Tiger Woods Signs Deal With the 'Netflix of Golf'
November 27 2018 - 5:23PM
Dow Jones News
By Micah Maidenberg
Tiger Woods has signed an exclusive deal to develop programming
for the forthcoming golf streaming service Discovery Inc. and the
PGA Tour are launching, a bet the sports legend will lure
subscribers.
The celebrated golfer has signed an multiyear agreement to
create a range of programming and content on GolfTV, the live and
on-demand streaming service Discovery and the tour plan to launch
in January.
GolfTV will feature 2,000 hours of live programming each year,
including about 150 tournaments annually, the companies said in
October. The service will be offered in markets around the world,
except for the U.S., China and South Korea.
The deal with Mr. Woods is the venture's first announcement of
additional content. Financial terms of the deal, announced Tuesday,
weren't disclosed. Discovery is exploring how to distribute the
Tiger Woods content in the U.S., either on its own or in
partnership with another media company.
"No one's heard Tiger's voice -- it has been like a silent
movie," Discovery Chief Executive David Zaslav said in an
interview. "Now Tiger's voice will be heard around the world."
He said Discovery is hoping to create a " Netflix for golf" with
the forthcoming streaming service, aimed at passionate fans. The
company hasn't announced the price of a subscription to GolfTV.
The content revolving around Mr. Woods will include
instructional videos, his preparation routines and access to him
before and after he plays in tournaments.
"We see Tiger as a transformational figure -- everywhere in the
world, people know him," Mr. Zaslav said.
He said Mr. Woods will be creative in how he relays his golf
expertise, highlighting for viewers his approach when he needs to
work on his putting game or how to work out of sand traps.
"We're going to build content for everyone, whether you've been
playing golf for a long time or just starting out," Mr. Woods said
in prepared remarks.
Mr. Woods has experimented with online formats of late. Last
Friday, a much larger than expected audience tuned into a
pay-per-view telecast of a match between him and Phil Mickelson.
But the competition was beset by glitches in the online video
stream, forcing AT&T Inc. and other television distributors
that offered it to say they would refund customers who paid $19.99
to tune in to the competition.
As more consumers give up their cable packages in favor of video
streamed over the internet, media companies have been rushing to
launch services to capture the demand. ESPN, Walt Disney Co. and
Fox News are among the many outlets that have started or are in the
process of creating streaming options.
Write to Micah Maidenberg at micah.maidenberg@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 27, 2018 17:08 ET (22:08 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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