Presidents Cup Viewing Figures: Drop In Viewers From 2022

Jim Furyk shakes hands of the US Presidents Cup side

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 3 October 2024

Continuing what is a general theme this year, the viewing figures for the USA's latest Presidents Cup victory in Canada were well down on the 2022 edition.

The Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal Golf Club had some good momentum swings in it before ultimately Jim Furyk's Team USA got the better of Mike Weir's International side for the 10th time in a row.

So although the result was the same, the match itself had a decent amount of intensity and drama to appeal to audiences - most notably Tom Kim's spat with Scottie Scheffler.

But it failed to resonate according to the Nielsen viewing figures as published in the Sports Business Journal, with Sunday's broadcast on NBC down 28% from the 2022 numbers with just 1.37m tuning in as opposed to 1.89m.

The last event at Quail Hollow also brought in 1.89m on the Saturday, with this year's event managing just 1.21m on day three - a drop of 36%.

The USA stormed into a 5-0 lead on Thursday only for the International side to answer in kind with a 5-0 whitewash of their own on Friday to level the contest.

Furyk's Americans finally ran away to a 18.5-11.5 success but throw in the Kim-Scheffler battle and plenty of needle on both sides and you'd think the Presidents Cup was a big success.

It's not the only golf tournament to suffer from a slump in TV viewing figures though, with even the Majors recording a drop in numbers from last year.

Scottie Scheffler with the trophy after winning The Masters — Even The Masters had a drop in viewing figures this year

The final round of Scheffler's Masters victory at Augusta National saw a 20% drop in viewing figures, while 17% fewer people saw him win The Players at Sawgrass.

Xander Schauffele's fine Open Championship success saw a nine-year low in terms of viewers and a 4% dip compared to last year, while even Bryson DeChambeau's thrilling win over Rory McIlroy at the US Open had a slight dip in figures from 2023.

At least the numbers for the Majors are pretty healthy though, with that US Open dip still seeing 5.9m viewers watch McIlroy's agonising near miss at Pinehurst No.2.

And the Masters still brought in 9.58m on Sunday to watch Scheffler pull on the Green Jacket for the second time - with both tournaments dwarfing those posted by the Presidents Cup.

For all the improvements of the event as a contest, it seems it has still not captured the imagination of golf fans on TV.

Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website. Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush.

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