Just when you thought you got access to the best golf broadcasting service, you realize it’s still not the way it should be. It would be so easy though.
I was a long-time Sky subscriber. Already when it was Premiere and then later Sky, I paid a fortune in monthly fees to get to watch some golf. I was never interested in other sports than golf, so I paid it for the weekly tournament on the Euro tour and on the PGA tour. That was the time when I haven’t had a family and plenty of time.
The years went by and it truly annoyed me how much Sky charged for the sports package and that you a) need a set top box, and b) are contracted for two years with no chance to get treated like a valued customer. In order to benefit from some reductions you had to cancel the subscription and wait for the call with the offer.
So from a pure contractual standpoint I hated Sky from the beginning. But the golf was too good to be neglected. Then came the daughter and with her next to no chance at all to watch some golf on the weekend; neither the Euro tour in the afternoon and truth be told, nor the PGA tour at night.
There we have another problem with Sky, it’s all live. And while this is nice to have, what I’d really appreciated back then would have been a streaming functionality at your time of choice. I quit watching golf eventually and just bought one of the daily or week passes for Sky Ticket. That allowed me to at least watch some of the majors.
Then Golf TV came around and I figured my dream to come true. Live coverage, but still streaming possibilities at your convenient time, reasonably priced; perfect. Well, it turned out the PGA Tour wasn’t supported (still isn’t) apart from the feautured groups and feautured holes segment. And while this is OK to watch some golf, it’s seriously stupid if you’d like to watch a tournament to see what’s going on and who’s getting into contention; so the whole experience. That’s impossible (as of now) for the PGA but indeed really nice for the European Tour.
As a consequence I watched quite some Euro golf and neglected the PGA side of things.
Then came Corona and with it dozens of tournaments that have been cancelled or postponed. Watching golf was no real option anymore. Later in 2020 some major tournaments were played nonetheless. I was looking forward to the Masters and some other grand tournaments. But just when I sat there with my drink, snacks and some time, I was irritated by the fact that I couldn’t find the tournament anywhere on the golf.tv website. A quick web search revealed that they indeed didn’t show it. I was furious!
All golf broadcasting services over the past in Europe and in particular in Germany proved to be sub-par. I was angry at the service and at the money that went out of the window.
Now, in 2021 while the world slowly but surely comes back to senses, I figure that golf.tv will show more and more tournaments and I do hope they didn’t somehow lost a lawsuit and are not able to show major tournaments anymore. That would be a real show-stopper.
Again, I do hope for 2021 that we get back to a situation where we’ll see more tournaments taking place, being broadcasted and golfers keep also watching them, in order to bring golf.tv and Sky the earnings they need to continue the service. A bit golf is still better than no golf, but I guess we all want the situation as it was before this horrible pandemic.
Until then I keep looking for the perfect golf broadcasting service out there. Suggestions very welcome.
Fingers crossed. Stay save everybody!
Pictures © sky.com, golf.tv