PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLA. –The PGA Tour and Facebook have reached an agreement awarding the social media giant rights to distribute more than 60 hours of exclusive live coverage on Saturdays and Sundays from eight tournaments leading up to the FedExCup Playoffs for the 2017-18 season.
“We are thrilled to add Facebook to an already impressive lineup of global digital and broadcast partners,” said Chris Wandell, vice president, media business development of the PGA Tour.
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The coverage, produced under the PGA Tour Live brand, will be distributed via Facebook Watch within the United States and is free of charge to viewers. Similar to the PGA Tour’s subscription OTT service, Facebook Watch coverage will follow two groups that tee off in the morning of the third and final rounds. Coverage will include interactive elements, such as fan questions and comments.
The agreement also covers on-demand programming, including tournament previews, round recaps and extended player highlights, which will be available in the United States on Facebook Watch and around the world via the PGA Tour Live show page.
Coverage via Facebook Watch will begin June 23rd and continue the next day at the Travelers Championship. Other 2018 events include: Quicken Loans National; A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier; John Deere Classic; RBC Canadian Open; World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational; Wyndham Championship; and The Northern Trust.
Typically, coverage from the tournaments will start at 8:30 a.m. ET and end at the beginning of Golf Channel’s lead-in coverage.
With the conclusion of coverage of the featured groups on Facebook Watch, PGA Tour Live featured holes coverage will be streamed worldwide on a non-exclusive basis on Facebook.
