Lessons to Be Learned from Broadcasting the Masters
Matthew Manno | May 7, 2026
The Masters golf tournament in Augusta, GA is one of the most anticipated events on the entire sports calendar – and for good reason. The pageantry and tradition is second to none, and it attracts millions of fans globally, many of whom watch golf only for that weekend in April. The Masters’ brand and that of Augusta National Golf Club has proven to be a status symbol in the golf world, and the club has achieved this status selectively monetizing their brand, generating $70 million in merchandise sales over the course of the Masters week, but deliberately forgoing broadcast revenue. Sportico claims that Augusta National forgoes over $125 million by not selling the rights to broadcast the Masters, and instead giving it to CBS and other international carriers for free. In exchange for what could be viewed as the greatest value deal in sports broadcasting history, The Masters gets full control over what is and isn’t said on air. Some of the rules Augusta National imposes famously include replacing the term “fans” with “patrons,” “back nine” with “second nine,” “rough” with “second cut,” and to never name the brand of equipment a player is using to avoid free advertising. No major sports league will ever come close to the strict rules The Masters have, but the show they put on is undeniable, and plenty of major sports leagues can learn a lesson from how they broadcast.
1.Stay True to Your Brand
What separates The Masters from other golf majors is its branding, and the brand voice of Augusta National Gold Club persists in all of its media outlets. The Masters peaked at 14 million viewers, compared to about 6 million for other majors. By staying true to its identity of exclusivity and appealing to the heritage of golf as a gentleman’s game, The Masters creates a heightened sense of importance compared to other golf tournaments. This concept of marketing a sports brand based on how it should be perceived by consumers has already started to become popular, with struggling brands like NASCAR seeing preliminary results in doing so. They are embracing the blue-collar mentality that built the sport through their “Hell Yeah” campaign. Through the first third of the 2026 season viewership for all NASCAR national series, especially the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series is up. The recent win and celebration at Talladega by first-time winner Carson Hocevar went viral inside and outside NASCAR social media circles. While the two brands are wildly different in current success, the common thread between the two is that they don’t abandon their roots, and that should be more common in sports branding.
2. Be Accessible
The most prominent cause of leagues struggling to find viewership is consumers who struggle to find them. For as good as NASCAR’s marketing has been, their races are spread across four TV networks (FOX, TNT, USA, and the CW), and Amazon Prime. This inconsistency causes confusion across consumers, and is not exclusive to NASCAR. Major League Baseball struggles with this as well, with each team having their own broadcasting partner, with nationally televised games sporadically placed throughout the season. The addition of Apple TV and Netflix games complicate things further for consumers, who have to juggle as many as seven broadcasting partners over a 162 game season. For example, fans of the New York Mets have to keep up with games locally on SNY or WPIX, and nationally on FOX, NBC, Apple TV, Netflix, & ESPN. While The Masters does use multiple carriers for different rounds, they allow patrons to watch for free on their mobile app or website, no login required. The MLB app could be updated to include logins for local and national broadcast partners, which would allow consumers to watch their favorite team on the same app, all season long.
The Masters captivates the heart of the sports world through its heritage, charm, and accessibility for good reason. Leagues struggling for viewership can look to their centralized, identify-first model in an effort to recapture their core audiences.
