Yahoo Sports tees off with PGA Tour – USA TODAY
Yahoo is teeing it up with the PGA Tour.
The Net company today begins a partnership with the PGA Tour to deliver free live video from tournaments along with on-demand highlights and other video content.
This week’s tour stop, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, should make for good video with celebrities such as Bill Murray, Mark Wahlberg, Condelezza Rice and Yahoo co-founder and former CEO Jerry Yang, playing along with pros such as Bubba Watson and Phil Mickelson.
Yahoo will provide live featured hole coverage during early rounds of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (play begins Thursday at 11 a.m. ET/8 PT) and upcoming tournaments such as The Players Championship and the FedExCup Playoffs. In addition to early round live coverage, usually Thursdays and Fridays, Yahoo will have other PGA Tour content daily.
Yahoo’s PGA Tour video and other original golf content will be available globally on Yahoo Sports and other Yahoo destinations including a new co-branded PGA Tour-Yahoo leaderboard with live play-by-play and audio, shot-by-shot graphics and video on demand.
The deal sends a signal of Yahoo’s intentions toward content as it undergoes a corporate restructuring with a focus on fewer products. Last week, the Sunnyvale, Calif. company — one of the original Internet search portals — is cutting its workforce and retooling its content plans centered on news, sports, finance and lifestyle.
“Bringing (the) PGA Tour’s premium content to Yahoo makes a great addition to our lineup and further demonstrates our commitment to delivering the best digital sports content to our users and advertisers,” said Phil Lynch, Yahoo’s vice president for media partnerships, in a statement announcing the partnership.
The PGA Tour also gains exposure for its PGA Tour Live streaming service, launched last year, which streams competitions (free and pay tiers, $5.99 monthly). “Yahoo continues to be one of the largest sports audiences in the world, and we look forward to distributing PGA Tour Live Featured Holes coverage via Yahoo Golf platforms around the world,” said Rick Anderson, PGA Tour executive vice president of global media.
Beyond the PGA TOUR, Yahoo will also video and content from the Champions Tour, Web.com and the PGA Tour’s other international tours.
Follow Mike Snider on Twitter: @MikeSnider