PGA Tour Live set to tee off in five markets

Golf’s PGA Tour has said its new PGA Tour Live digital over-the-top subscription service will launch tomorrow (Thursday) with the United States, Canada, Ireland, Australia and the UK serving as initial customer markets.

Other markets are set to follow the initial roll-out of PGA Tour Live, which was initially unveiled in April and has been developed in partnership with MLB Advanced Media, Major League Baseball’s interactive media and internet company.

For a monthly fee of $4.99 (€4.50), fans will be able to watch live coverage of Thursdays and Fridays from PGA Tour events not set to appear on television broadcasts.

The maiden tournament covered by PGA Tour Live will be this week’s Quicken Loans National – the first of seven until the end of the current 2014-15 PGA Tour season. Going forward, it will show coverage from more than 30 events each year.

“PGA Tour Live is a groundbreaking service for golf fans, enabling them to watch live Thursday and Friday early morning action as soon as competition begins,” Rick Anderson, the PGA Tour’s executive vice-president for global media, said. “We’re confident that this exclusive coverage of marquee groups, alongside our Thursday and Friday Golf Channel telecasts, has strong potential to build fan interest and viewership for our traditional television coverage.”

Initially available on pgatourlive.com and via the Apple App Store on a seven-day free trial, PGA Tour Live will launch on Android and other platforms at a later date.