Seven secures World Cup of Golf in Australia
The Seven Network, Australia’s most-watched broadcast television platform, today confirmed an agreement for all-encompassing coverage of the World Cup of Golf to be played in November this year.
Seven’s agreement for the World Cup of Golf delivers all rights in Australia including free-to-air broadcast television, subscription television rights, and expands to Seven’s digital platforms including online, mobile and social media.
The World Cup of Golf will be played 23-27 November at Kingston Heath in Melbourne. The event – first played in 1953 – is one of the oldest and most prestigious global golf team events in the world. The 2016 World Cup of Golf will be the 58th staging of the event. Names such as Snead, Hogan, Nicklaus, Palmer, Trevino, Faldo, Ballesteros, Langer, Woods, Els and Day have all been able to call themselves World Champions.
Australia has won the World Cup of Golf five times. Jason Day and Adam Scott were champions in 2013.
Seven’s partnership with the World Cup of Golf builds on Seven’s coverage of The Australian Open and the Australian PGA Championship along with The Masters from Augusta. Today’s agreement also confirms Seven’s commitment to bringing major events to all Australians.
The agreement further strengthens Seven’s leadership as the television network of major international events held in Australia, building on Seven’s coverage of the Australian Open, the World Swimming Championships, the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000, the Rugby World Cup in 2003 and the forthcoming Rugby League World Cup in 2017 and Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in 2018. Seven is the network of the Olympic Games in Rio and will also broadcast the Olympic Winter Games in 2018 and the Olympic Games in 2020. Seven is also the network of the Paralympic Games.
Brian Thorburn, CEO of the PGA of Australia and ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia and host Tour member of the International Federation of PGA Tours, said: “Seven is Australia’s Number 1 Television network and a strong supporter of Australian golf already, so the PGA is thrilled that Seven has secured the broadcast rights for the World Cup of Golf. With the Emirates Australian Open the week before and the Australian PGA Championship the week after the World Cup, Australian golf fans can look forward to watching three consecutive weeks of world class golf on Channel Seven. On behalf of the International Federation of PGA Tours and PGA we applaud Seven for their vision and their support of Australian Golf.”
Saul Shtein, Seven’s Head of Sport, said: “We’re delighted to be the home of the World Cup of Golf. We are looking forward to working with them. Our securing of the Cup is yet another step in our development as we build the significant sports platforms to create our future. The World Cup delivers our business an extraordinary opportunity to drive home our leadership as we broadcast the AFL Grand Final, the Melbourne Cup, the World Cup of Golf, the Australian Open Golf and Australian PGA Championship, Rugby League World Cup, the Australian Open, the Olympic Winter Games and the Commonwealth Games.”
Seven West Media Chief Revenue Officer, Kurt Burnette, said: “The World Cup of Golf is a strategic acquisition to further bolster our sports and our multiple-screen delivery of sports and premium content. This tournament will bring the world’s best players together with world class innovation to deliver a targeted and highly sought after audience for advertisers. We are very excited about all the plans in place for the tournament.”
About the World Cup of Golf:
The 2016 World Cup of Golf will mark the fifth time in the tournament’s history that it will be played in Australia and the first at any course other than Royal Melbourne.
Previous World Cup of Golf events in Australia:
Year Winning Country/Players
1959 Australia (Peter Thomson/Kel Nagle)
1972 Chinese Taipei (Hsieh Min-Nan/Lu Liang-Huan)
1988 United States (Ben Crenshaw/Mark McCumber)
2013 Australia (Jason Day/Adam Scott)
Seven Delivers Leadership in Sports
Seven is focused on delivering the biggest sports events to all Australians. Seven is the network of the Australian Football League and the Olympic Games. Seven’s long-term partnerships confirm the company’s leadership in sports television with the network continuing to dramatically expand its coverage of major sports across its digital broadcast television channels and accelerate coverage across online, mobile and other emerging forms of content delivery.
Seven’s commitment to an expanding presence in sport builds on the network’s unprecedented new agreement with the International Olympic Committee. Seven is the network of the Games of the XXXI Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, the XXIII Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang in 2018 and the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo in 2020. Seven is also the network of the Paralympic Games in Rio in 2016 and the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in 2018.
Seven’s agreements for the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast and the World Swimming Championships join the company’s long-term commitment to the National Football League, including the Super Bowl, The Masters, Royal Ascot and Wimbledon as major international sports franchises for Seven.
Seven also has all-encompassing agreements for coverage of the Australian Football League Premiership Season, Finals Series, the Grand Final and Brownlow Medal, and the local Australian Rules Football competitions the West Australian Football League, the Victorian Football League and the South Australian National Football League, the Bathurst 12 Hour Endurance Race, all major horse racing events including the Sydney Easter Carnival, the Stradbroke Handicap, the Melbourne Spring Carnival and the Melbourne Cup Carnival, the Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race, all major Australian golf tournaments, the Stawell Gift, the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, the New South Wales Shute Shield in Rugby, the Gold Coast Marathon and all major tennis tournaments in Australia including The Australian Open and The Davis Cup. Seven also has all-encompassing rights to swimming in Australia and is the network of the Australian Swimming Championships.
