Ratings Might Be Up, but Golf Still Can't Compete With Football

Earlier I mentioned that television advertisers were excited with the FedEx Cup ratings, even if the players and fans were less so. Despite the 18 percent increase in ratings from a year ago, it's not all good news:

Steve Stricker's hot streak and the duel between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson at the Deutsche Bank Championship arguably rank among the most compelling moments of golf television this season. But such highlights mask what remains an ominous problem for the Tour: Professional golf still struggles to draw much of an audience for anything but the majors.

The AP reports that the Little League World Series final posted better head-to-head ratings up against the final round of the Barclays, the Cup's first event. And the final-round Woods-Mickelson Deutsche Bank matchup failed to match ratings of the same even last year.

... of the four playoff tournaments, only the Tour Championship produced significantly better weekend ratings, and that's largely attributable to improved scheduling – mid-September this year vs. a football-filled November in 2006.

And that's the thing: professional and college football are so popular that golf basically becomes irrelevant once September rolls around. That the tour doesn't just shut down until January is a testament to two things: one, money drives everything; two, there are still some fans who prefer golf to other sports, even during the fall and winter months. Which is good news for Golf Channel and their new 15-year deal with the tour.

Televising PGA Tour events not only gives them credibility, but will also boost their ratings. Even when it's football season. Plus, it'll hopefully me a lot less filler programming (I'm staring at you "Big Break").