Discovery to add Ladies European Tour to GOLFTV roster as it continues to expand the 'digital home of golf'

NEW YORK and LONDON, Dec. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Discovery and the Ladies European Tour have today announced a new partnership that will see GOLFTV showcase the foremost players and events in European women’s golf.  The agreement features multiplatform live rights to all Ladies European Tour events, as well as the next two Solheim Cups in 25 countries in Europe* – including Denmark, Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland, Russia and Sweden – and brings even more premium golf content and programming to GOLFTV.

The partnership will bring coverage of the Ladies European Tour and the Solheim Cup together, in many markets, with the PGA TOUR and European Tour on GOLFTV, the global live and on-demand video streaming service that is launching in January 2019. Fans will be able to follow all the world’s greatest golfers, all year round, with a growing portfolio of content that will make GOLFTV the premier destination for golf entertainment worldwide.

GOLFTV’s live coverage of every Ladies European Tour event includes the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open, Hero Women’s Indian Open and Andalucia Costa del Sol Open de Espana season finale, as well as the Golf Sixes on GOLFTV.  

The biggest team event in women’s golf will also feature on GOLFTV, with live coverage of the next two editions of the Solheim Cup at Gleneagles in Scotland in 2019, and at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, in 2021. GOLFTV will also present a wide range of Ladies European Tour content and programming on demand, including highlights and features with leading players.

Alex Kaplan, President and General Manager, Discovery Golf, said: “We’re excited to welcome the Ladies European Tour and Solheim Cup to the GOLFTV family, signifying another milestone in our journey to becoming the true ‘digital home of golf’ for fans.  As we prepare to launch the service, GOLFTV continues to build a portfolio of must-have content and events for golf fans. Our new relationship with the Ladies European Tour underlines our ambition to showcase women’s golf on a global platform, and feature the world’s greatest players, every week of the year.” 

Mark Lichtenhein, Chief Executive, Ladies European Tour, said: “Building on our long-standing relationship with Discovery, it’s fantastic for the LET to be joining GOLFTV’s ground breaking new streaming service. Digital distribution has long been a critical component for women’s golf and it’s very exciting to now be positioned under one roof with the men’s game.”

Under the agreement, Discovery will have the ability to sublicense the Ladies European Tour TV and digital coverage as part of a broader strategy to grow viewership of the Ladies European Tour, and for golf around the world. 

GOLFTV’s portfolio, which already includes the PGA TOUR and European Tour, will also feature an exclusive global content partnership with 14-time major champion Tiger Woods. GOLFTV will collaborate with Woods on a wide range of content opportunities, including instructional videos to help players improve their game, and exclusive access into Woods’ tournament preparation. Starting later in 2019, the unique content will offer fans an authentic and regular look into the life, mind and performance of the game’s ultimate icon.

Further information regarding GOLFTV programming and content will be announced in due course.  Fans can visit GOLF.TV for more information and sign up to keep up-to-date with the latest GOLFTV developments.

*Full list of territories: Albania, Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey.

NOTES TO EDITORS

GOLFTV is a digital video streaming platform and will be available in all international markets (excluding the U.S., China and South Korea) from January 2019. It will feature a wide range of premium programming and content, including the PGA TOUR’s Featured Holes and Featured Groups live streams.

In addition, full live coverage will be rolled out market by market in accordance with rights activation dates.  The full live rights starting dates by territory are shown below for Discovery’s separate agreements with the PGA TOUR and European Tour.

PGA TOUR:

European Tour:

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About Discovery  Discovery, Inc. DISCA, -0.07% DISCB, +0.00% DISCK, +0.16% is the global leader in real life entertainment, serving a passionate audience of superfans around the world with content that inspires, informs and entertains. Discovery delivers over 8,000 hours of original programming each year and has category leadership across deeply loved content genres around the world. Available in 220 countries and territories and 50 languages, Discovery is a platform innovator, reaching viewers on all screens, including TV Everywhere products such as the GO portfolio of apps and Discovery Kids Play; direct-to-consumer streaming services such as Eurosport Player and Motor Trend OnDemand; and digital-first and social content from Group Nine Media. Discovery’s portfolio of premium brands includes Discovery Channel, HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Investigation Discovery, Travel Channel, Turbo/Velocity, Animal Planet, and Science Channel, as well as OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network in the U.S., Discovery Kids in Latin America, and Eurosport, the leading provider of locally relevant, premium sports and Home of the Olympic Games across Europe. For more information, please visit www.corporate.discovery.com and follow @DiscoveryIncTV across social platforms.

About Ladies European Tour The Ladies European Tour (LET) is headquartered at the Buckinghamshire Golf Club near London and celebrates women’s golf on a global stage. Since its formation 40 years ago, in 1978, the Ladies European Tour has crowned more than 250 different winners as players from 28 countries have lifted more than 730 championship trophies. The LET operates tournaments across six continents and The Solheim Cup, which has been played 15 times biannually since 1990, has become one of the biggest female sporting events in the world. The LET Access Series is the official developmental tour and bridges the gap from amateur to professional golf, giving young players the opportunity to gain valuable competitive experience and progress onto the main tour. Follow @LETgolf on Twitter and Instagram or online at ladieseuropeantour.com.

About GOLFTV GOLFTV is the new ‘digital home of golf’ for the global fan community.  At the heart of GOLFTV is a live and on-demand video streaming service, showing every moment of the PGA TOUR, featuring the world’s greatest players, to a global audience every week. Established with innovation at its core, GOLFTV brings new drive, creativity and immersive technology to the world of golf. It aspires to offer fans a new way to consume, watch, play and engage with the game every day. GOLFTV is part of Discovery, a global leader in real-life entertainment with an extensive portfolio of direct-to-consumer platforms. Visit GOLF.TV and follow @GOLFTV on Twitter for the latest updates.

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SOURCE Discovery, Inc.

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