Another Year, Another Ryder Cup Broadcast Blunder

The first shots of the 2018 Ryder Cup were hit at around 11 p.m. PDT on September 27. I was up late anyway. As the matches got underway outside of Paris, I was at a boarding school in California, doing bed checks. This was about a year before I started working for Fried Egg Golf.

I switched on the TV in the common room as the dormitory fell dark and silent. I turned the volume down low, but I could still hear the chanting of the crowds at Le Golf National. It sounded more like a Premier League match than a golf tournament. I couldn’t remember being more excited for a televised sporting event.

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Over the next hour, my mood shifted to puzzlement, then to disappointment, and finally to indignation. NBC’s TV coverage was abysmal. Deeply, relentlessly abysmal. There was no flow, no sense of story. Commercial breaks every few minutes. By the time the third foursome teed off, I had little idea of what was happening in the first match. And there were only six balls in play!

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I asked myself, “Am I an idiot for being a golf fan?”

Every two years, the same thing happens. I get all hyped up for Team USA vs. Team Europe, but then the coverage starts, and I remember. This morning was no different. As Ryan French of Monday Q Info noted, the 9-10 a.m. EDT hour featured 18 minutes and 51 seconds of commercials and sponsored videos. Chyrons regularly displayed inaccurate information. Big moments in close matches appeared on “Playing Through,” or after a several-minute delay, or not at all.

The coverage of the afternoon fourball matches, as usual, was better. The commercial load was lighter, and the closing stretch of each match was given a little room to breathe. It’s as though NBC knows exactly how far our patience can be stretched.

But you know what’s really sick? I still enjoyed myself, overall. I’ll be back tomorrow, and on Sunday, and in 2027. And maybe that’s part of the reason none of this will change anytime soon. NBC knows we’re not walking away. The Ryder Cup is the Ryder Cup—one of the greatest events in sports. As long as it’s on NBC, though, it will also be one of the worst sports telecasts.