DP World Tour FAST Channel expands, is this the future for golf broadcasting?

The DP World Tour FAST channel is now available on Samsung TV, LG, Rakuten, Xiaomi and Vidaa platforms in the UK and Ireland, while it can now be viewed on Amazon Prime and Pluto in the UK, and this week it will provide featured group coverage of the BMW PGA Championship. On Thursday this includes the 08:35 group of Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood, and Billy Horschel, along with the 08:45 tee-time of Hideki Matsuyama, Ludvig Åberg, and Matt Fitzpatrick. Then on Friday at 08:35 there is Robert MacIntyre, Tyrrell Hatton, and Ryan Fox, followed by Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, and Jon Rahm at 08:45.

With the DP World Tour still yet to announce a new broadcast deal in the UK and the United States, it would seem that by expanding their free streaming channel to more platforms, they are preparing for a new way to broadcast their content around the world. As the way we consume content changes, rights holders have to look for new ways to reach audiences, and ways to expand their audiences, and the platforms chosen by the DP World Tour so far now reach more than 300 million households around the world.

Sky Sports have been a crucial and valued partner of the DP World Tour for more than 30 years, but the simple fact is their content does not reach as many people as the Tour needs it to, and now content and how many people view it is absolutely king. Putting all of the DP World Tour, and other content on its own branded channel and making it available on the likes of Prime Video, Rakuten and Pluto TV, as well as Smart TV's, can enable the DP World Tour to strike local deals for selected series of events to be broadcast live in different countries, as well as selling highlights packages.

An example is in the UK the DP World Tour could strike a deal with BBC, ITV, Channel 4 or 5 to broadcast the UK and Ireland-based tournaments, plus the Rolex Series events Live, in addition to weekly highlights. In 2025 there were 6 regular DP World Tour events staged in the UK and Ireland including the Genesis Scottish Open and BMW PGA Championship, which are Rolex Series events, along with 3 other Rolex Series events in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

The UK broadcaster, be it BBC, ITV, Channel 4 or 5, would be able to broadcast Live coverage of:

Hero Dubai Desert Classic

Genesis Scottish Open

Nexo Championship

Betfred British Masters

Amgen Irish Open

BMW PGA Championship

Alfred Dunhill Links Championship

Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship

DP World Tour Championship

In addition to these events, the DP World Tour also encompasses the HotelPlanner Tour and Legends Tour, and the deal could also see them show the likes of the Senior Open Championship live.

Time will tell if the DP World Tour decides to go in this direction, and I am sure we can expect an announcement in the coming weeks once the Ryder Cup is concluded.

SHANK, written by Matt Hooper