Paige Spiranac on TV ratings dip for the Masters: ‘Change needs to happen’ (2024)

They say the Masters is a tradition like no other, but that didn’t add up to great TV ratings this year.

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One person who couldn’t help but notice is Paige Spiranac, one of the world’s most popular golf influencers.

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In responding to a post on X from Nuclr Golf, reporting that roughly 9.6 million viewers tuned in to watch the final round from Augusta National on Sunday — “a 20% drop from last year and the lowest-rated Masters since Hideki (Matsuyama’s) win in 2021” — Spiranac weighed in with her thoughts as to why so few people watched.

“Golf is in an interesting spot right now. People turned off by all the money talk and the industry’s unwillingness to try new things. Some change needs to happen,” Spiranac wrote.

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While she didn’t get into specifics, it’s easy to see where she is pointing her finger.

The overarching narrative around the sport for the past few years has been the rift that has developed between the PGA Tour and the breakaway LIV Golf circuit, which is bankrolled by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund and has been splashing big sums of cash to lure the game’s biggest stars.

While PGA commissioner Jay Monahan made a stunning reveal at last summer’s Canadian Open that the two tours would be joining forces, nothing concrete has been worked out at a divide remains.

Another issue was that last year’s Masters was the most-watched golf telecast in the past five years, with an average of 12 million viewers during the final round.

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The 2023 tournament saw Jon Rahm, who defected to LIV Golf this past winter, capturing his first green jacket after beating Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson – both members of LIV Golf — by four strokes.

This year, Scottie Scheffler cruised to his second victory at Augusta in three years, shooting a final-round 68 to finish the tournament at 11-under par.

Spiranac’s followers had their own theories as to why the ratings plummeted this year.

“People aren’t interested because the best player in the world by far is a bore with not an ounce of charisma,” one commenter wrote in refence to Scheffler. “During Tiger’s prime, he dominated the field way more than anyone in history. But the difference is that Tiger had a huge personality and was very polarizing.”

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“Scottie, as talented as he is, is robotic, never makes mistakes, and shows no emotion, so it’s not great TV,” another added.

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Of course, others just want to see the blonde bombshell featured in the coverage.

“Get Paige on the PGA,” one user wrote.

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Another replied: “We need you as a commentator! Get after it.”

Spiranac has offered up her services before to help liven up broadcasts.

Last year, she set her sights on filling the seat of NBC’s lead golf analyst, which was left vacant this past weekend when the company parted ways with Paul Azinger.

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Unfortunately for the influencer, NBC chose to go with Luke Donald to fill the role with the European Ryder Cup captain and former world No. 1 player debuting during its coverage of the Cognizant Classic at the Palm Beaches earlier this year.

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