Tiger Woods Signs Deal With the 'Netflix of Golf'

By Micah Maidenberg 

Tiger Woods has signed an exclusive deal to develop programming for the forthcoming golf streaming service Discovery Inc. and the PGA Tour are launching, a bet the sports legend will lure subscribers.

The celebrated golfer has signed an multiyear agreement to create a range of programming and content on GolfTV, the live and on-demand streaming service Discovery and the tour plan to launch in January.

GolfTV will feature 2,000 hours of live programming each year, including about 150 tournaments annually, the companies said in October. The service will be offered in markets around the world, except for the U.S., China and South Korea.

The deal with Mr. Woods is the venture's first announcement of additional content. Financial terms of the deal, announced Tuesday, weren't disclosed. Discovery is exploring how to distribute the Tiger Woods content in the U.S., either on its own or in partnership with another media company.

"No one's heard Tiger's voice -- it has been like a silent movie," Discovery Chief Executive David Zaslav said in an interview. "Now Tiger's voice will be heard around the world."

He said Discovery is hoping to create a " Netflix for golf" with the forthcoming streaming service, aimed at passionate fans. The company hasn't announced the price of a subscription to GolfTV.

The content revolving around Mr. Woods will include instructional videos, his preparation routines and access to him before and after he plays in tournaments.

"We see Tiger as a transformational figure -- everywhere in the world, people know him," Mr. Zaslav said.

He said Mr. Woods will be creative in how he relays his golf expertise, highlighting for viewers his approach when he needs to work on his putting game or how to work out of sand traps.

"We're going to build content for everyone, whether you've been playing golf for a long time or just starting out," Mr. Woods said in prepared remarks.

Mr. Woods has experimented with online formats of late. Last Friday, a much larger than expected audience tuned into a pay-per-view telecast of a match between him and Phil Mickelson. But the competition was beset by glitches in the online video stream, forcing AT&T Inc. and other television distributors that offered it to say they would refund customers who paid $19.99 to tune in to the competition.

As more consumers give up their cable packages in favor of video streamed over the internet, media companies have been rushing to launch services to capture the demand. ESPN, Walt Disney Co. and Fox News are among the many outlets that have started or are in the process of creating streaming options.

Write to Micah Maidenberg at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 27, 2018 17:08 ET (22:08 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.