Swords drawn over tv rights

The BBC has not had a great time recently as far as holding onto its most prestigious sports contracts is concerned and its troubles might not be over if the rumours circulating around Augusta National during The Masters prove to be correct.

The word is that the authorities at Augusta are sizing up rival bids from both Sky and Setanta which might well be why beleaguered BBC director general, Mark Thompson, felt it necessary to cross the Atlantic to kow-tow with Billy Payne and the rest of the Masters committee ahead of this year’s tournament.

The BBC played down the importance of Thompson’s transatlantic trip but there is no doubt that the loss of the rights to televise the Masters would be a disaster for the corporation, which is still reeling from losing the FA Cup to ITV and Setanta.

It would also be bad for the game of golf as a whole and that is something that should concern us all.
The BBC’s coverage of The Masters is by no means perfect – and won’t be as long as we have to listen to the smug witterings of Gary Lineker – but from the game’s point of view it is vital that the corporation does not lose its Masters rights to one of its satellite rivals.

The BBC currently has just The Masters, the BMW PGA Championship, the Barclays Scottish Open, The Open, the Women’s British Open, the Quinn Direct British Masters, the Walker Cup and the HSBC World Match Play Championship within its golfing portfolio and if it were to lose the rights to televise the Masters it would further diminish the amount of golf seen on terrestrial TV.

The celebrated Roman poet Sextus Propertuis once argued that “absence makes the heart grow fonder” but that might not necessarily be the case if the authorities at Augusta were to succumb to the overtures of either Sky Sports or Setanta.
I would suggest that “out of sight, out of mind” would be a more appropriate adage were this to happen and I am concerned about the consequences for a game that is already struggling to attract new adherents.

Nick Faldo has always said that he started taking an interest in and playing golf after watching Jack Nicklaus win the Masters on TV but it is debatable how many of today’s youngsters would get the same sort of opportunity if the tournament is switched to a specialist sports channel watched only by already committed fans.

On the whole, Sky and Setanta do a pretty good job televising golf but they are expensive and that is another reason why the man on the street will voice concern if they start to win the rights to televise The Masters and other BBC events.
All of us know golfers who have baulked at the prospect of forking out upwards of £40 a month for a Sky subscription and that was before we were being asked to hand over an additional £15 a month to watch US PGA Tour golf on the burgeoning Setanta satellite channel.

Clearly, the two satellite channels see winning the Masters as a means to drive subscriptions but it is debatable that it will benefit anybody else and it could do irreparable damage to a tournament that has become something of an international institution simply because it enjoys such a high profile with members of the public.

I would like to think that some time soon Payne and his colleagues will take a leaf out of the R and A’s book and confirm that, for the good of the game, it sees the BBC as a long-term partner, provided of course that it continues to come up with a financial package commensurate with what its satellite opponents are willing to offer.

That would be a welcome development for all parties, save the satellite TV companies, but it will not necessarily happen, particularly if the Masters authorities use the battle between the terrestrial and satellite broadcasters as a means of controlling what is seen and said on our screens.

That, it should be said, would not be a first as, under a previous regime, the men in charge at Augusta chose to ban CBS commentator, Gary McCord, sine die, simply for making what they regarded as somewhat indelicate comments about the greens.
Nor is it likely to be the last incident of this kind because the Masters committee are nothing if not protective of their brand. Under this scenario, sadly we might have to get used to unedifying sight of cowering BBC commentators falling over backwards not to say anything critical about the tournament In fact, you do have to wonder if that has started already.

My own view is that the 2007 Masters was one of the dullest tournaments ever staged at Augusta National, mainly due to the fact the authorities got the course set-up all wrong.

That is my opinion, but it was not a view enunciated by BBC TV commentators, was it? Could it be they disagreed with me and felt it was an entertaining tournament?

Or was it simply because, placed in an invidious position, they knew they could not afford to rock the boat? You decide.