Are Sky Sports and The Golf Channel about to give up their TV rights to the DP World Tour?

Sky Sports are yet to be confirmed as the official broadcaster of the 2025 DP World Tour season in the UK & Ireland.

The DP World Tour are in a race against time to tie down UK and US broadcasters for 2025 with Sky Sports and Golf Channel deals due to expire at the end of the year

Generally speaking, this year hasn’t been good for TV ratings in golf. Viewing figures are down double digits across the board and the rising costs and number of streaming services available means people are cutting the cord. Or rather, they were. In the UK & Ireland, the DP World Tour have been reporting huge spikes across its ‘Back 9’ events, with the average peak viewership on Sky Sports up 13% versus 2023.

In theory, this should bode well for next year, in the run-up to the Ryder Cup, except there is no guarantee that Sky Sports will even have the rights then to broadcast every DP World Tour event. We can reveal that both parties have yet to agree terms on an extension to their existing TV deal, which is due to expire at the end of 2024.

Over in the US, The Golf Channel have also run down their contract, which is perhaps a little more concerning given it was signed by TGL co-founder Mike McCarley, then Golf Channel President, way back in 2013 when George O’Grady was still in charge of the DP World Tour. Current chief Guy Kinnings was Luke Donald’s agent at the time.  

As part of an exclusive interview in the next edition of Today’s Golfer (on sale: November 28), Kinnings revealed that he still “expects” new deals to be agreed with both Sky Sports and The Golf Channel, whose own partnership with the Wentworth-based circuit dates back to 1995 when the US TV network first launched.

Getting both deals over the line would represent a significant coup for Kinnings, who replaced Keith Pelley at the helm on April 2, 2024. He’s already been forced to scrap the European Open and Scandinavian Mixed next season after failing to bring new sponsors on board, and we also understand HSBC has walked away from its title sponsorship of the Abu Dhabi Championship.

In better news, our sources have told us that Rolex has agreed to extend their association with the Tour and the lucrative Rolex Series, which will once again feature five tournaments next season.

About the author

Michael Catling – Features Editor

Michael Catling is an award-winning journalist who specializes in golf’s Majors and Tours, including DP World, PGA, LPGA, and LIV.

Michael joined Today’s Golfer in 2016 and has traveled the world to attend the game’s biggest events and secure exclusive interviews with the game’s biggest names, including Jack Nicklaus, Jordan Spieth, Tom Watson, Greg Norman, Gary Player, Martin Slumbers and Justin Thomas.

Get in touch with Michael via email and follow him on X.