Warner Bros Discovery and the PGA Tour have restructured their 12-year US$2 billion international broadcast agreement, with all current and future media rights outside the US to be managed by the golfing circuit from 2023.
The landmark deal, signed in 2018, gave Discovery the exclusive linear and streaming rights to PGA Tour events around the world. The partnership provided the foundation for GolfTV, a dedicated direct-to-consumer (DTC) platform, with the company reaching sublicensing agreements in selected markets.
Since that deal was struck, Discovery has merged with Warner Bros and the combined company is intent on creating an as-yet-unnamed all-encompassing streaming service offering content from a range of genres.
There is little appetite for a niche streaming service and, accordingly, GolfTV was shut down last December with all content shifting to other platforms, including Discovery+ and Eurosport. This shift in approach means both parties have decided to reset the partnership along the lines of a traditional rights holder-broadcaster relationship.
The organisations stress that viewers won’t notice any changes in the near future. Warner Bros Discovery has secured long-term, multi-year agreements for its markets in Europe and Latin America while existing sublicensing agreements, such as the one with Sky Sports, will remain in place.
However, moving forward, the PGA Tour will gain more control and flexibility covers its international broadcast partnerships in a post-GolfTV world.
‘The original goal with Warner Bros Discovery was creating an international multi-platform home for golf in GolfTV,’ said the PGA Tour in a statement.
‘While GolfTV was successful from a growth standpoint the media landscape changed, moving away from a single sport direct-to-consumer offerings to larger aggregated OTT platforms that can offer greater reach and subscriber value.
‘As plans for GolfTV evolved it made more sense for the Tour to reassume the management of our international media rights licensing business in over 200 markets.’
Warner Bros Discovery added: ‘In an evolving media landscape, we have found that including sport within a broader consumer offer provides greater value to subscribers and their wider household, as well as opening up sports to an even bigger audience’.
‘With the previously announced closure of GolfTV and renewed focus on Discovery+ as the home of sports and golf alongside entertainment content, it makes sense for the PGA Tour to manage its international rights directly in those markets where Warner Bros Discovery is not the ultimate broadcaster.’
SportsPro says…
This restructure is a pragmatic approach to a changing media landscape. A lot can happen in five years, never mind the 12 years that this deal was originally due to last for, and major sports properties are now bundling their dedicated streaming services into wider propositions.
WWE Network is now part of Peacock, the National Hockey League (NHL) has abandoned NHL.TV in favor of a wider deal with ESPN+, and the PGA Tour has also agreed a similar deal with the Disney-owned broadcaster in the US.
GolfTV might have made sense in 2018 but both sides now recognise an alternative approach will maximise the value of the rights.
Warner Bros Discovery retains valuable content in its key markets, while relieving itself of the burden of selling rights in non-core territories and freeing up capital for other expenditures – such as the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the US.
It remains to be seen whether this decision offers any clue into the future of Discovery’s other pre-merger, pan-continental megadeal for the Olympic Games. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) invited bids for those rights early last year.