If you’ve ever found yourself exhausted over an announcing team that just won’t let the moment breathe, PGA Tour Live’s latest stream for you. There will be the crisp sounds of nature, plenty of player-caddie interactions … and lots of breathing.
For this week’s Rocket Classic, the PGA Tour will debut “Marquee Group: Quiet Please,” a new PGA Tour Live announcer-free(!) stream on ESPN+. It will run through all four rounds at Detroit Golf Club and is set to emphasize the sounds on the course, instead of from the booth.
According to the tour, two-thirds of fans polled through the PGA Tour’s Fan Council were into the idea of an announcer-free stream. And the ultimate goal would be to offer this option with regularity into 2027, depending on the feedback and viewership.
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The player-caddie back-and-forths are always fascinating, whether they come from the tour’s official streams or from a viral video taken from someone on the ground. Naturally, the tour has decided to lean into it and see what they capture. Hopefully, we get some Jordan Spieth-Michael Greller chaos at the Rocket Classic this week to really show off the new stream.
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Along with the additional microphones, the stream will have “storytelling elements, enhanced graphics and real-time statistics,” all to be delivered visually. Plus, there will be interactive features such as polls and trivia. So, make sure you have your reading glasses handy or at least a big TV.
According to PGA Tour Director of Live Media Jackie Reynolds, the regular Marquee streams were “struggling in viewership,” as there wasn’t much difference with the Main Feed cannibalizing the bigger names. So now they’re bringing a fresh approach to the table.
“The fan feedback has definitely voiced an interest in this type of content,” Reynolds told Sports Business Journal. “It’s an exciting opportunity to have more mics, more natural sounds and less generic storytelling … It was time to evaluate, try to offer a different flavor of giving our fans choices on how they want to consume it.”
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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
