Pro Golf Now
Fansided

Olympic Golf: TV Ratings Prove Tournament’s Success

By Zeke Ouellette

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - AUGUST 13: Justin Rose of Great Britain plays his third shot on the 18th hole during the third round of the golf on Day 8 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Golf Course on August 13, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images)
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - AUGUST 13: Justin Rose of Great Britain plays his third shot on the 18th hole during the third round of the golf on Day 8 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Golf Course on August 13, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

With question marks over how Olympic golf would be received, the TV Ratings suggest it was a great success.

Great Britain’s Justin Rose was elated to stand on top of the podium with gold around his neck at the 2016 Olympic Games on Sunday. He described the feeling of sublimely placing his 25 yard chip to within tap-in range on the 18th hole as, “absolutely incredible.”

According to Sports Media Watch, fans throughout the U.S. agreed.

Golf viewership received a major boost over the weekend. During the 90-minutes of the final round in which both NBC and Golf Channel broadcast the event, 8.8 million viewers tuned into Rose’s neck-and-neck battle with Sweden’s Henrik Stenson for gold. The 5.6 rating culminated as the highest rated 90-minute period of air time of any final round within the calendar year, excluding the Masters.

More from Olympics

To put the ratings success into perspective, here is a list of how the Olympic final round compares to other final rounds for the majors in 2016:

Masters final round – 12.4 million
Olympic final round – 8.8 million
US Open final round – 5.4 million
PGA Championship final round – 5.3 million
British Open final round – 4.9 million

To be 3.4 million viewers north of the US Open is pretty impressive, and may possibly display a positive change in the direction of the overall popularity of golf.

Unlike most of this year’s majors, which saw a steadily declining television viewership rating, golf’s return to the Olympics got a lot of things right. Marred by concerns of the Zika virus, scheduling conflicts and a bevy of big-name players electing to skip the event, golf’s Olympic return looked doomed.

Yet, as soon as Brazilian native, Adilson da Silva, cranked the tournament’s opening tee shot, all worries of the tournament’s failure dissipated.

Fans, many of which hadn’t previously been exposed to the game of golf, came out in droves. Gil Hanse’s hand-carved course proved to stand up as a challenge with its unforgiving native areas. Recognizable players played beautiful golf. All of which created one of the most memorable tournament weekends in recent memory.

Of course, there are a few caveats to point out with the ratings success. Having only the final 90 minutes of the entire tournament being broadcast onto the flagship station of NBC probably made the viewing experience easier to digest for fans unfamiliar to golf. When looking at the longer broadcast on Golf Channel, average viewership only reached 1.6 million in the afternoon, and was under 1 million during the tournament’s three opening days. Additionally, this year’s ratings all together still sit far behind Tiger Woods’ first Masters victory in 1997, which registered at 15.8.

While it may not have obliterated golf’s television records, the return to the Olympics nudges golf in the right direction. When the IOC meets in 2017 to re-assess whether golf should remain a part of the Olympics past the 2020 games in Tokyo, it would be a shock for them to say no. Thanks to the fans and their viewership, expect to see even more of golf’s superstars tee it off in Tokyo.

Next: Women’s Olympic Golf Full Preview: Korea, US Medal Hopefuls

What did you think of golf’s return to the Olympic games? Was it a success? What do you want to see in 2020? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Home/Olympics