The media is a vital aspect to all sports. The media covers all sports and gives an input on every game or big story. Golf has a major TV contract with the Golf Channel, NBC, and CBS. The golf majors like the Masters, the U.S, the British Open, and the PGA Championship are covered on NBC and CBS. Most of the golf tournaments on Sunday are aired on NBC and CBS too. Recently Fox sports signed a TV contract with the PGA Tour. Fox now gets to broadcast the US Open starting in 2015. "Though financial terms weren't disclosed, a person with knowledge of the
negotiations said the Fox bid was in the neighborhood of $100 million a
year, more than double the previous contract." "NBC Sports had been televising the U.S. Open since 1995 at Shinnecock
Hills, with Miller as its shoot-from-the-hip analyst who became as much
of the show as the golf itself." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/07/fox-sports-us-open-golf-nbc_n_3722695.html
Besides the major TV companies covering important majors, the Golf Channel airs on a daily basis. The Golf Channel was founded in 1995 and was co-founded by Arnold Palmer. The Golf Channel was the first single-sport cable network. Tournaments, TV shows, and analysis on players are all shown on the Golf Channel everyday. The Golf Channel plays one of their most famous shows Big Break, and the viewers sky rocket every time the show plays. The ratings have spiked a tremendous amount the past four years. http://www.golfchannel.com/news/press-releases/golf-channel-posts-four-best-years-network-history-highest-rated-and-second-most-watched-year-ever/ The Golf Channel is a very popular program and important information is covered everyday.
Although TV is the main source of media there are other types of media in golf. The main secondary source of media is the popular magazine, Golf Digest. Golf Digest covers every aspect of golf. The magazine was founded in 1952. Golf Digest is famous for their hot list. The hot list tells you about all the new clubs, and what the ratings are on each new club. Golf Digest also gives out golf lessons in the magazine. There are pictures of the lessons and what to do and not to do. The magazine advertises all the golf equipment, which leads the many companies benefiting from the magazine. Golf Digest is very popular and useful for all the fans of golf.
In sports, professional athletes are supposed to be the hero and a role model for every kid. All kids look up to the greats of the game. As a kid I looked up to Allen Iverson, Terrell Owens, Chase
Utley, and Tiger Woods. My favorite athlete and role model was Tiger Woods. Although Tiger has had some terrible off field issues, but he is still my favorite athlete. Although many people stopped liking Tiger after what he did to his wife, I stayed with him the entire way. Many people began to drop Tiger as a role model and think of the new young golfers as role models. For example, many people converted to Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler. When Rory was winning all of the tournaments everyone became a Rory fan. Everyone looked up to Rory and there was talk he is the next greatest golfer to ever live. The biggest role model to kids was Rickie Fowler. Rickie Fowler is young golfer who makes the game more exciting. He wears flashy clothes and all the kids want to be Rickie. A lot of kids buy Rickie's famous Puma, bright, flashy clothes. Role models in sports are important for the game and for fans of the game.
In professional sport leagues there are some of the greatest athletes in the world competing against each other. Although the athletes are great on the field, there are many cases where athletes have off field issues. Most people think that there would never be a professional golfer with off field issues. Little do people know golfers have been found guilty for cocaine usage, alcoholism, gambling, and cheating on their wives. Tiger Woods is most famous for having off the course issues. Tiger has been found guilty for cheating on his wife. In 2009 Tiger Woods career went downhill after he got caught sleeping with 121 girls. "Woods shocked fans in December 2009 when he publicly admitted to cheating on his now ex-wife Elin Nordegren."http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/10/tiger-woods-reputation_n_3417137.html Tiger was in the prime of his career before his cheating scandal took place. He was winning all kinds of tournaments and majors. Everyone thought he was going to be the greatest golfer to ever live. Tiger still to this day is chasing Jack's record of 18 majors. Tiger stands at 14 majors and as sad as it to say I do not think he is going to break the record. Tiger does still have many opportunities to break the record, but he is running out of time due to his injuries. Tigers last major win was the US Open in 2008 and that was before he was caught cheating. Sports writers who say "Tiger can't win without his girls" might have been joking, but Tiger literally can not win without his girls. According to the numbers, Tiger has not won a major after he was caught and only won 3 tournaments since being caught. Tiger Woods has been in the decline of his career ever since the big cheating scandal in 2009.
The Super Bowl is the most watched sports event every year. Even if your not a fan of the game, or your team isn't in the game, you still end up watching the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl is filled with entertainment, leading to the many viewers of the game. Many people watch the Super Bowl for the commercials and the half time show. So I think the way to bring in more viewers and revenue for the game of golf is to make the commercials better. A lot of people do not even know how to the professional golf league works. So I think the PGA tour should advertise better. The PGA tour needs to tell viewers when the US Open, the British Open, the PGA Championship, and the most watched tournament the Masters. Some people would not bother watching any of these major tournaments. By making the commercials funny and entertaining, golf would be revolutionized. As of right now golf is depicted by having old people be the only viewers. By adding entertaining commercials the viewers would change from old people to modern day viewers. The ratings would increase tremendously along with the viewers. Sunday at Augusta would be compared to the top sports events of the year.
The most viewed event in sports entertainment was played this past Sunday, February 1st, 2015. The Super Bowl is the biggest game throughout all sports. The ticket prices show for the popularity of this huge event. The New England Patriots representing the AFC faced up against the defending champs the Seattle Seahawks from the NFC. The ticket prices sky rocketed as the date of the Super Bowl came closer and closer. By the Saturday before the Super Bowl the cheapest ticket a person could buy was $11,505.Even if my favorite team made the big game I would never consider spending that money. Not only are the tickets ridiculously priced, but you still have to buy a flight ticket and a place to sleep and stay. Imagine if you buy the tickets 2 weeks before the Super Bowl for $4000 and you think its a great deal. So you catch a flight to Arizona to receive your tickets from your broker, but unexpectedly your tickets are unavailable because your broker sells your tickets tickets to another customer for double or triple to money. This is what happened to a fan named Phil Villareal. “Sorry for the inconvenience,” wrote the broker. “This is what happened. Terrible for both of us. Your tickets are still in New England. The guy who was bringing them to me can’t get a flight out due to the terrible inclement weather.”http://consumerist.com/2015/02/04/ticket-broker-cant-deliver-customers-4k-super-bowl-tix-until-local-news-gets-involved/ Phil could not get in touch with his broker or UberSeat. Phil decided to go to the news about his story. Miraculously once the news got involved UberSeat found two tickets for Phil. To avoid Phil's situation and many other unfortunate fans, you should go to reliable source like Costco. Instead of a broker who could get rid of your tickets faster than you can ask why, buying a Super Bowl package at Costco is a better plan.
