With no new deal confirmed, could DAZN snatch DP World Tour from Sky as they seek to build global home of golf?

For more than 30 years Sky Sports has been the home of the European Tour, and over the last 6 years the channel has become the exclusive broadcaster of the Tour, with all UK events now shown in their entirety on Sky Sports Golf. However, their current deal with the DP World Tour ends at the conclusion of the 2025 season, which will include the Ryder Cup.

30 years ago, at Oak Hill, Sky pioneered full live coverage of the Ryder Cup, showing the matches from the very first tee-shot on Friday morning to the final putt on Sunday evening, this September, at Bethpage State Park, Sky could broadcast their final edition of the Ryder Cup for a while. Could it be 30 years, over and out? It seems quite possible, with no deal yet confirmed from 2026. Sky may see the Majors and the PGA TOUR as their priority moving forward, with the DP World Tour, aside from a few marquee events, providing modest audiences.

Sky's primary focus now the PGA TOUR

As a viewer, there can be little doubt that Sky's primary focus is now the PGA TOUR. You see more of their top talent on the PGA TOUR coverage, and they do far more to promote their coverage of the PGA TOUR than they do the DP World Tour events. For Sky they surely see the PGA TOUR as a ratings winner with it being prime time in the UK, and much easier to build a narrative towards the four men's Majors. The DP World Tour fields have become weaker and weaker over the last five years, and even the flagship Rolex Series events do not attract the number of stars that they used to.

Looking to building the global home of golf on DAZN

Last month LIV Golf and DAZN announced a multi-year, Global Free-to-air Broadcast Deal, and Shay Segev, CEO of DAZN Group, said: “As a truly global broadcaster, DAZN is dedicated to ensuring that fans in every region can experience the most exciting action from LIV Golf, live and free. LIV Golf+ on DAZN will be available alongside DAZN’s extended free content offering, positioning it within an ecosystem that has already captured the attention of golf fans worldwide. This strategic partnership will grow the reach and popularity of LIV Golf, while bringing us closer to building the global home of golf on DAZN.”

Acquiring the rights to the DP World Tour could boost DAZN's UK golf offering by 36+ events per year, and packaging other content around this could go some way to fulfilling their vision of becoming the global home of golf. Currently the Asian Tour does not have a broadcaster in the UK, and with that tour's close ties to LIV Golf, it would make sense to acquire these rights, especially with the likes of Bryson playing in India, and other LIV Golf stars playing in Macau, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and other International Series events.

The DP World Tour and Asian Tour used to have a very close relationship, which included co-sanctioning several events, launching the HSBC Champions and running the Royal Trophy and EurAsia Cup. Sharing the same global tv platform could reignite this relationship, helping to create more harmony in the global game, and would surely be attractive to both parties, similarly to the situation in Boxing with Queensberry and Matchroom now both on DAZN.

DAZN deal could see sublicensing to free-to-air UK broadcaster

BBC, as was revealed by Guy Kinnings in a Golf Monthly interview recently, has the rights to highlights of the DP World Tour, but has neglected to include them in their schedules, aside from the Ryder Cup. If DAZN did a deal with the DP World Tour, it is entirely possible BBC could broadcast Live coverage of the British and Irish based events alongside DAZN.

In 2025 the DP World Tour will stage the Genesis Scottish Open, Betfred British Masters, BMW PGA Championship and Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in the UK, plus the AMGEN Irish Open, and this would give our national broadcaster 20 days live golf per year, in addition to highlights of The Open. BBC could then see value in producing a weekly golf programme, which could be shown on a Monday night and feature DP World Tour highlights, instruction, travel and golf course features.

2024 DP World Tour UK and Ireland events:

Genesis Scottish Open 10-13 July

Betfred British Masters 21-24 August

AMGEN Irish Open 4-7 September

BMW PGA Championship 11-14 September

Alfred Dunhill Links Championship 2-5 October

Ryder Cup

Currently the Ryder Cup is part of the DP World Tour broadcast contract, but the Tour could undoubtedly uncouple the two, and seek a much higher rights fee launching a bidding war between Sky, DAZN and BBC for UK coverage. In America the PGA of America negotiates a broadcast deal for the Ryder Cup, separate from the rest of the PGA TOUR. NBC have held the rights since 1991.

The Ryder Cup is one of the world's biggest sporting events, and having it as a standalone event would make it

Would DAZN be better value for golf fans in the UK than Sky Sports?

DAZN currently is available for £14.99 per month ( Monthly Saver,12-month deal) or £24.99 per month (Monthly Flexible pass, cancel any time) or the Annual Super-Saver, for just £119.99 per year. NOW from Sky costs £34.99 per month, but Sky Sports with a subscription to Sky Q costs a minimum of £51 per month,  Sky Sports with a subscription to Sky Glass costs £48 per month and a Sky Sports with a subscription to Sky Stream costs £35 per month.

Of course, right now, aside from the Boxing and the UEFA Women's Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup, DAZN's UK content is nowhere near the breadth of Sky Sports, but in pure cost terms there can be little doubt that DAZN is more affordable than Sky Sports. Sky Stream is the cheapest option and that costs £420 per year, in contrast to the £119.99 annual cost of DAZN if you subscribe to the annual super-saver. The DAZN cost is an upfront fee, which may put some off but the overall outlay is far cheaper.

Currently Sky is the undeniable home of golf in the UK, with exclusive rights to the Masters, US Open, PGA Championship, The Open, Chevron Championship, KPMG Women's PGA Championship, US Women's Open, Evian Championship and AIG Women's Open, along with the PGA TOUR, DP World Tour, LPGA, Solheim Cup, LET and Ryder Cup. Sky broadcasts more than 100 tournaments per year, but if they lost the DP World Tour, that number reduces dramatically, with 36 DP World Tour events outside the Majors and co-sanctioned events with the PGA TOUR.

We are now in the second quarter of 2025 and surely an announcement will be made soon, one way or the other. The last thing the DP World Tour needs in this current climate is uncertainty, and personally, I feel a new broadcaster could inject new enthusiasm into the tour. DAZN has transformed the Boxing broadcast, and working with European Tour Productions, they could do the same for golf.

SHANK Media, by Matt Hooper.