Golf Fans Torch ESPN For Over-The-Top Adam Schefter Coverage In His PGA Tour Live Debut
Thursday at the Travelers Championship turned into the Adam Schefter show.
Golf fans tuning into opening-round coverage of the Travelers Championship on ESPN+ on Thursday were greeted with ‘The Adam Schefter Show,' and they were understandably frustrated.
Schefter, an ESPN NFL Insider, is making his PGA Tour Live debut this week at the Travelers. He followed the Rory McIlroy - Keegan Bradley pairing as a commentator, and ESPN+ made it a point to remind anyone tuning into the coverage of that fact after what felt like just about every shot that was hit.
"We've got Adam Schefter out there calling shots, what else could you want?" one of the broadcasters asked before sending things to a commercial before McIlroy and Bradley had even made the turn.
Schefter is obviously an incredibly recognizable name and personality in the sports world as a whole, but I think we can all agree that a split-screen so fans can watch him watch golf is way, way over the top.
Throughout the first hour or so of the broadcast, Schefter also compared certain PGA Tour players to NFL players, a move nobody could have possibly seen coming.
None of this is Adam Schefter's fault, by the way. He wants to test the golf commentating waters, ESPN said sure, and then the broadcast team was the one who chose to make it a much bigger deal than it actually is.
People who pay for ESPN+ and PGA Tour Live are not casual golf fans; they are die-hard golf fans, and die-hard golf fans want to watch golf, not watch another person watch golf.
Those same die-hard fans did not keep their criticisms to themselves on Thursday, and let ESPN and PGA Tour Live have it on social media.
Schefter told Golfweek that he’s a golf junkie who watches ESPN+ and PGA Tour Live every single week, but only plays golf about six times per year. It's probably tough to enjoy a four-hour round of golf with your phone attached to your hip, as it always is with the NFL insider.