As discussed above, No Laying Up has often chimed in on televised golf coverage, and frequently with some criticism. Solomon said he does think the state of golf broadcasting in 2024 is significantly ahead of where it had been, though.
“It has improved a lot. Weekly PGA Tour coverage, especially on the CBS side, I feel like it has really, really improved. They’ve invested in the product. It’s really a big challenge when a network views the product strictly from a line item on an income statement. It can be really hard to justify some of the spend that has to go into broadcasting golf. It’s a very unique sport. A million balls in play, spread out over 18 holes, one camera is not enough to cover one single hole. It takes a real investment, right?
“So we’re sympathetic to all the challenges that come with it. But it can leave the golf fan quite frustrated at home sometimes when some of those investments in the heavily commercialized product that comes with the other side of that line item can just lead to an overall bad viewing experience.”
He said he appreciates what ESPN has done at the PGA Championship in particular, and that adds to them being a good fit for this altcast.
“We’re getting a chance to partner with someone that we view as additive to the golf space and presents a great product. Being on ESPN+ last year, I’ve long. loved the ESPN+ coverage that they’ve done with PGA Championship with David Duval, Andy North, Scott van Pelt. It’s just a great vibe, a great, different refreshing look. And the chance to be a part of kind of some of that was really appealing to us versus maybe working with some of the more mainstays that are week in week out on the PGA Tour.”
With that aforementioned criticism of golf broadcasts, Solomon said it is a little strange for them to now be doing one, but it lets them put some of their theories into practice. And he appreciates that they’re doing an altcast rather than a main broadcast.
“It is a little bit, but it’s a chance to kind of put our money where our mouth is in terms of ‘Here’s the changes we’d like to see.’ And again, this is an additive new thing, right? If we were the only option to watch golf, I could understand people being quite upset at our show. But, you know, a network that’s willing to add another layer like this and have another option and understand like this is where sports seem to be trending, and the success of other sports in this area.
“It’s great to be a part of trying new things, right? And that’s kind of our thing, it has always been like ‘Try things, try it.’ It doesn’t always have to be this way. Nothing does. Broadcasting any sport is going to be like sand on a beach, right? Tides come in and out that are out of your control, and the beach gets reformed and reshaped into a new landscape every single day, right? So if you’re doing the same exact product that you were doing 20 years ago, you can get left behind a little bit.”
Replay might be even better. Billy Bob Ball!@OmahaProd pic.twitter.com/t9qzNg2qDk
— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) May 16, 2024
Solomon said he doesn’t think these will go completely perfectly, but that’s fine. And that’s an understanding they have about traditional golf telecasts too.
“That’s a big thing for us, too, we’re not under the impression that anybody should be perfect, especially in a golf telecast that has just such a subjective nature of where you’re going, the pacing. The people in the truck can be really hemmed in by the amount of commercials. It’s not their fault, right? And they have to find a way to find a break there. when all this exciting action is going on on the golf course. And we’re understanding of all that.”
Solomon said golf broadcasts should be encouraged to innovate, though. And he’s appreciated that ESPN’s doing that with their altcast here, and doing so without a lot of interference in what the NLU team wants to do.
“You can try new things, try a different presentation. And a chance to be a part of that is great for us. You know, sometimes some of these things can end up with a great idea to start with and can end up watered down by the time it gets to gets to the air. And if we felt like that was going to happen with our show, we wouldn’t do it.
“But like I said, we’ve been somewhat surprised at the lack of, I don’t want to say the lack of oversight, but the lack of being told what to do, and the general trust. We know what not to do. We know some of the things not to say. We know. But to be trusted with that has been a freeing feeling as well.”
The latest
“I’ve of course watched the ManningCast on Monday Night Football. I’ve watched some of the mega casts that have been done for college football national championships. I’ve watched Dude Perfect’s Amazon show. That just kind of helps get the creative juices flowing in terms of if you don’t want the commentary to carry the load, the Dude Perfect guys, they play a game of some kind. And look, we’re not going to be dunk tanking on ESPN2 this week. But it gets you thinking of how you can differentiate yourself and provide a different product.
Solomon said Peyton and Eli Manning in particular provide a great feed for those interested in their perspectives more than the actual game.
“I always watch the Manning side of the broadcast, because I don’t care enough about the game usually to get really into it. If it was my team, maybe I would want to watch the main telecast. But I’m looking for a different way to be informed. And you know, I don’t need first and 10 announced to me right here, I can see that on the screen. I want to hear Peyton and Eli talk about coverages and about game flow and what they’re looking for and things like that.
“We can’t provide the same level of expertise that they do as far as the sport. But we can provide the fans’ perspective, and that’s who’s watching at home, right? We’ve learned to trust ourselves. If you’d asked me 10 years ago, it would have been like ‘Why would anybody want to listen to us on this?’ Well, the evidence shows that people will listen. So trust it. Don’t think about that too much. Just trust it and kind of go with what’s gotten you here and just be yourselves.”
WHAT A SHOT FROM SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER!@NoLayingUp pic.twitter.com/0xuzLbA5Gy
— Omaha Productions (@OmahaProd) May 16, 2024
Solomon said the NLU team isn’t overly worried about criticism for these altcasts, as those who like their content are going to like it.
“People that don’t like it are going to not like it no matter what. And the people that do are probably going to really enjoy it. We’ve been really heavily encouraged by our audience with how this went last year. And it is just great to be a part of the change you wish to see and the evolution, the investment, and the attempts.
“The beauty of this is in the effort. We’re not going to promise to have a perfect show: I’m going to be hosting it this year, I don’t know how to throw it to commercial breaks, and you can laugh probably about some of that. But that’s what real life is like, people like laughing at that, and getting fun bits out of things that we struggle with. And we just have to learn to continue to embrace that.”
