Keegan Bradley’s dramatic win at the Travelers Championship delivered big TV ratings that helped cap off a successful season of viewership for the PGA Tour’s eight $20 million signature events this year.
After Scottie Scheffler won half the signature events in 2024, a different player won each of this year’s eight tournaments.
Complete year-over-year TV ratings comparisons are tricky since weather impacted multiple tournaments, but overall, average final-round coverage for the PGA Tour’s eight signature events was up 10.17% over the most recent comparable Sunday afternoon windows in either 2024 or 2023.
- The Sentry: 461,000 (-35%)
- AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am: 3.33 million (+47%)
- Genesis Invitational: 3.4 million (+6%)
- Arnold Palmer Invitational: 2.8 million (+22%)
- RBC Heritage: 4.36 million (+5%)
- Truist Championship: 2.62 million (-5.6%)
- The Memorial Tournament: 3.06 million (+7%)
- Travelers Championship: 3.52 million (+35%)
Numbers for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and RBC Heritage are compared against the 2023 tournaments, since the former’s 2024 final round was canceled and the latter’s 2024 final round was delayed until Monday.
CBS broadcast six of the eight signature event final rounds, while NBC aired the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and Golf Channel carried The Sentry.
Signature Status?
The PGA Tour’s signature events were first introduced in 2023, formerly known as designated events, as a way to compete with the $20 million purses offered by LIV Golf, which had poached many popular players.
What place signature events hold on the long-term future of the PGA Tour schedule could change under new CEO Brian Rolapp, who is taking over as the top executive as commissioner Jay Monahan transitions out of his role over the next year. Evaluating this season’s TV ratings will surely be important for Rolapp, who was most recently the chief media and business officer for the NFL.
