The Ryder Cup, a showdown between the United States and Europe, is one of the highlights of the golf calendar, made even more special by the fact that it only takes place every two years. It is undeniably one of the greatest events in all of sports, featuring emotion, theatrics, and shotmaking all at the highest level.
Unfortunately, Monday felt as if everything possible was done by NBC to take any positive feelings out of the sport.
“From the commercials to the partisan announcers to the technical issues to the coverage of Donald Trump, there was a lot for any viewer to pick apart,” noted Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing.
“Golf fans have a reputation for being among the most discerning when it comes to their television coverage; both CBS and NBC have introduced innovations in response to fan pressure to deliver more modern broadcasts. But this is not an overstatement – the Day 1 coverage on USA Network may be some of the most heavily criticized that we have ever seen in covering sports media.”
Fans reacted to the first day’s doverage on social media.
“NBC Sports should be absolutely ashamed and embarrassed with this Ryder Cup coverage. Missing golf shots when there are only 8 balls on the course, commercials flooding the broadcast, audio out of sync. Unacceptable for arguably the best spectacle in golf,” one person wrote on Twitter.
“Golf coverage is absolutely pathetic. The Ryder Cup is the biggest event of the year. There are only FOUR golf balls on the course right now and they somehow aren’t showing all the shots,” another fan added.
“This coverage of the Ryder Cup is absolutely awful. From USA Network to YouTube TV. Golf fans have been waiting all year for this and this is what we get. Pathetic,” someone else added.
It’ll be interesting to see if things improve for the rest of the event.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.