BBC secures Ryder Cup and DP World Tour highlights through 2029, but where's the live deal?

BBC and the DP World Tour have today announced an extension to their broadcast partnership through until 2029, with BBC to broadcast 90-minute daily highlights from the Ryder Cup in 2027 and 2029, as well as daily highlights from the Genesis Scottish Open, BMW PGA Championship and DP World Tour Championship.

A BBC press release said: The Ryder Cup will be available on free to air platforms as BBC Sport secures TV highlights, audio commentary and digital clips on the BBC Sport website, app and across social media in a multi-year agreement until 2029.

The 45th edition of the iconic golf tournament is taking place in New York from Friday 26 – Sunday 28 September, where players from Europe and the United States go head-to-head.

Audiences can follow the most memorable moments from across the competition on their phone, with digital clips on BBC Sport social media channels and on the website each day.

Sarah Mulkerrins will present daily 90-minute highlight programmes from New York. Audiences can watch on BBC Two and iPlayer from midnight, with expert commentary from Andrew Cotter, Ken Brown and Ned Michaels. Ken Brown will also be on hand to provide extra insight with the ever-popular Ken on the Course features, taking fans inside the ropes at Bethpage Black.

Mark Chapman will present more than 30 hours of coverage from Bethpage across BBC Radio 5 Live, Sports Extra, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport Website. Commentary will be led by BBC Golf Correspondent Iain Carter alongside former Ryder Cup players Oli Wilson and Jamie Donaldson, former Solheim Cup captain Catriona Matthew, major champion Shaun Micheel and PGA Tour winner Andrew Magee. They’ll be inside the ropes and providing ball by ball commentary from the first drive to the final putt with John Murray, Alistair Bruce-Ball, Katherine Downes and James Gregg.

In addition to the Ryder Cup, BBC Sport retains TV highlights and digital clips from the Genesis Scottish Open, BMW PGA Championship and DP World Tour Championship until 2029, including audio commentary of the BMW PGA Championship on BBC Sounds, 5 Sports Extra and the BBC Sport website, bringing audiences together for every eagle, birdie and putt on the green.

Alex Kay-Jelski, Director of BBC Sport says: “Golf can have you up on your feet in an instant. The suspense, drama and camaraderie in the sport is second to none and the Ryder Cup is one of the highlights in the golf calendar. I’m proud that we’ve extended our partnership with the DP World Tour until 2029 to deliver multiplatform and digital coverage of the Ryder Cup and more on BBC Sport.”

Richard Bunn, Chief Revenue and Content Officer at the DP World Tour, added: “We’re delighted that our relationship with the BBC, spanning multiple platforms, has been extended until 2029. With highlights from the next three Ryder Cup matches, as well as three Rolex Series events on the DP World Tour each season, fans will be able to watch the key moments as our world-class players compete for iconic trophies.”

Coverage of the Ryder Cup will be available from Friday 26 September across BBC TV, iPlayer, BBC Radio 5 Live, 5 Sports Extra, Sounds and on the BBC Sport website, app and social media.

The fact that BBC has agreed an extension to its deal to broadcast daily highlights of the Ryder Cup and selected DP World Tour events must mean that a further announcement is coming about the main broadcast partner to the DP World Tour and Ryder Cup. In the USA the Ryder Cup is packaged separately from the DP World Tour, and is the responsibility of the PGA of America, with NBC Sports holding the rights since the 1991 matches. The DP World Tour has been broadcast exclusively by the Golf Channel, which is also owned by NBC Sports.

In the UK BBC last broadcast Live coverage of the Ryder Cup in 1993, with Sky Sports being the home of the event, and the DP World Tour ever since. With no new deal announced so far there has been much speculation as to which broadcaster would assume the rights from 2026. Now that BBC are off the table as far as Live rights are concerned it would seem to be down to either Sky, WBD, DAZN or Prime Video. Deals with any of these would seem to be attractive to the European Tour Group.

Sky offer continuity, but is the PGA TOUR their priority?

WBD offer a potential pan-European deal with TNT Sports, Eurosport and, from 2026, HBO Max.

DAZN offers the global deal and a place on a dedicated sports streaming service.

Prime Video also offer a global proposition and much more in terms of a wider possible deal with Amazon.

DP World Tour CEO Guy Kinnings said that 2026 would be very different, well so far the schedule released is pretty much the same as 2025, so would it be cynical to suggest the new tv deal they announce will be pretty much the same with BBC getting highlights and Sky the live coverage? Or will they dare to do be different?

WBD, particularly through Eurosport, has experience of broadcasting and promoting Worldwide, and pan-European series such as the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, and Eurosport has been a broadcaster of live golf in the past with the PGA TOUR and European Tour. WBD launched GOLF TV in 2019, but that service was closed in 2022 when the PGA TOUR brought global rights distribution back in house. WBD also moved away from sports-specific platforms to focusing on maximising Discovery+ and HBO Max. However it has been said that WBD are shifting away from purchasing new sports rights, so would they enter into such a significant partnership?

DAZN already has LIV Golf, which could be a major spanner in the works of a global deal with the DP World Tour because of the fact the PGA TOUR owns 40% of European Tour Productions.

Prime Video has just announced a deal to broadcast 4 hours of live coverage of The Masters, and maybe the DP World Tour would seem attractive to them on a global scale, replacing the ATP Tour, which they lost to Sky in 2023. A deal with the DP World Tour could also unlock other opportunities such as retail through Amazon, and technology through AWS.

After 30 years of the Sky being the limit for the DP World Tour, maybe it is time for a change, or do the European Tour Group still Believe in Better?

SHANK, written by Matt Hooper