Discovery tees up $2 billion rights deal with PGA Tour

Discovery Inc. signed a $2 billion agreement that gives it media rights to PGA Tour programming for its 220 markets outside the United States.

The deal is designed to allow Discovery to deliver golf around the world on every screen and device. It's the PGA Tour's latest effort to expand its fan base around the world.

The 12-year deals starts next year and runs through 2030.

The PGA Tour has U.S. television deals with NBC Sports and CBS Sports for weekend coverage, and with Comcast-owned Golf Channel for weekday and some full tournaments in the fall and in January.

The tour said the agreement gives Discovery live rights outside the U.S. to some 2,000 hours of PGA Tour content. That includes all six circuits the PGA Tour runs, such as the PGA Tour Champions and smaller tours in China, Canada and Latin America.

The four majors have separates broadcast deals with CBS (Masters and PGA Championship), NBC (British Open) and Fox Sports (U.S. Open).

Along with live linear rights to its global markets, the partnership with Discovery includes creating a dedicated, PGA Tour-branded video streaming service using Discovery's direct-to-consumer product and its platform as home to the Eurosport Player.

Eurosport Player offers unlimited access to sports content available from where a subscriber is connecting.

The tour said Discovery expects to invest more than $2 billion over 12 years, which would include licensing of PGA Tour international media rights and building a live stream platform outside the U.S.

David Zaslav, president and CEO of Discovery, said the relationship will create "the new global Home of Golf."

Alex Kaplan, a former NBA media executive who most recently worked for Eurosport Digital, will be in charge of Discovery's partnership with the tour.