Poor move by USPGA

UK, addicted to watching Tiger & co strutting their stuff on the PGA circuit in America (seldom beyond), will now have to go “cold turkey” and make do with watching the European Tour. Unless of course, they are prepared to subscribe to Setanta, the new kid on the block.

Only insiders will know the ins and outs of this turn of events, but it is reasonable to assume that Setanta came in with a higher bid than Sky. But how many Sky subscribers will be prepared to fork out the extra for yet another channel? Perhaps, unlike Sky, Setanta can legally target the whole of Europe, as well as the UK, but to build up the viewership to that enjoyed by Sky for the past decade, will take time. Either way, the PGA Tour will lose thousands of fans and will become even more insular than it now is.

By the time the next Ryder Cup match comes round in 2008, the American team will include players completely unknown to European fans, who are no longer able to follow PGA tournaments.

Tags: USPGA