“I love commercials with a side of Ryder Cup,” said Grant Hovart‘s post after Friday’s session. Because if fans were tuning in on USA Network to watch golf’s biggest showdown, the ad breaks were what greeted them first. Eventually, the US lost, Europe achieved its historic feat, and Bethpage was cleared for its next event, whenever that may be. But not many can let go of arguably the poorest coverage the Ryder Cup saw in the past few years or so.

A post by NUCLR Golf shared data by SBJ journalist Josh Carpentar on their X account, which says, “The Ryder Cup experienced its lowest viewership in over 25 years this past Sunday, averaging 3.22M viewers on NBC, per @JoshACarpenter. For comparison, in 2021, viewership averaged 3.51M on Sunday at Whistling Straits. What do you think is the reason for the decline?”

The disappointed groans on the internet were quick to spread the moment Ryder Cup’s coverage began on USA Network. The morning session on Friday saw 18 minutes and 51 seconds of ads and sponsored videos between 9 and 10 am, according to Ryan French of Monday Q Info. Big shots from tight matches were either delayed, crammed into a small “Playing Through” window, or missed altogether.

Commercial overload was not the only issue. Audio glitches plagued the coverage fairly. The sound of the club striking did not sync with videos, the cheers from the gallery lagged several seconds, and in some cases, viewers heard nothing at all. The screen went completely mute.

To the fans’ annoyance, this issue did not limit itself to just television coverage. YouTube TV streams had the same problem, as the screen often went black with repeated alerts about a possible NBC-YouTube TV carriage dispute.

To put into perspective, a poll by No Laying Up on X showed the severity of the issue. Of more than 4,500 respondents, 95 percent rated the broadcast “Bad” within minutes of the first break.

So to avoid further complaints, the coverage for the later sessions, shifted to NBC. It did bring some improvement. The afternoon four-ball matches featured fewer commercial breaks and gave the closing holes more breathing space. There were other substitutes as well, like the Peacock, and RyderCup.com. These platforms offered a free “Featured Match” stream that followed specific groups throughout their rounds. However, this coverage was a poor replacement for a high-quality main broadcast for an event like the Ryder Cup.

NBC’s coverage in Rome two years ago was also not devoid of complaints. On Sunday, the average viewership was 1.31 million, with a combined weekend coverage across NBC and USA Network being 906,000 viewers. The complaints back then were the same, too: excessive commercials and technical problems.

All in all, the fans clearly are still upset about this entire blunder. Many have unhesitatingly expressed their two cents on the Internet.

The 2025 Ryder Cup not up to the mark?

The responses under NUCLR Golf’s tweet saw a variety of reasons for the decrease in the viewership. After Europe gained a steady lead in Friday’s session, for many, the tournament ended then and there. Others who decided to sit through the frustrating commercial breaks and glitches in the audio marred their experience. Let us look at some of the comments.

One of the commenters said, “US doing poorly, TV coverage was atrocious.”  The US had one of its worst performances on the first day, with Europe getting a 5.5 – 2.5 lead across the sessions. In the foursome sessions, Europe easily swept the first match, the first time to ever happen on the rival’s turf. Marquee players like Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau easily lost their respective matches (5&3 and 4&3, respectively). Hence, there could not have been many lucrative reasons for an average fan to continue watching. Echoing the sentiment, another one said, “Erm, I dunno, maybe the home team is having their a**es handed to them 7 points down.” 

Another one said, “Because it was all over by Saturday 👍 Comeback,what comeback ??? 🤔 🤣 🇪🇺🏆⛳️” After Saturday, the results were pretty much clear, as the US trailed Europe with 4.5 to 11.5. This was the largest lead for a European team heading into the final day in Ryder Cup history. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who bore certain responsibilities for an anticipated win, lost both his sessions.

“Europe being so far ahead going into Sunday and @NBCSports with non-stop commercials, I would assume. worst coverage of any sporting event I’ve ever seen. And that’s not an exaggeration, NBC.😡” For others, a better alternative than NBC and USA Network was Sky Sports. Over the three days, average viewership was up to 45 percent compared to 2023, with five million total viewers tuning in. Sunday’s singles climax pulled in one in four UK TV viewers, including more than 40 percent of under 35s, peaking just after 10 pm with Sky Sports’ highest ever golf audience. Even in the Digital front, 55 million video views were reported across social media platforms. Another fan said the same thing, “Sky Sports had 8.8m highest ever for them and that’s a paid for network 💪💪”

Even back in Rome 2023, Sky Sports had a record-breaking coverage, achieving 3.7 million viewers across three days. This was the reason many US fans used a VPN to switch platforms. Even former Ryder Cupper Graeme McDowell decided to switch to Sky Sports; “This @USANetwork coverage is driving me insane already. Think we are on the 5th commercial break. May have to flip on the @SkySports version”

“The commercials. It was unwatchable. 😡,” another one noted. Many other notables, like Chris Gotterup, also expressed their disdain over the poor coverage by USA Network. Taking a sarcastic jibe, he said, “I dont there is enough commerical.”

Then, for the select few, the crowd’s boisterous behaviour was what ruined their overall performance. “The fans. They made it so dam awkward to watch. I stopped watching a lot and put something else on.” Players like Rory McIlroy and others had to suffer a lot of bullying at times, and their families were physically attacked, too.

For 2027, the Ryder Cup officials can learn a lot of things so as not to make such mistakes again. How was your Ryder Cup experience? Let us know in the comments below.