​Earlier this year, when early media-rights reporting suggested the NFL would move quickly to renew its broadcasting deals with partners ahead of the 2026-27 season, potentially diverting billions of dollars from other sports properties, there was a sense that leagues would race to beat the NFL to market. That hasn’t happened—at least not yet. Although PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp reportedly told broadcasting partners in February that he would prefer to negotiate new media rights deals early, before the NFL enters the market, the PGA Tour now appears to be taking a cautious, wait-and-see stance similar to the NHL.
Speaking with CNBC at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on Thursday, Rolapp declined to commit to pursuing early renewals on the Tour’s current broadcast agreements, which run through 2030, in an effort to outpace the NFL. “Listen, I think the NFL is one-of-a-one. It’s an amazing business and product. You can’t really plan your rights around what they’ll do,” said Rolapp, who previously led NFL media initiatives. “I can only worry about what I can control … our deals go through ’30, we may go early, we may not. We haven’t really had those discussions yet. The first step we’re finishing is to get the competitive model right so you know what you’re actually going to be in the market with.” He was referring to the Tour’s new two-tiered format, featuring fewer top-tier events, promotion and relegation, and a revised playoff structure that have reshaped its competitive landscape.
Regarding how the PGA Tour arrived at this new competitive model, Rolapp noted that he engaged not only the Tour’s current media partners, CBS and NBC, but also other potential future partners—including digital streamers and additional traditional outlets—to help craft the framework. “Blank sheet of paper, if you could redesign this competitive model, what would it look like?” Rolapp posed to both current and prospective partners. “We didn’t adopt every idea, but a substantial portion of their fingerprints and influence shows up in this design.”
Rolapp also addressed the possibility of expanding PGA Tour inventory into streaming, acknowledging the Tour’s current arrangement with ESPN to stream PGA Tour Live on the ESPN app while keeping open the door to adding more streaming inventory in the future. He emphasized that a strong digital strategy must complement a robust linear strategy, noting that linear television remains essential for reaching the bulk of the audience. “You need a very good digital strategy, but at the same time, you need a very good linear strategy because linear’s not going anywhere; it’s still where you aggregate the majority of your audiences. So it’s not an either-or; it’s an and,” he said.
In sum, the PGA Tour is charting a careful course through a shifting media-rights environment. While there is talk of negotiating early, the organization appears intent on perfecting its own competitive model and exploring all avenues—linear and streaming alike—before rushing into pre-emptive negotiations with a market that remains unpredictable. The broader industry will be watching how the PGA Tour’s approach affects the timing and structure of future broadcast deals as the NFL’s own rights cycle evolves.