The PGA Tour announced yesterday that it would debut its first ever digital, Over-The-Top subscription service, called PGA Tour Live. Starting with the Quicken Loans National on July 30-31, the PGA Tour will be able to stream live content directly to fans, without need of a service provider.
The most interesting part about this—the system was developed in a multi-year partnership with MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM), the Internet and technology branch of Major League Baseball.
This partnership will be something to watch out for, as these two sports share a number of similarities with the make up of their audience and the standing of their sport.
Golf and baseball both have a plethora of young talent, but lately have had trouble with attracting a younger audience. Golfers have come up with radical changes to the game that might help them attract more people to the sport, from having much larger holes to creating an Internet golf network called Skratch TV.
This Over-The-Top subscription service will be a good start though for the PGA Tour, as studies show that youth and young adults often prefer live streaming to watching an actual television.
But, this could be only the start for MLBAM’s relationship with the PGA Tour, and the two are in a prime position to share pointers with one another in order to grow their respective sports.
As well, now that MLBAM has worked with a league outside of the MLB, there is seemingly no end in sight. It can now become the go-to Over-The-Top provider for other leagues, sports and companies. That may deem itself useful to the MLB, allowing baseball to increase its influence outside of the sport itself.
All of that is in the future, though, and for now PGA Tour Live can be accessed with a free trial, and coverage begins at 7 a.m. ET on Thursday.