Barstool Sports Credit: Barstool Sports
Barstool SportsGolfBy Sean Keeley on

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan made waves last week with a memo he sent to players providing a status on the impending merger with LIV Golf. Buried deep within the memo, however, was also some valuable information regarding the future of the Korn Ferry Tour’s broadcast rights.

“And finally, while this isn’t a Policy Board-specific topic, I thought you would be interested in an exciting development related to this week’s Korn Ferry Tour event in Chicago,” a blurb near the bottom of the memo read. “All four rounds of the NV5 Invitational will be streamed live, subscription-free, on Barstool.tv.”

Monahan added that not only would Barstool Sports be the broadcaster for this week’s Korn Ferry Tour event, the NV5 Invitational, but that this could act as a blueprint for future Barstool broadcasts.

“We hope to come out of this test with a multi-event model that will provide fans with more opportunities to see live competition coverage of the Korn Ferry Tour in 2024 and beyond,” Monahan wrote. “Please tune in for a bit this week and let us know your thoughts.”

It’ll be interesting to see how such an arrangement would work long-term. Would Barstool be able to pay a rights fee for ongoing coverage and sell advertising against that inventory? Will they offer a subscription fee to their audience? It’s one thing to try and monetize a specific event, like Barstool has done with the Arizona Bowl, and other altogether to sell against multiple events. We will apparently find out in the coming months.

The developmental arm of the PGA Tour, the Korn Ferry Tour seems to appreciate the coverage and sees a connection with Barstool’s audience. However, the company’s golf hosts say they’re going to try to let the golf speak for itself, rather than trying to put too much of their stamp on it.

“At the end of the day, it’s like if we don’t broadcast the golf and show the integrity of the golf, then we fail,” Sam “Riggs” Bozoian told  Front Office Sports Today last week. “So that’s kind of our main goal is to just let the Korn Ferry tour kind of speak for itself.

“It’s kind of about the golf really,” Riggs said. “I think if we try to make it about us or whatever, that would be a huge mess.”

[Golf.com, Barrett Sports Media]

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Editorial Strategy Director for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.

View all posts by Sean Keeley