Sky Sports extends Open rights to 2024
July 10, 2019
By Nik Roseveare
Sky Sports and The R&A have extended the agreement for the live coverage of The Open through to 2024.
The Open, golf’s original championship and the only men’s major championship played outside of the US, will be part of a comprehensive schedule of live golf shown by Sky Sports, including more than 100 tournaments in 2019 with all four men’s majors, all five women’s majors and the Solheim Cup.
This year’s Open championship – the 148th – starts on July 18th on the challenging Dunluce course. Francesco Molinari, last year’s winner, will have his work cut out for him in defending his title. Favourites for the tournament include Brooks Koepka, Rory Mcilroy, Dustin Johnson and, of course, Tiger Woods.
Sky Sports managing director Rob Webster said: “The Open is an iconic moment of summer sporting brilliance and over the past three years Sky Sports has elevated the coverage to new heights. We’re delighted to continue our partnership with The R&A until 2024. We respect the history and traditions of The Open but know that together we can keep finding new and innovative ways to help tell its stories.”
R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers added: “The Open is one of the world’s great sporting events and is watched by many millions of viewers around the globe. Our partnership with Sky has helped us deliver BAFTA-winning coverage of The Open and present the drama and excitement of the Championship from the opening shot to the closing putt in a dynamic and entertaining way. We look forward to working with them to continue to improve and elevate the coverage of The Open in the years to come.”