The Annika 2024 saw a lot of media coverage and viewership last weekend. With the likes of Nelly Korda, Rose Zhang, and Charley Hull performing at their best. the tournament was a nail-biter till the very last minute. The last round saw the world no. 1 make a major comeback to score 5 birdies in the last 9 to capture her 7th title of the season. But that was not what caught the maximum viewership.
Despite winning the trust of the $81.43 billion company, the LPGA Tour was still not able to secure a premier spot on the Golf Channel. A part of the event was not live on the Golf Channel because of the conflicting PGA Tour event. This didn’t sit well with the CEO of the CME Group, Terry Duff, as he voiced his opinion about the unfair treatment a couple of days ago.
The face of women’s golf, Nelly Korda, also shared similar views soon after her victory at The Annika 2024. She said, “I think we need primetime TV. We need more hours on TV. I mean, we have a great product out here. We have so many amazing stories. We just need to be on primetime TV.” Korda herself has tried to contribute to the exposure of the LPGA Tour by participating in the photo shoot for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2025 magazine.
While Terry Duff and Nelly Korda considered LPGA’s lack of TV time unfair, there were others who had differing opinions about the situation. Let’s see what they had to say.
Mollie Marcoux Samaan, who was mentioned by Duff during his comments had a different outtake regarding the entire situation. The LPGA commissioner said, “We’re proud of the role that we’ve played in elevating women’s sports in general. I think we’re experiencing enormous growth.” She further added, “I don’t think anyone can say we haven’t captured on this momentum (in women’s sports) in the last couple of years.” With this, Mollie seems to suggest that the LPGA Tour is right where they are when it comes to broadcast.
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