NBC-Golf Channel Doubles What ESPN Paid For The Open

SBJ's John Ourand and John Lombardo report several elements worth noting in the R&A-NBC coupling for twelve years starting in 2017.

On the heels of the R&A taking £10 million a year from Sky Sports starting in 2017, but likely sooner if the BBC opts out a year early, the organization is looking at doubling its annual haul in a short time. Combined with the USGA beginning its 12-year, $93 million annual Fox Sports revenue, both governing bodies are certainly going to be well funded.

First note from the SBJ story: the end to the R&A's ties to ABC/ESPN, which will reach 55 years if ESPN stays on through 2016.

ABC started carrying the British Open in 1962. In its most recent deal, signed in 2008, all four rounds moved to ESPN.

ESPN was scheduled to carry the tournament in 2017, but the R&A opted out of that final year to sign with NBC Sports Group.

It's a ways off, but sports media types will watch what happens to the audience size with a return to broadcast TV versus exclusively cable. Of course with added hours to be broadcast (not detailed in the announcement) and audiences splintering, there may be no difference come 2017.

NBC will pay an average of $50 million per year for more than 10 years, sources said, an amount that doubles the current $25 million per year from ESPN from a deal that took effect in 2010.

NBC outbid both ESPN and Fox Sports, which made an aggressive play for the rights.

The rush to decide this deal before this year's Open had to have hurt Fox. With its first U.S. Open having yet aired, the network had nothing to point to that suggested the network was offering something special. One has to wonder if the rocky start with the two Four Ball telecasts (here and here), the absence of storytelling and the surprisingly light promotional effort for the U.S. Open impacted the R&A's thinking. Remember, the R&A is represented by IMG's office in Cleveland and is well versed in U.S. media goings on.

As a viewer who used to love NBC's Wimbledon vibe (except the tape-delay part which will not be an issue here except for a replay of the early broadcast later in the day), this could be appealing depending on execution:

Sources said the R&A was most energized by NBC’s commitment to market the event along the lines of “Breakfast at Wimbledon,” which the network pioneered in the 1970s around the Wimbledon finals.

Overall, the The Open Championship does not have the cache in the United States that it should enjoy. The upcoming "rebranding" features a more nostalgic logo, but I'm not sure what else beyond that. I would hope there is something deeper, such as a greater effort to tell the backstory of The Open, the venues, the towns and the links culture that is so special. 

Still, the tournament provides valuable programming in the middle of the summer, and TV executives value the event for its hospitality opportunities at some of the most famous golf courses in the world. Over the past half-decade, many ESPN client meetings have been conducted on British golf courses before, during and after the tournament.