This is a guest post from The Daily Fadeaway.
The PGA Tour is trying to take a page out of Formula One’s playbook.
First introduced in 2019, the Netflix docu-series Drive to Survive has helped skyrocket F1 in the United States and added to its global reach. It’s been a game changer and by creating a narrative around the sport, the show has made it easier for new fans to understand the complexities of F1 and to get invested in the teams and drivers. It has also helped to create a sense of community around the sport, with fans coming together to discuss the show and the races on social media.
In the United States, F1 has gone from a one-off race in Austin, to having stops in Miami and recently added Las Vegas to the season schedule. F1 has a new headquarters in the United States, in Vegas, and is leaning hard into the long-term growth of the sport in the states.
The PGA Tour, currently in an arms race with LIV Golf, is trying to do something similar now with the new Netflix docu-series Full Swing.
In fact, Full Swing may be the key to growing the popularity of the PGA Tour.
The documentary series follows the lives of professional golfers on the PGA Tour. The show provides an inside look at what it takes to compete at the highest level of the sport, and showcases the personalities and stories of the players.
Full Swing is unique in that it focuses on the players themselves, rather than the tournament or course. By doing so, the show should be able to create a more personal connection between the viewer and the players.
For a sport that has been carried by one person for decades, Tiger Woods, it’s a chance to showcase and grow the game to a new generation used to binge-watching and consuming shows like Drive to Survive.
F1 and golf are vastly different, one is the young man’s game of auto racing, the other a sport you can play into your 80s, but both have struggled historically with breaking down some elitist stereotypes when it comes to viewership.
That’s where these Netflix shows come to play as a bridge to the wider audience. For F1 we’ve already seen the impact, TV ratings continue to boom (with the latest season about to drop), and golf is hoping to be next.
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