Twitter has emerged as a potential bidder for US PGA rights in the UK after Sky failed to agree an extension to its contract with the prestigious golf event.
The loss currently leaves the first two rounds of the tournament without a live UK broadcast. The BBC carries highlights of the rounds before commencing its live coverage for the final two days. The corporation, which has reduced much of its live sports output, has renewed its contract.
The Financial Times reports a series of briefings that named Twitter as a potential bidder for the digital media rights. A combination of this and a free-to-air broadcaster would go some way to recoup the $10 million received by the PGA in previous years.
Twitter has carried a number of minor PGA competitions as part of its foray into sports coverage, but the US PGA would be its biggest event to date.
The loss of live rights to the US PGA is a blow to Sky which on Monday launches Sky Sports Golf as part of a reshaping of its sports output into genre-based channels. Publicity offers listeners
Last week, Jeff Price, chief commercial officer of PGA Golf, told The Guardian that the 2017 US PGA would not be on Sky as the multiyear contract has come to an end. However, the FT suggests the move had not been communicated directly to Sky.
