The second edition of “The Match” featuring Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning brought in an average of 5.8 million viewers and peaked at 6.3 million on May 24, 2020, in Hobe Sound, Florida. It was (and remains) the most-watched combined golf telecast in cable television history.
The ninth edition, which featured Rory McIlroy, Max Homa, Lexi Thompson and Rose Zhang playing a skins format, didn’t even draw one-tenth of that audience.
Initial numbers are back from Monday’s The Match at The Park in West Palm Beach, Florida, and only 511,000 viewers tuned in across TNT, truTV and HLN, Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal reported. That’s the new low for the event, with the previous low total (782K) coming last summer when Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce beat Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson in Las Vegas.
Looks like 511,000 viewers across TNT/truTV/HLN for “The Match” on Monday night (featured Rory, Max Homes, Lexi Thompson, Rose Zhang).
Previous low was 782,000 back in June 2023 (Mahomes/Kelce vs. Klay/Steph)
This was the 9th iteration of the event run by Excel Sports. pic.twitter.com/A9IZu0u4Jt
— Austin Karp (@AustinKarp) February 28, 2024
Some reasons for the low viewership numbers could be because the event didn’t start until 7 p.m. ET, and it ended past 10:30 p.m., more than 30 minutes past its scheduled time. There were also times when commentators were taking the spotlight off the golfers and plenty of commercials disrupted and elongated the 12 holes of play.
The made-for-TV golf event, which has raised more than $41 million for charity, has continued to grow over the years and made history with having the mixed format for the first time on Monday, but it’s clear changes are needed.
Just what those will be, we will see. The next edition of The Match hasn’t been formally introduced publicly, but it’s not time to pull the plug on the event.