Tiger, Ratings, Money: Sure, It’s Coincidence

CBS doesn’t have the NFL. It doesn’t have the NBA or major league baseball. But it does have golf, lots of it, including this week’s PGA Championship.

“There isn’t another network where golf is as important as it is to CBS,” said Rob Correa, CBS Sports vice president of programming. “We are the golf network. We’re the leader. We have the best schedule in quality and quantity.”

That may be the case, but it comes with a price.

On May 11, CBS anted up the biggest share among six networks for a four-year, $400-million contract, beginning in 1999.

Then on July 7, CBS extended its agreement with the PGA of America to lock up the PGA Championship through 2005. The seven-year extension, beginning in 1999, cost about $30 million.

Both deals more than doubled current right fees.

Thank you, Tiger Woods.

PGA and network officials try to play down the Tigermania factor, but if you look at ratings it’s easy to see what has caused the recent surge in golf’s popularity.

The final round of the ’96 Masters, without Woods, got an impressive 9.2 rating. The final round this year, with Woods running away with the championship, got a 14.1.

The Colonial on CBS without Woods in 1996 got a 2.6 Sunday rating. In 1997, with Woods winning, it was a 5.9.

This year’s MCI Classic the week after the Masters, without Woods, got a 2.7 Sunday rating; it got a 2.9 the year before.

Golf on CBS at this point last year was averaging a 2.9 rating. It is now averaging a 3.5. NBC is up from a 3.0 to a 3.2 and ABC from a 2.4 to a 2.5.

With the continual growth of cable, declining ratings are more the norm. So for anything to show an increase, that’s a positive.

But the real positive has come in the majors. Ratings for the Masters were up 47% over a year ago, up 30% for the U.S. Open and 41% for the British Open.

“We did not do this because we think Tiger Woods will create a huge growth,” CBS Sports President Sean McManus said. “It was a factor in our enthusiasm for golf, but I must tell you it was a very minor factor.

“I don’t think Tiger had a pure financial impact. Money would have been raised with or without him.”

Of TV’s new PGA Tour deal, Commissioner Tim Finchem said, “Golf has been extremely popular for television for several years. The market has been very strong for golf, and frankly, if Tiger Woods would have stayed at Stanford, the negotiations, in my judgment, would have still gone quite well.

“But having a player that moves the needle on the ratings like he does obviously added significant topspin to the overall situation.”

The rights fee the PGA Tour now gets is estimated at $42 million per year. The contract that begins in 1999 will pay an average of $100 million over the four years.

Meanwhile, golf is expected to be generating $200 million per year in television revenue by 2002.

It goes without saying that a lot depends on Woods, and how many tournaments he plays. He often does not commit to a regular tournament until the 5 p.m. Friday deadline the week before, making it impossible for TV executives to guess where he will play next month, let alone next year.

But the four majors are a lock. And CBS has two of those, the Masters and the PGA.

The long-term deal with PGA of America is an insurance policy for CBS. There is no long-term deal with the Masters--CBS has signed 42 consecutive one-year contracts. If it should lose the Masters, CBS would still have the PGA.

TBS also recently extended its PGA Championship agreement, ensuring that the PGA is the only tournament to get four days of cable coverage as well as two days of network coverage.

TBS’ coverage today and Friday will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. On Saturday and Sunday, TBS will have coverage from 8-10:30 a.m.

CBS, which will use 28 cameras and 120,000 feet of camera cable, will be on from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and show highlights Thursday and Friday at 12:30 a.m.