The Players Championship: DVD or Download?

Filed in archive Golf News on May 8, 2009

Courtesy: PGATour.com

Many may recall how I harped on about The Masters not taking proper advantage of live video streaming on the web during last month's classic tournament.

I said then and still say today that the web is the future for video, not TV. And I mean the near-future, too.

AT&T streamed live video for the second year running and the quality was superb.

So why, then, is the PGA Tour not taking advantage of the same thing?

I came across this press release from the Tour stating that they were making another "official film" of the Players Championship this year, the third in what is becoming an annual undertaking.

Fair enough. But the Tour also says it's taking pre-orders for DVDs at a cost of $19.95 U.S.

Now, let me ask you something. Would you prefer to buy a DVD and pay shipping and handling on top of the sticker price or would you prefer a one-time download of this year's tournament for, say, $2.99 U.S.?

It isn't a technology issue for the Tour. Their website currently boasts all kinds of streaming video.

Maybe I'm different from the average golf consumer but buying a DVD of one event is like buying a novel; I'll read it once and never pick it up again.

Fortunately most novels are cheap enough.

But would I watch a DVD of the 2009 Players Championship a second time? I doubt it.

There's nothing as old as yesterday's golf news…