British golf’s governing body is pondering whether to abandon exclusive free-to-air television coverage of the Open Championship as it negotiates its next broadcasting deal.
The tender process for the tournament’s next contract, from 2016, is underway and, as reported in the Daily Telegraph, the Royal & Ancient’s commitment to keeping the showpiece event on the BBC is wavering.
The BBC has been the exclusive rights holder to the Open for more than 50 years and the R&A has so far resisted the temptation of signing a lucrative deal with Sky Sports since live Open coverage was removed from the list of protected events for terrestrial broadcast.
However, the outgoing R&A chief executive, Peter Dawson, has spoken of the need for the BBC to improve its coverage amid concerns about golf’s declining profile and participation rates. When the R&A renewed its BBC deal in 2010, Dawson said: “They [the corporation] know we’ve got our eye on them. You have to stay in practice and keep up with advances in technology.
“The BBC know they need to get off the financial plateau they are on with the Open Championship by the next time it comes around. Who knows who’ll be on the scene then?”
