The debate over whether Scottie Scheffler's dominance is good for engagement has received a compelling argument from the pro camp this week after it was reported that both US and UK broadcasters saw significant upturns in TV ratings at the 153rd Open Championship.
Scheffler swept all aside at Royal Portrush to claim his first Claret Jug and fourth Major of his career by four strokes - at one point building up a seven-shot lead during Sunday's final round.
And while the jeopardy of the championship's fate effectively disappeared into the Northern Irish sky once Scheffler birdied his 55th hole, host broadcaster, Sky Sports reported its most-watched coverage ever throughout the four days.
The UK broadcaster generated 21.2 million viewer hours across the championship, which averaged out at a 36% increase from 2024. Each individual round of The Open achieved a record average audience on Sky Sports, with a reported year-on-year growth in terms of both average and peak viewership.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, TV audiences grew steadily throughout the week, with an average of 338,000 tuning in on Thursday and peaking at 572,000 for round one - the latter figure was up 49% YoY while the former grew by 39%.
An average of 378,000 (peak 622,000) was recorded during the second round before a significant jump as the action headed into the weekend.
The TV audience averaged almost 600,000 on Saturday, peaking at 851,000, before the final round welcomed an average of 681,000 which was up 41% from 2024.
Sky Sports said its audience peaked at 1.14 million, which was 19% higher than Xander Schauffele's victory march 12 months prior.
A Sky Sports spokesperson said: "These record-breaking figures highlight Sky’s continued investment in delivering world-class golf coverage, combining cutting-edge innovation, expert analysis, and compelling storytelling to bring fans closer to the action than ever before."
The Open TV Ratings: Sky Sports
Round |
Average Audience (YoY Increase) |
Peak Audience (YoY Increase) |
|---|---|---|
Round 1 |
338,000 (39%) |
572,000 (49%) |
Round 2 |
378,000 (38%) |
622,000 (26%) |
Round 3 |
590,000 (32%) |
851,000 (16%) |
Round 4 |
681,000 (41%) |
1.14m (19%) |
Meanwhile, the uptick in TV viewership was not only felt in the British Isles, but also in the United States as NBC Sports recorded its biggest audience since the 2022 Open Championship at St Andrews in Scotland.
NBC stated Sunday's final round attracted 4.1 million viewers - which included streaming and was 21% up from last year's final men's Major (3.39m). The ratings peaked at just over 6.1 million during the 1:30pm - 1:45pm ET window.
In collaboration with Peacock, NBC's viewership averaged 3.6 million with Saturday's third round included, with that figure up 24% from 2024.
While a marked improvement on recent history in relation to The Open Championship, NBC's TV ratings were around a third lower than the broadcaster recorded at the US Open in June.
Largely down to the earlier window and a lengthy weather delay which interrupted the final round, JJ Spaun's victory attracted a peak audience of 9.1m and an average viewership of 5.4m, which was the least-watched final day since Bryson DeChambeau's success in 2020.
On the whole, the PGA Tour has reported a gradual upturn in TV ratings this season - highlighted by its Signature Events finishing the term up from last year.
Final-round coverage for the eight big-money tournaments increased just over 10% from the most recent comparable version and saw significant jumps at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (47% from 2023 as 2024 final round was cancelled) as well as the Travelers Championship (35%) and Arnold Palmer Invitational (22%).
