PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Golf Channel figures to remain an important part of the PGA Tour’s new-look future under CEO Brian Rolapp, but the often-discussed idea of the network being acquired by the tour doesn’t appear to be on the table.
“I think our M&A strategy is more about us acquiring properties than vice versa,” USA Sports president Matt Hong tells Front Office Sports at the Players Championship.
USA Sports is the sports division of Versant, the new conglomerate of former Comcast cable networks that completed a spinoff into its own publicly traded company in January. Beyond Golf Channel, Versant owns USA Network, CNBC, E!, SYFY, and other digital properties. Versant (which trades on the Nasdaq) had a $5.43 billion market cap at the close of trading Thursday.
Golf Channel has PGA Tour media rights (most notably first and second round coverage for all events) through 2030 as part of its most recent deal that began in 2022 under Comcast ownership. The PGA Tour is, altogether, bringing in $700 million annually from NBC Sports, CBS Sports, Golf Channel, and ESPN.
While Golf Channel brass isn’t interested in selling an equity stake to the PGA Tour, they’re happy to re-negotiate those media rights deals early, which could be necessary as Rolapp pushes through massive schedule changes he laid out during his highly anticipated press conference this week.
“If it makes sense for the tour and the other networks that we start talking sooner rather than later on lengthening the deal, we’re certainly up for that,” Hong says.
The PGA Tour is targeting the 2028 season to implement changes that could include a promotion and relegation for players between a top tier of 21-26 events and a second track of PGA Tour tournaments. The 2026 season runs for 33 consecutive weeks (some with multiple overlapping tournaments).
What will that mean for Golf Channel?
“We’re a little bit unique, relative to, say, an NBC or a CBS because we’re there every day and every week,” Hong says. “So, scarcity impacts the Saturday-Sunday partners a little bit more than it does us. We probably won’t be as impacted by some of the changes. Our discussion with the tour has really been about the quality of the hours, the quality of the players, and having there be consequence.”
Beyond the PGA Tour, USA Sports has several other key golf deals with the LPGA Tour, DO World Tour, Augusta National, USGA, R&A, and PGA of America. Outside of golf, USA Sports has media rights deals with NASCAR, the English Premier League, WWE, WNBA, Pac-12, Atlantic 10, and League One Volleyball.
USA Sports is in the market for more potential sports deals, and even more sports channels or digital properties. “Our strategy is more about us acquiring additional golf or sports or news or entertainment direct-to-consumer businesses, than selling those businesses,” Hong says.
