Sky Scores European Golf Coverage

Sky has confirmed it will start screening live coverage of the European Tour from today.

The five-year deal also includes the Asian Tour and comes after Lightbox Sports “ceded” the rights on the grounds there wasn’t enough interest to warrant continuing coverage of the European Tour on its streaming service — a curious argument given how much streamed content is niche, anyway.

Ditching the European Tour because of a cost-benefit analysis doesn’t appear to have benefitted subscribers, with no sign of a discount for those who have already renewed their season pass or are thinking of doing so.

Sky’s coverage tees off today, with the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters and continues tomorrow with the SMBC Singapore Open.

Given Sky already has rights to three of the four majors, and carries excellent Golf Channel content, this is good news for golf fans frustrated with their PGA streaming experience.

It’s frustrating, though, that Sky’s announcement comes as late as today when only a week ago it told Screenscribe.tv that there was “nothing to report” about it picking up the rights.

Here’s the full release:

SKY Sport customers can enjoy LIVE coverage of The European Tour during 2016, and for the next five years, beginning with the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters event which starts today, Wednesday 27 January.

The European Tour features tournaments across 26 countries encompassing those played throughout Europe, including the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Spain, along with tournaments outside Europe – such as the Qatar Masters and the Perth International.

The Tour also boasts some of golf’s biggest names such as Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia, and Henrik Stenson who currently leads the European Tour’s “Race to Dubai” rankings.

The deal also includes the Asian Tour – the official regional sanctioning body for professional golf in Asia, and lists New Zealand player Sean Riordan on its playing roster.

The SMBC Singapore Open will be the first event of the 2016 Asian Tour to be shown on SKY Sport, beginning on 28 January.

“We are pleased to bring SKY Sport customers live coverage and highlights of these tours, which will feature top international players clashing on outstanding golf courses throughout the world,” SKY’s director of sport Richard Last said.

Commercial Bank Qatar Masters on SKY Sport:

Round 1:          Wednesday 27 January, 7.30pm – SKY Sport 2

Thursday 28 January, 12.00am – SKY Sport 2

Round 2:          Thursday 28 January, 7.30pm – SKY Sport 2

Friday 29 January, 12.00am – SKY Sport 2

Round 3:          Friday 29 January, 10.30pm – SKY Sport Pop-Up Channel 056

Round 4:          Saturday 30 January, 10.30pm – SKY Sport Pop-Up Channel 056