PGA Tour play-offs see huge drop in TV ratings

If last week’s TV ratings are anything to go by, it was not a good week for the PGA Tour.

According to Josh Carpenter of Sports Business Journal, Sunday viewership of the FedEx St Jude Championship was down over 30% from last year.

Despite plenty of late drama at TPC Southwind, only 2.211 million viewers tuned in to NBC to watch Hideki Matsuyama win a tenth Tour title.

The Japanese star led by five shots heading into the final round, but saw Viktor Hovland sweep by him with two holes to play.

Matsuyama, however, was relieved to finish with two birdies and regain his advantage.

The TV ratings represent a huge drop from 2023, when Lucas Glover won the event, and 3.207 million viewers tuned in on CBS.

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Meanwhile, 2.967 million viewers watched the event on the same broadcaster in 2022.

So, what went wrong for the first play-off event in Memphis, Tennessee?

Well, last year’s tournament ran into primetime in the States, finishing just after 8pm US time. The event also had a free run on televisions up and down the country.

While an NFL pre-season game – broadcast on Fox – clashed with the PGA Tour event, a pair of former Tour heavyweights teed up a clash on LIV.

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Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm entered their own play-off at LIV Golf Greenbrier, with Koepka overcoming his rival.

It was the American’s fifth win on LIV Golf – setting a new league record for the most individual wins.

The drop in ratings isn’t the first observed on American TV in recent time, either. As recently as last month, The Open suffered its worst ratings in over a decade.

First reported by Carpenter, NBC and Peacock drew only 3.39million viewers on Sunday, as Xander Schauffele won at Royal Troon.

There are two PGA Tour events left of the regular season. The BMW Championship takes place this week before the Tour Championship next week.