- The Ladies European Tour agrees extension to broadcast partnership with Sky Sports, taking it into a landmark 20th year
- New deal includes The 2019 Solheim Cup at Gleneagles in Scotland
The Ladies European Tour (LET) has extended its partnership with Sky Sports until the end of 2019. The agreement, which takes the partnership into its 20th year, will mean Sky Sports is the home of the Ladies European Tour in the UK and Ireland for a further two years.
The deal will also mean that Sky Sports will broadcast The 2019 Solheim Cup from Gleneagles, having broadcast every Solheim Cup since 1996, with the global coverage of the event to be produced by European Tour Productions. The contest is guaranteed to be a tense affair as Team Europe hope to make amends for their 2017 loss to the Americans in Des Moines.
Mark Lichtenhein, Chairman of the Ladies European Tour, said: “We are thrilled to continue working with Sky to keep the spotlight on women’s golf over the coming months, especially as we build towards next year’s exciting Solheim Cup at Gleneagles. This announcement underlines their position as the home of women’s golf and demonstrates a clear commitment to women in sport.”
Sky already broadcasts all five women’s golf Majors and the new agreement will add coverage of every LET tournament, either live or via highlights programmes. The Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open will be the first event broadcast on Sky Sports as part of the new deal. Running from July 26-29, the competition is one of the Tour’s premier events and viewers can look forward to a strong British contingent competing for the title including, Charley Hull, Mel Reid, Georgia Hall and Solheim Cup Captain, Catriona Matthew.
Jason Wessely, Head of Sky Sports Golf, commented: “The depth of women’s sport on Sky is stronger than ever and our partnership with the Ladies European Tour adds to it. Last year we saw a huge increase in viewing of women’s golf and Sky Sports Golf is committed to shining the spotlight on the women’s game. Our broadcast schedule is packed with some great tournaments and with so many young, female golfers coming through and with such fierce competition at the top of the game – hopefully the public can really get behind women’s golf.”
The Solheim Cup is the jewel in the crown of European women’s golf and VisitScotland, on behalf of the Scottish Government, has stated the ambition to ensure that the next edition of the event on September 13-15, 2019, will serve to both grow golf and contribute to a lasting legacy of increased participation. The Ladies European Tour is working to secure additional programming of the event through television and digital distribution.
Aileen Campbell MSP, Scottish Government Minister for Public Health and Sport, said: “The 2019 Solheim Cup is a great opportunity to inspire more people, particularly youngsters, to get involved in golf and in sport more generally, and to showcase Scotland and its stunning landscape. The completion of this deal means this prestigious event will be broadcast to a maximum number of households throughout Scotland and the UK by one of the world’s leading broadcasters, which has a wealth of experience at major sports events.”
The announcement comes during this weekend’s GolfSixes event which sees some of Europe’s most talented female golfers competing as part of a field which includes men’s, women’s and mixed teams for the first time. Sky Sports will provide live coverage of the event on Sky Sports Golf and Sky Sports Mix (available to all Sky customers).
