How the LPGA Quickly Pivots to Accommodate Sports Broadcasting Rights

Founded in 1950, the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is one of the world’s longest-running women’s professional sports organizations. The LPGA is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of golf tournaments for elite women professional golfers worldwide.

Over the past few years, the LPGA found that video is one of the most effective ways to engage with and grow its fanbase. For example, with Brightcove Gallery, the LPGA provides on-demand video content on its website, such as highlight reels, player interviews, and more.

As its fanbase grows internationally, the LPGA wanted to deploy live streaming to reach even more people. However, the world of sports broadcasting rights can be tricky to navigate. Traditional TV broadcasting—and even some tournaments—might restrict which countries can stream gameplay. Weather and other unpredictable events can also interrupt planned broadcasting, leaving viewers wondering where and how they’ll watch their favorite players.

Navigating Restrictions And Unexpected Events

The world of sports broadcasting rights can be difficult to navigate. For example, countries that do not have a deal with the Golf Channel cannot broadcast LPGA tournaments. Some LPGA tournaments might also have specific rights structures that further dictate where they can and cannot be viewed.

The LPGA is an innovative organization that is always looking for new ways to engage with fans. After successfully deploying on-demand video on its website with Brightcove, the LPGA felt that Brightcove would be a good choice for testing out live streaming as well.

With these factors in mind, Brightcove and LPGA identified two objectives for the program:

• Deploy a multi-platform approach to reach audiences in countries with and without broadcast deals.
• Ensure LPGA can easily spin up live streams and customize features without an extensive and time-intensive setup.

Prioritizing Agility And Flexibility

With Brightcove’s live streaming solutions, the LPGA can live stream entire tournaments, feature specific holes or players, and reach fans in more countries.

Above and Beyond Broadcast

To start a live stream, the LPGA simply plugs a feed produced by the Golf Channel into its website, social media, or anywhere else it's needed. With Brightcove’s playback restrictions and geo-filtering, the LPGA can easily choose which countries can access a broadcast and which can access a live stream. In this way, the LPGA can provide tournament coverage to fans in countries without an existing broadcast deal.

Pivoting with the Unexpected

Brightcove also allows the LPGA to pivot quickly and efficiently to provide tournament coverage should plans change unexpectedly.

For example, in 2024 news coverage of a breaking political announcement in the U.S. interrupted the broadcast of a popular tournament. The LPGA team sprung into action, quickly spinning up a live stream of the tournament so that viewers at home could still watch without interruption.

A Multiplatform Approach That Extends Global Reach

Thanks to its partnership with Brightcove, the LPGA can bring fans closer to players and closer to the LPGA Tour. Since implementing live streaming, the LPGA can now reach 60 additional countries with golf content. What’s more, spinning up new live streams or adjusting country restrictions takes only minutes, saving the LPGA time and ensuring fans never miss a hole.