Nice move. @usga never use Fox for golf
— Scott Schnaars (@schnaars) June 19, 2016
Fox playing musical networks w/ Major Championship golf for regular season baseball is exactly why the USGA didn't think, only looked at $$$
— Jason Reid (@JReidOneNiner) June 19, 2016
@gatekicker99 @FOXSports @FS1 the worst. They cut to pre-game programming. Could have seen at least 2 more holes. @USGA #fail
— Barry Clegg (@cleggthis) June 19, 2016
**Martin Kaufmann at Golfweek.com had some issues with Fox's storytelling approach and lack of coverage of many players.
Whenever Buck or Shane O’Donoghue would say, “Let’s go to Holly Sonders,” my first thought is: Let’s not. That meant two things: we were leaving action, and we probably were going to see more of Brooks.
Later in the day, Fox lost track of Jason Day, who was chasing Johnny Miller’s 63. Fox belatedly caught up with Day on the 14th tee, when he was 5 under. (He shot a 4-under 66 to get back in the hunt.) We also saw little of Branden Grace, who shot 66 to move into sixth place, and Bryson DeChambeau (T-8), and I don’t think we saw any of Kevin Streelman (T-12), one of only five players to post two subpar rounds this week.
