Why Australia doesn’t have a Golf Channel

A lot of people often wonder why Australia doesn’t have a Golf channel, here is why.

Former Australian professional golfer got the discussion started early in the week with an article at Golf Australia asking if it’s time for our own Golf Channel? Porter raised some good points, many of which Australian golf fans have been wondering for some time now.

“In my opinion, the negativity displayed towards golf from the heavyweights of Australia’s media is what initially sparked the downward spiral. 

Last year, interest boomed when we played host to a summer schedule not likely to be replicated anytime in the near future. But my underlying issue is that golf should be on display more frequently throughout the year and thus at the forefront of our minds on a more regular basis. 

Should Fox Sports create a channel solely dedicated to golf lovers, the population of our game would instantly grow.”

Luke Elvy, who was at the coalface of the Golf Channel for much of this year, knows a lot of the answers with regard to a Golf Channel in Australia and enlightened all of us with his follow up article at Golf Australia; the Golf Channel inside story.

“If a Golf Channel is to succeed, Fox Sports seems the logical option. They own most of the rights to tournament golf and have a variety of shows either locally or internationally produced. They just don’t see any value in having The Golf Channel as an entity in their channel stream.

The main issue is News Limited (owners of Fox Sports) and Comcast are competitors so any partnership would be unlikely. It’s akin to getting Collingwood into bed with Carlton – they are fierce rivals.”

Both are great reads and I suggest you click the links and read both of them. Better still, keep an eye on all the news at Golf Australia.

2 thoughts on “Why Australia doesn’t have a Golf Channel

  • I think it would be a good thing here in Australia.

    There are so many golfers here now I would like to think the interest and ratings would be enough to satisfy Fox Sports.

    Reply
  • I think it is ridiculous that Australia being such a great golf nation that apart from golf majors we can’t get live golf on our TV’s without Foxtel which isn’t in the budget for so many of us or Kayo Sports which is affordable but isn’t compatible with so many TV’s unless really late model Smart TV’s. There is no doubt that if Foxtel was to provide golf channel membership for current world tournaments only at a reasonable rate or pay per view, it would be successful. Please, someone at Foxtel think of Australian golf enthusiasts and make this happen.

    Reply

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