The news yesterday that the BBC might lose its exclusive broadcasting rights to the Open Championship has sparked a frenzied debate. Traditionalists argue that The Open is a crown jewel and should be available to all whilst others would be quite happy to see the cosy relationship challenged in a commercial tender process. Here's my tuppence-worth.
So the captain of the Royal & Ancient, that bastion of inclusivity and equality that governs the game of golf, hath spake the unspeakable and suggested, in a thinly-veiled fashion, that the continuation of The Open being broadcast on terrestrial television might not be guaranteed beyond the expiry of the current contract in 2016.
People are up in arms about this potential development. Surely The Open is a crown jewel - one of those sporting occasions when the country downs its collective tools and enjoys watching a handful of determined souls chase a little white ball around a private field, generally in the pouring rain and howling wind. The prospect of this event being stripped from the general public's viewing schedule and transplanted to the exclusive airwaves of satellite television is, they say, an abomination; an affront to what it means to be British and, if reported in the Daily Mail, it'll undoubtedly give us all cancer.
But is it that big a deal? Will we, the great British public, really miss out if the original major golf championship isn't screened on the dear old Beeb?
Personally, I think Peter Dawson should have climbed down off the fence, removed the myriad splinters from his backside and announced a tender process for any broadcaster who wants a piece of the action, rather than meekly putting his head above the parapet and giving the BBC a chance to redeem itself over the next four years.
It's palpably clear, to anyone with more than a passing interest in sport, that the BBC have as much commitment to sporting coverage as Katie Price has to the sanctity of marriage. Over a relatively short space of time, the schedule of sports covered by that archaic institution has dwindled to barely a trickle - frankly, I'm astonished they're even bothering to show up in Stratford in July - so to cling to an outdated principle that a 'crown jewel' should remain on terrestrial television simply feeds the pervading complacency that oozes from every pore of their approach to sport.
As of 2013, the BBC will be showing just six days of live golf. Six. The dropping of the Scottish Open and BMW PGA Championship demonstrates the apathy towards a sport in which, for once, the home nations are actually doing rather well. How can the public believe that the BBC take their coverage of golf seriously when they have employed Gary Lineker and Michael Vaughan as part of their presenting teams? To be fair, Mr Walkers Crisps did a pretty good job for a football presenter but, Michael Vaughan? Aside from being, as I understand, a competent golfer to go alongside his previous career as an England cricketer, what on earth possessed them to employ him at The Masters? His lack of knowledge about Tiger Woods' Masters career was cringeworthy of David Brent-esque proportions.
Look at Formula One. This sport isn't everyone's cup of tea and my own personal interest has, to be honest, taken a bit of a dip since the late 90s, but I felt a genuine sense of excitement when, after a number of seasons of ad-break interrupted chaos on ITV (feel free to use this description for any sport shown on ITV), F1 would be returning to the BBC, complete with that theme tune. Now that F1 has, in the main, moved across to Sky, it has exposed the range of technological developments that are available and which hugely enhance the viewing experience for the armchair fan and this is exactly what Dawson was referring to when talking about '...staying in practice and keeping up with technology.'
An additional, perhaps more salient example, is that of The Masters. For years, the event which, for many, signals the true start of the golf season, was available exclusively on terrestrial TV, although the amount of golf shown was strictly controlled by the organisers. The gradual extension of the controls, first to allow coverage of the first nine holes, then practice days and finally the par-3 event brought this wonderful tournament into the homes of the British golf-watching public at no extra charge.
Now since The Masters coverage has been split, allowing Sky to show all of the event and the Beeb being relegated to highlights and the weekend's action, it has, just like F1, cricket & football before it, exposed to borderline ridicule the lack of technological investment made in sports coverage by the BBC over the years.
Take into account, also, the first-class coverage of the European and PGA Tours provided by Sky. The standard of the broadcasting (not necessarily the commentary, which is another topic entirely) is so high that it really puts to shame what was on offer terrestrially.
I say bring on 2014 when the discussions are due to start. Put the contract out to offers from rival broadcasters and call the BBC's bluff. Whilst I have a great admiration for Peter Alliss (great education, y'know), Ken Brown, Wayne Grady et al, I do not believe that the fact that The Open has always been on terrestrial television should mean that the R&A miss out on the revenue opportunity and scope to grow the game of golf that introducing a commercial tender process would bring.
I am the Part-Time Golfer
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