Presidents Cup suffers major TV blow

Despite drama on the course, the Presidents Cup didn’t go down as a hit on TV screens.

Amid a tough year for golf ratings, the biennial match between the USA and Internationals suffered a similar fate.

According to viewing figures, published by Sports Business Journal, the Presidents Cup drew only 1.37 million viewers on NBC for the final day on Sunday.

That marks a staggering 28% drop from the same singles session in 2022, watched by 1.89 million viewers.

Saturday’s action took an even greater hit. NBC drew 1.21 million viewers, a 36% drop from 1.89 million in 2022.

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The Sunday matches, dominated by Team USA – who won a tenth consecutive Presidents Cup – were swept aside in viewing figures by college football, MLB, WNBA, Nascar and NFL.

Jim Furyk’s American side ran out easy winners of the match, coasting to an eventual 18.5-11.5 success at Royal Montreal, in Canada.

The former US Open champion captained the visitors to a 5-0 sweep in Thursday’s opening session before a shock turnaround on day two.

The Internationals, led by Canadian Mike Weir, masterminded a clean sweep of their own to tie the match heading into the weekend.

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That’s when the US asserted its decade of dominance, leading by four points ahead of the singles shootout on Sunday.

But it’s not the only championship in 2024 to suffer from dwindling TV ratings. In fact, even the four major championships in the men’s professional game struggled.

Scottie Scheffler’s Masters win attracted 20% less viewers than Jon Rahm’s in 2023, while 17% fewer golf fans tuned into the final round of the PLAYERS Championship.

A nine-year low was recorded at the Open in July, with a 4% drop in viewers for Xander Schauffele’s win at Royal Troon.

John Turnbull A graduate of the University of Stirling, John joined the bunkered team in 2023 as a Content Producer, with a responsibility for covering all breaking news, tour news, grassroots content and much more besides. A keen golfer, he plays the majority of his golf at Falkirk Tryst Golf Club. Top of his 'bucket list' is a round of Pebble Beach... ideally in the company of Gareth Bale.