Golf Needs A ManningCast

Peyton and Eli Manning return to Monday Night Football where their alternate ESPN2 broadcast is changing sports television. Will golf recognize the future?

Note: My apologies to non-American readers of the Quad while I discuss what (currently) is a distinctly USA thing destined to become a big part of future sports feeds.

I have a general rule of thumb when it comes to big ticket matters in golf: the sport is at least five years behind most trends and societal shifts. Make that a decade if something slightly “edgy” is involved. You know, something like people expressing opinions or using the screen for informative stats.

So it would be foolish to expect CBS or NBC executives to sit down this fall with the major golf organizations and say, hey, this ManningCast thing ESPN has been doing is just the kind of thing we should do with all these alternate feeds. You know, instead of another Featured Group channel with analysis by C-listers looking to curry favor.

For now, set aside the obvious obstacles and consider how the concept could work in golf.