The Masters Tournament is played on one of the most beautiful golf courses in the world at Augusta National. Yet, fans cannot watch it because of the lack of coverage.
Masters 2024: Fans berate lack of Augusta National coverage in 21st century
The Masters’ broadcast has fans frustrated as they want golf from Augusta National all day long.
Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Very few fans ever get to grace the grounds of Augusta National. So, they would hope to watch golf from the opening tee shot until the last ball falls on 18 each day.
However, the live broadcast inexplicably does not start until 3 p.m. ET. Sure, there are streaming options, but those are delayed.
Not to mention, millions of Americans either do not have the ability to stream The Masters or do not know how. Despite the insurgence of young golf fans in recent years, a large portion of fans are older.
The Masters prides itself on its website, but it has not been up to par this year. Even when the tournament moved to ESPN for the live portion, there were too many commercials and segments.
There is supposed to be shot-by-shot footage of each player in the “My Group” feature, but it’s slow. Not to mention, World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is not even part of the featured groups for Day 1 and 2 of the tournament. How does that happen?
Fans immediately noticed the lack of golf coverage Thursday and complained on social media.
As the first major championship of the year, there is no excuse for not having 12-plus hours of coverage on television. People want golf and don’t care if there is no commentary on it.
The networks that cover the event Thursday and Friday, ESPN and The Golf Channel (owned by NBC), would most certainly have far greater viewership throughout the day if they aired actual tournament play.
That viewership in turn would generate more revenue through advertising dollars. It seems like a simple math equation. Yet, every year fans are left wondering when they get to watch the greatest golf tournament on Earth.
Fans woke up at 7 a.m. to watch golf, and granted, there was a rain delay Thursday, but it should not be this hard to find Masters coverage.
A number of fans grumbled about the Golf Channel showing “Live From the Masters” instead of the tournament.
It’s the 21st century; there is no excuse for a major championship not to broadcast as much of their tournament as possible.
Surely, there are currently contractual reasons as to why there is avoid. But what is the hold up? There is money to be made by the networks and fans who want to watch.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, be sure to follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
