Eleven Sports to launch with PGA Championship in UK
David Farnor | On 23, Jul 2018
Eleven Sports will launch in the UK this August with the 2018 PGA Championship.
The streaming service has secured the live and exclusive rights to the golf major, which runs from 9th to 12th August at the Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis Missouri. The event will form the official launch event for the new platform, which is entering a competitive landscape populated by rivals BT Sport, Sky Sports and Amazon Prime Video.
Eleven Sports is aiming to distinguish itself by focusing on international football, rather than Premier League or Champions League contests. After snapping up the rights to LaLiga (Spain), Serie A (Italy), Eredivisie (Netherlands), Chinese Super League and Allsvenskan (Sweden), it’s also getting its golfing game on.
The PGA Championship is the fourth and final major of the year and comes on the back of a thrilling edition of The Open Championship at Carnoustie, where Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose were all in contention on the final day before Francesco Molinari became the first Italian to win one of golf’s majors.
“Launching Eleven Sports in the UK and Ireland with such a prestigious event as the 100th PGA Championship, confirms our position as a major player in the market,” says Danny Menken, Group Managing Director. “We are looking forward to maximising this fantastic opportunity to appeal to existing golf fans through comprehensive free-to-air live coverage and analysis, while also growing new audiences with our fresh and innovative ways of delivering leading sports action.”
There will be three ways to watch the PGA action. All four rounds will be shown live and free of charge through a 7-day trial on the Eleven Sports online platform via www.elevensports.uk, and on iOS and Android mobile and tablet apps. The first two rounds will also be streamed for free on Facebook live through the platform’s Facebook UK page.
During the first two days of the Championship, Eleven Sports will show live coverage of two selected groups on www.elevensports.uk, on the mobile and tablet apps, and on Facebook from approximately 4pm BST until 7pm BST. Then, from approximately 7pm BST, full uninterrupted coverage will run through to the close of play on the same platforms, meaning at least 8.5 hours of continuous live golf on each day.
The final two rounds will be shown on www.elevensports.uk and on the mobile and tablet apps, with full uninterrupted coverage running from approximately 5pm BST through to the close of play on each day.
Comprehensive highlights will also be available on demand on www.elevensports.uk and on the mobile and tablet apps on all four days of the tournament.
In-depth presentation, commentary and analysis will be provided by golf experts and familiar faces Dominik Holyer and Anna Whiteley.
Online personality, amateur golfer and host of ‘Seb on Golf’ on YouTube, Seb Carmichael-Brown, will also be part of the team to provide a knowledgeable but entertaining and youthful edge to Eleven’s production of the tournament.
Eleven’s platform and apps will be launched alongside the PGA event, along with its pricing, which is yet to be confirmed. For more on the platform and to keep up-to-date with its launch news, click here.