ESPN Boosting Coverage of PGA Tour Playoffs
The move comes after a trial run in January.
ESPN is enhancing its coverage of the PGA Tour’s FedExCup Playoffs, which commence on Thursday. For the first time in recent years, the network will broadcast two hours of live content covering the first and second rounds of all three postseason events. This marks a shift from the network's previous practice of only simulcasting the primary PGA Tour Live feed on its app.
ESPN's move comes after a successful pilot at the Farmers Insurance Open in January, where Brooks Koepka made his inaugural PGA Tour start since joining LIV Golf, drawing an average viewership of 393,000 during its six-hour coverage (12-3 p.m. ET) on the first and second rounds.
Michael Eaves, a prominent ESPN anchor, will host the network's live coverage from 9-11 a.m. ET on Thursday and Friday during the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Eaves will continue to serve the same role at the BMW Championship and the season-ending Tour Championship. To enhance the broadcast quality, ESPN plans to employ extra cameras, drones, enhanced player audio, and 3D hole and course modeling.
Unlike the traditional postseason model, the PGA Tour is controlling player pairings for the playoffs, akin to its regular season format. This flexibility allows the network to pair top-ranked golfer Scottie Scheffler with Rory McIlroy (No. 6) instead of the traditionally ranked Matt Fitzpatrick. The pair will tee off at 9:30 a.m. ET in the first round, receiving 90 minutes of coverage on ESPN.
The PGA Tour will continue to control early-round pairings at the BMW Championship but revert to FedExCup rankings-based pairings for the Tour Championship.
To accommodate the additional playoff broadcasts, ESPN is reassigning its programming, moving the second hour of Get Up and the first hour of First Take to ESPN2 on Thursday and Friday. ESPN has ramped up its promotional efforts for the playoffs, featuring interviews such as Ryan Fox's appearance on First Take, a show typically focusing on other sports.
Jim Nantz and CBS will broadcast the postseason coverage for the second time ever, marking the first occurrence since 2023. NBC has previously handled the last two editions of the playoffs, but the event will now rotate between ESPN and CBS every other year through 2030 under the PGA Tour's $700 million annual media rights deals.
For the FedExCup Playoffs, Golf Channel, now under Versant ownership after a spinoff from Comcast, will retain its traditional afternoon coverage of the first and second rounds and early-afternoon TV slots on weekends.
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