While interest in the men’s professional game appears to be falling, fans seem to be turning more and more to watching their favourite content creators on social media and on YouTube.
Of course, it was hard not to be glued to watching Scottie Scheffler produce a masterclass in the final round of the Hero World Challenge to win by six in the Bahamas. But it does appear that interest in the large majority of PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf events is not heading in the right direction.
The PGA Tour was given an indication of the popularity of YouTube golf after hosting the Creator Classic ahead of the first round of the Tour Championship earlier this year. It was far from perfect. A number of famous faces took on the back nine at East Lake, but the presentation was not too dissimilar to what is seen most weeks.
Nevertheless, the Creator Classic attracted more viewers than the LIV Golf event at Greenbrier that week. And it seems to have given the PGA Tour plenty to ponder.
George Bryan excited about PGA Tour decision
The tour announced this month that they have formed the Creator Council, as they look to engage with some of those in the space. The likes of Bob Does Sports, No Laying Up and Paige Spiranac are involved.
The Bryan Bros are also involved, with Wesley Bryan of course having a foot in both camps. And speaking on Nate Edwardson Golf, George Bryan explained what he knows about the scheme so far.
“We’ve had a couple of meetings with them. They want to make an effort to lean in to what we do in the creator space, and how it can help impact. I think they’ve lacked a lot of things over the years, as far as like leaning into what YouTube golf is, what social media golf is,” he said.
“They’re like, ‘hey, enough’s enough, we hear and see the comments, we don’t know what this exactly looks like, but we want to lean into creators, how do we learn, how do we grow, how do we make better content, how we connect with different audiences’. Nothing’s really set in stone, but I know it’s cool that they’d even ask.”
The game needs to change sooner rather than later
It does feel as though the tour which capitalises on the amount of interest in YouTube golf is going to receive a big boost. There are so many popular figures on the platform. And if they were in any doubt, they only need to look at how beloved Bryson DeChambeau has become.
It is clearly going to annoy some of the traditional PGA Tour fanbase if the presentation changes. But it does appear that the product does need to change sooner rather than later.
Receive exclusive golf news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
