The 2024 Shriners Children's Open concluded on October 20 at its home course, TPC Summerlin. Viewership data was released two days later and showed a slight increase over the previous season.
Sports Business Journal's Josh Carpenter reported via his X account that the Shriners Children's Open drew 160,000 viewers via the Golf Channel signal. Here's how he put it:
"Sunday golf numbers: 160,000 viewers on Golf Channel for J.T. Poston's win in the Shriners Children's Open. That's actually a slight increase over 156,000 last year."
Television ratings have been a constant concern for the PGA Tour throughout the 2024 season. The departure of relevant players to LIV Golf over the past two years has had a significant impact on the matter.
According to a Sports Business Journal report, the PGA Tour averaged 2.2 million viewers on Sunday telecasts during the 2024 regular season. This figure represents non-major tournaments and is down 19% from last year.
When data for the Major championships is added, the average Sunday audience rises to 2.8 million. On Saturdays, however, there was a reported 17% drop to an average of 1.8 million viewers.
According to the same report, the two television networks that broadcast the PGA Tour reported lower ratings than last season. NBC averaged just over 2 million viewers (-5%), while CBS averaged 1.75 million viewers (-17%).
PGA Tour viewership doesn't change much during FedEx Cup Fall
The end of the regular season did not mean the end of golf on the PGA Tour, as the FedEx Cup Fall was off and running. This is the eight-tournament series designed to allow players who are uncertain of their tour card for the upcoming season to compete for their stay.
The decline in television viewership has continued through the first four events of the FedEx Cup Fall.
According to a Golf.com report, the Procore Championship, formerly known as the Fortinet Championship, drew just 69,000 viewers to watch Patton Kizzire's victory. That is less than a quarter of the fans who watched Shaith Theegala's 2023 victory on television.
The Sanderson Farms Championship, meanwhile, had 136,000 fans tuning in on Sunday (+3,000 over 2023). On Saturday, viewership was only 95,000 (-20,000).
The Black Desert Championship had a similar number to the other tournaments of the period (117,000 on Sunday). Since this was the first edition of the event, there is no 2023 data for comparison.
The FedEx Cup Fall events coincide with the football season in the United States, a sport that attracts the attention of most fans. This is a circumstance that all reports cite as critical to PGA Tour viewership in the fall.
Reports also point to declines in viewership for other golf events that have taken place in recent months, such as the LIV Golf Individual Championship. The Solheim Cup, on the other hand, attracted over 400,000 more viewers than the previous edition.