Discovery’s GolfTV international streaming platform has expanded its global offering to include the PGA European Tour. The partnership gives GolfTV multi-platform live rights to the 2020 and 2022 Ryder Cups and more than 40 European Tour events per year starting in January.
GolfTV will begin launching across select European countries in 2019. Over the next five years, the service plans to expand to every international market excluding the U.S., China, and South Korea. This deal to secure European Tour rights is structured similarly to the deal Discovery struck in October to stream up to 150 PGA Tour events per year throughout GolfTV’s international markets. That deal was part of a 12-year, $2 billion agreement between Discovery and the PGA Tour.
“Welcoming the European Tour and The Ryder Cup into the GolfTV world is a significant step in our journey to becoming a premier global destination for golf entertainment,” said Alex Kaplan, president and general manager of GolfTV, in a press release.
Another noteworthy component of this deal is that Discovery will share its resources and expertise to grow the European Tour’s digital assets. Those include the European Tour’s global website and mobile apps. Discovery will also aid in launching new European Tour localized websites and localized social media accounts.
“To become the true ‘digital home of golf,’ we know we must think differently and go further than anything that has been done before,” Kaplan added. “Forging a deeper relationship with the European Tour to help develop and grow its digital assets is a perfect example of that, and it highlights our long-term aim to build a true ecosystem around golf, leveraging Discovery’s global presence and expertise to achieve this at scale.”
SportTechie Takeaway
Discovery is making a formidable push toward establishing GolfTV as the “Netflix” of golf. In addition to streaming live golf events, GolfTV is also committed to providing original golf-related programming as demonstrated by Discovery’s exclusive global content partnership with Tiger Woods. While Discovery is positioned to become the leader in live golf provider in markets outside the U.S., NBC Sports has taken the reigns from Disney’s BAMTech Media to stream the PGA Tour stateside in 2019.