PGA Tour’s Biggest Events Deliver Ratings Gains Ahead of TV Talks

The PGA Tour’s eight signature events this season averaged 3.44 million viewers for their final round broadcasts.

While comparing that to 2025 is tricky for a number of reasons, signature events this year did draw more viewers. 

More importantly, those figures are key as the PGA Tour moves toward a new two-track model in 2028 with a top-flight Championship Series playing at many of the same venues as signature events and expanding on their overall structure.

Conceived in 2022 after the debut of LIV Golf and launched in 2023 (first as designated events), the PGA Tour’s signature events have featured reduced fields of 80 or fewer players, no 36-hole cut, and $20 million purses.

In 2028, the new PGA Tour Championship Series will also offer purses of at least $20 million, but will have expanded fields of 120 players on average with a traditional 36-hole cut. The PGA Tour plans to play 15 Championship Series events, in addition to the four majors, the Players Championship, and a revamped postseason.

Most, if not all, signature events will become Championship Series tournaments. The PGA Tour is still determining the exact breakdown of Championship Series and second-tier Challenger Series events for the 2028 schedule.

Behind the Numbers

Seven of the PGA Tour’s eight signature events this season were the same as in 2025. 

The Sentry—the PGA Tour’s longtime season-opener and a signature event in 2025—was not played this year. The Cadillac Championship was a new event on the 2026 PGA Tour schedule and a signature event.

Here are the final-round viewership averages for this season’s eight signature events, and their percentage increase or decrease over last year:

• AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am: 3.3 million on CBS (-0.9%)
• Genesis Invitational: 3.27 million on CBS (-3.8%)
• Arnold Palmer Invitational: 3.3 million on NBC (+17.8%)
• RBC Heritage: 4.35 million on CBS (-0.2%)

• Cadillac Championship: 2.151 million on CBS (new event)
• Truist Championship: 3.382 million on CBS (+29%)
• The Memorial Tournament: 3.339 million on CBS (+9%)
• Travelers Championship: 4.2 million on NBC (+19.3%)

Excluding the new Cadillac Championship, the other seven signature event final-round broadcasts averaged 3.59 million viewers, which is up 8.8% compared to their figures in 2025. Four saw viewership increases, while three were down (two of those were practically flat). 

PGA Tour events in 2026 have been rated using Nielsen’s new Big Data + Panel methodology that typically increases viewer count, while the 2025 season used the old panel-only method.

Golf’s Live Sports Value

On average, the final rounds of the PGA Tour’s eight signature events this season ranked between the 13th and 14th most-watched live sports broadcast of their respective weeks (13.625 to be exact), according to Nielsen. 

The Arnold Palmer Invitational ranked the highest, No. 3, during the week of March 2–8. The RBC Heritage (No. 4 April 13–19) and Memorial Tournament (No. 7 June 1–7) also cracked the Top 10 of their respective weeks. 

The Travelers Championship, while having the second-highest total viewership average of the signature events, ranked the lowest in its respective week at No. 21—but the golf tournament was the only non-World Cup broadcast to rank inside the top 25 for the week of June 22–28.

The final round of the Players Championship—the PGA Tour’s flagship event—averaged 4.4 million viewers on NBC, which was ranked No. 4 for the week of March 9–15.

Media-Rights Deals Approaching

Signature events are expected to return in some form for a final PGA Tour season in 2027 before the Championship Series and Challengers Series begin in 2028.

Viewership of those top-tier events will remain paramount for the PGA Tour as it prepares to negotiate new media rights deals after its current deals end following the 2030 season. CBS Sports, NBC Sports, Versant, and ESPN are paying a combined $700 million annually.

The PGA Tour’s current partners figure to be interested in returning, while streamers like Amazon Prime Video and Netflix that have been getting involved in golf could also explore bids.