As the golf season now reaches its doldrums, the PGA Tour received confirmation that their viewership numbers increased during the 2026 season. The 2025 season showcased a huge increase in viewership after a downturn in 2024. Looking at the weekend coverage averages excluding major championships, CBS and NBC averaged 2.7 million viewers per PGA Tour event.
That number represents a 1% increase from 2025 (2.6 million) per Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel measurements. When using panel only numbers (2.3 million), the viewership increased 17% on the PGA Tour this season. Big Data is Nielsen’s default standard now it should be stated.
2024 presented only 1.9 million viewers using panel only and 2.3 million when using Big Data. The competitive nature increased throughout the PGA Tour the last two seasons, which could explain the increase in viewership.
This season, no one player dominated the schedule as Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Chris Gotterup produced the same amount of wins on the PGA Tour. Although, Scheffler had five runner-up finishes, displaying his consistent level of excellence. He seems like a shoe-in to win PGA Tour player of the year.
PGA Tour Viewership Increases as Golf Popularity Continues to Grow
The major championships also presented some major increases in viewership. CBS’s season presented some incredible numbers and their best season since 2009. They averaged 3.43 million viewers, which increased 15% using panel-only metrics. The final round of The Masters became the most-viewed round since 2015 as approximately 14 million people watched Rory McIlroy win his second Green Jacket. The PGA Championship, where Aaron Rai won, also had a thrilling finish with over a dozen players in contention.
NBC averaged 3.2 million viewers this season when including the majors, a 10% increase using Nielsen’s panel only metrics. The US Open had an incredibly tense finish despite Clark’s unpopular win at Shinnecock Hills. Plus, The Open Championship had one of the best finishes of all the majors with Ryan Fox’s clutch putt on 18. That being said, NBC received plenty of criticism throughout the year for their broadcast.
Professional Golf is in a Great Place Moving Forward
Golf Channel’s broadcasts of PGA Tour events also increased in 2026. The Golf Channel broadcasts early round lead in coverage on the weekends plus the afternoon coverage on Thursdays and Fridays. They averaged 597,000 viewers for PGA Tour events, which increased 7% from 2025 using Nielsen’s Big Data. Unfortunately, ESPN’s PGA Tour Live does not any data to draw from.
The PGA Tour’s two flagship events also presented large increases: The Players Championship and the Tour Championship. The Players Championship drew 4.4 million average viewers on NBC, which increased 15%. The final round of the PGA’s Tour Championship average 5.37 million viewers, the most-watched final round since Tiger Woods’ win in 2018. The PGA Tour’s signature events also averaged around 3.44 million viewers. In terms of betting, the PGA Tour experienced a 30% increase on total money bet while the total amount of bets increased 10%.
PGA Tour Viewership Increases Continue After 2026 Season