2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson sees a 24% drop in viewership from last year, attracting only 1.75 million viewers despite Taylor Pendrith's maiden victory
Taylor Pendrith won the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson on Sunday, with 1.757 million viewers concluding a decline of 24% compared to last year's viewership of 2.326 million by CBS Sports' Coverage. In 2022, the viewers reached 2.848 million as K.H. Lee defeated Jordan Speith at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson.
Following Scottie Scheffler's decisive four-stroke win at the Masters, it was observed that the television coverage failed to garner the same level of audience engagement as seen previously. This trend of decreased viewership was similarly noted during the coverage of the 2024 CJ Cup Byron National on CBS Sports.
Josh Carpenter of The Sports Business Journal recently shared insights on the viewership numbers for the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson on X (formerly Twitter), providing valuable context;
CBS drew 1.757M viewers Sunday for Taylor Pendrith's win at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, down 24% from 2.326M last year when Jason Day won. Two years ago: 2.848M as K.H. Lee held off Jordan Spieth.
Considering the people who were watching through mobile devices or tablets, the SBJ reporter said;
"CBS earned a 21% out-of-home bump last year due to it being Easter Sunday. That number was only 8% this year."
The drop-down in viewership of majors
The data revealed by CBS Sports on the CJ Cup Byron Nelson stated that people's interest in golf has been decreasing. Scheffler's four-stroke victory to capture the green coat did not attract as much audience as it did earlier, comparatively.
Josh Carpenter said (via golfmonthly);
"Golf viewership continues to drop."
In a post on social media, he stated:
"CBS [Sports] drew 9.589M viewers for the final round of the Masters on Sunday" - a figure that was down 20% from last year."
During the recent CJ Cup Byron Nelson, ESPN experienced its highest average viewership for 3 PM (ET) telecasts in six years. On the other hand, a worrying trend in professional golf is starting to show: a decline in audience interest across tournaments, with ratings dropping noticeably for each event, typically ranging between 10-20%.
Rory Mcllroy was aware of the pattern and said (via golfmonthly);
“I know this isn’t a be-all, end-all, but if you look at the TV ratings of the PGA Tour this year, they’re down 20 percent across the board. That’s a fifth. That’s big.
"I would say the numbers on LIV aren’t great either in terms of the people tuning in. I just think with the fighting and everything that’s went on over the past couple years, people are just getting really fatigued of it and it’s turning people off men’s professional golf, and that’s not a good thing for anyone.”
There's anticipation about the potential television coverage of the remaining majors. Even with the participation of elite players, lower viewership is still a possibility. Since there has been a notable drop in audience involvement, it is expected that attempts will be made to revive interest in golf if the numbers fall short of expectations.