What Make Golf So Popular on Television?

What Mmake Golf So Popular on Television?

What is driving the increase in television ratings for the game this year? It's not Tiger Woods will win again.Golf Channel reported the first quarter of 2011 was the most-watched quarter in the 24-hour cable channel's history. It reported 25.2 million unique viewers from January through March, better even than the 2009 first quarter that featured Golf Will Be The Game Of Young GuysTiger Woods returning to the game after knee surgery. Much of the increase can be attributed to a new partnership with NBC, Golf Channel says.So why the big changes this year? Much of the decline last year, at least on the PGA Tour, was laid at the feet of Tiger. Woods has driven golf ratings for the last two decades, but he didn't play much golf last year and didn't win a tournament. The thinking was that allowed casual fans to drift away. Sure, Woods is back this year, but other than a strong run on the front nine Sunday at the Masters, Woods really hasn't been part of the conversation for his play. And Woods wouldn't have anything to do with better ratings for tournaments that he doesn't play in, or for ratings in LPGA events.In fact, there doesn't really seem to be one single answer to why ratings are up. Yes, Golf Channel and NBC are feeding off of each other. Yes, the Masters is always a rating giant. Yes, even with 20 percent gains, the LPGA is not penetrating into a huge number of households.It might be puzzling, but the higher ratings for golf this year are the kind of puzzle the tours are happy to try to figure out.