On Sunday, March 12, the Symetra Tour will broadcast a women’s professional golf tournament round on Facebook Live for the first time at the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic in Central Florida.
Additionally, it will be the first time the Symetra Tour — the development tour for the LPGA — has shown live golf as broadcast trucks will be positioned on the back nine at the Country Club of Winter Haven to capture the action.
“The Symetra Tour is growing rapidly both in the United States and internationally so we want to showcase these next generation talents to a worldwide audience,” Chief Business Officer Mike Nichols said in a statement. “The Facebook Live platform has emerged as a viable way — both from a distribution and economical standpoint — for professional sports organizations like ours to attract a larger audience.This is really cutting edge. We’re excited about this broadcast, and are exploring longterm options to broadcast more events.”
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The Symetra Tour has contracted with live streaming vendor VISTA Worldlink to produce and manage the final round of the tournament on Facebook Live. VISTA Worldlink counts a number of sports properties and media networks as partners including WWE, ESPN, Raycom Sports and Major League Soccer, among others.
“By embracing emerging technologies, VISTA bridges the “traditional” with the “new” broadcast solutions in order to deliver high quality programing for organizations like the Symetra Tour,” Josh Liemer, Vice President of VISTA Worldlink said in a statement. “This telecast allows their fan base the ability to enjoy live matches directly integrated into social media.”
Added Chris Groom, Chief Marketing Officer of Florida’s Natural Growers in a statement: “We are excited that the Symetra Tour selected the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic to be a part of this inaugural broadcast via Facebook Live and look forward to being a part of this experience. ”
On a larger scale, the PGA TOUR is currently live streaming Thursday and Friday coverage of tournaments on Twitter as part of a recently announced deal between the two companies. The PGA TOUR has also tested the streaming of live coverage on Facebook Live.