Viewers in Ireland will be unable to watch the US PGA Championship on television next month after it was announced that the Eleven Sports network had secured exclusive rights and will show all of their coverage on their website, as well as some on Facebook.
It is the latest move from the company, founded by Leeds owner Andrea Radrizzani, having already bought the rights to show LaLiga, Serie A, Eredivisie, Chinese Super League and the Swedish Allsvenskan.
The final Major of the year – which takes place at Bellerive Country Club in St Louis, Missouri from August 9th to 12th – has not been shown on Sky Sports since 2015 and last year was broadcast in Ireland by eirSport and the BBC.
However, Eleven Sports’ acquisition of the exclusive rights means no television channel will be showing what is, among many storylines, Jordan Spieth’s first attempt at completing the career grand slam.
A spokesperson for eir sport told The Irish Times that "the PGA will not be broadcast on eir sport this year," meaning that viewers in Ireland will have to watch via elevensports.com or the Eleven Sports app available on via Android or iOS.
All four rounds 100th US PGA will be free and live on a seven-day trial basis on the Eleven Sports website while the first two rounds will also be streamed on Facebook Live through Eleven Sports’ page.
The tournament is being used by the network to launch themselves in Ireland and the UK before a paid subscription will be required to watch the rest of the channel’s offerings, such as La Liga and Serie A, once the US PGA is over.
BBC’s broadcasting of the event last year meant that golf returned to terrestrial television for the first time since the controversial acquisition of the rights to the British Open by Sky Sports who also hold exclusive rights to the US Masters and the US Open.
