An interview with John Ourand of SBJ on PGA Tour TV rights negotiations

The Shotgun Start

The Friday episode begins with a check-in on the leaderboards from across the golf world. We lament PGA Tour Live’s decision not to cover The BfB’s run at 59 when they gave Cam Champ that treatment in Detroit. A special Flashback Friday begins with a spotlight on the Monday qualifier and Tiger Woods confidant that once won in Greensboro, and ends with a deep dive on a former U.S. Amateur champ who missed the top 125 by a spot that same year. Then we’re joined by media reporter John Ourand of Sports Business Journal. John recently reported on the PGA Tour accelerating their pursuit to come to terms on new rights deals with TV and media partners. He’s an authority on these rights deals and plugged in on the subject, laying out the Tour’s reasons for aggressively doing this now and who the players are vying to broadcast it to you. Could CBS and NBC be out? Could Amazon join the fray? Is a second dedicated golf channel coming? Ourand provides a primer and some educated guesses based on his early reporting. We end with some quick news on the ThunderBear’s ugly flight home to Europe.