Women’s golf and the LPGA Tour are increasing in popularity, which was on full display last week in Las Vegas.
PGA Tour viewership of Shriners Children’s Open proves Lexi Thompson, LPGA stars belong
ESPN+ revealed impressive numbers for the 2023 Shriners Children’s Open, thanks to Lexi Thompson’s PGA Tour debut.
Jack Milko has been playing golf since he was five years old. He has yet to record a hole-in-one, but he did secure an M.A. in Sports Journalism from St. Bonaventure University.
Just last week, tournament organizers for the Shriners Children’s Open invited Lexi Thompson to make her PGA Tour debut in Nevada.
She barely missed the cut, but her appearance at TPC Summerlin created an overwhelming buzz among fans, media, and Shriners children’s ambassadors alike.
Her presence was felt in the television world, too.
Thompson, Kevin Roy, and Trevor Webylo comprised one of the feature groups for ESPN+. That led the streaming platform to experience a 19% uptick in viewers for its featured group coverage compared to the 2022 Shriners Children’s Open, according to Josh Carpenter of Sports Business Journal.
ESPN+, which produces the PGA Tour Live telecast, showcased complete rounds of Thompson’s group and three other marquee pairings.
That means ESPN+ was the exclusive home for Thompson’s play in Las Vegas, which lit the golfing world on fire.
Fans from all over the world tuned in to see Thompson try and make the cut, but her hot putter escaped her down the stretch.
Nevertheless, golf fans can tune into PGA Tour Live for exclusive featured group coverage once again at the RSM Classic in mid-November.
PGA Tour Live airs—often feature group coverage—before any of the tour’s network partners broadcast live golf. Typically, ESPN+ will air a PGA Tour event from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. before Golf Channel produces coverage for the remainder of the day.
“For the second year in a row, from the start of the 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions in January through the 2023 TOUR Championship in late August, more fans streamed PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+ than any other live content on the platform,” according to an ESPN spokesperson.
ESPN+ experienced tremendous success in 2023, and they hope to parlay that into 2024. The platform will once again produce PGA Tour Live next year.
But Thompson provided the platform—and golf—a much-needed spark during a time when football and baseball dominate the American sports calendar.
Perhaps the PGA Tour and its partners should consider more opportunities for women playing alongside the men in the future. There is clearly a draw.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
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