Further details emerge about Discovery’s new OTT golf service

Discovery’s new PGA Tour-branded over-the-top (OTT) golf streaming service will be called GolfTV, the broadcaster has revealed.

GolfTV, powered by the PGA Tour, will offer more than 2,000 hours of live action each year as well as content on-demand.

Live coverage will come from the six tours operating under the PGA Tour umbrella and will feature nearly 150 tournaments annually including The Players Championship, the FedExCup Playoffs and the Presidents Cup.

Alex Kaplan, president and general manager of Discovery Golf, said: “Our long-term goal is to create a must-have experience that truly enhances the way global fans watch, play and engage with the game every day. Unveiling the new GolfTV brand is an exciting next step in our journey.

“Building on Discovery’s heritage of real-life storytelling and direct-to-consumer platform experience, we’ve already established a world-class GolfTV team. With work well underway, our carefully considered plans will allow us to continually enhance GolfTV as we roll-out and further develop the product.”

Discovery and the PGA Tour announced a 12-year, $2bn (£1.5bn) deal in June that includes international multi-platform rights and linear TV rights for territories outside of the US.

GolfTV will replace PGA Tour Live. The first countries to get the service will be Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia and Spain, starting in January 2019.

The service will then be made available in Poland and South Korea in 2020 and in Belgium, China, Germany and South Africa in 2021. Denmark, Finland, India, Norway, Sweden and the UK will get GolfTV from 2022 with France coming online in 2024.

Discovery is promising to make GolfTV available on “every mobile screen and device” across 220 countries. 

Picture credit: Atlanta, 23 September – Rory McIlroy plays his shot from the fourth tee during the final round of the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)