R&A selects European Tour Production as Production Partner for The Open

Next year’s British Open will have a new look and feel for golf fans as not only will Sky Sports UK and NBC Sports in the U.S. get a one-year jump on their new rights deals but also the R&A has appointed European Tour Productions (ETP) as its new television production partner for The Open. The two-year production agreement will come into effect for The 145th Open, played at Royal Troon in Scotland from July 14-17 next year.The contract was awarded to ETP after a competitive tender process and ETP will be responsible for providing the world feed from the sport’s oldest Championship, which will be used by The R&A’s new broadcast partners for 2016, Sky Sports and NBC Sports Group, and its other international broadcast partners.

Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said, “We are delighted to appoint European Tour Productions as our television production partner for The Open. They have a long and successful track record of producing outstanding live broadcasts of professional golf at the highest level. Our aim is to give golf fans around the world a truly immersive experience of watching The Open and we look forward to working with ETP to deliver compelling and innovative coverage.”

Rupert Hampel, Joint Managing Director of European Tour Productions, said, “The Open is one of the world’s great sporting events and it is a privilege to be the production partner for such a prestigious Championship. We know that television viewers of The Open around the world expect the highest standards of production and our focus will be on providing an exceptional broadcast from the first tee shot on the Thursday morning to the last putt dropping on Sunday afternoon.”