Sky Extends Ryder Cup Contract By Three Years

BSkyB has won the rights to broadcast the Ryder Cup golf tournament for the next four years, or two competitions. The deal will be a blow to the BBC which is understood to be hoping to win back sports rights under new director-general Greg Dyke. Sky took the live broadcasting rights to Cup away from the BBC in September 1996, leaving the Corporation with only highlights.

The new deal takes in the remaining year of the previous four contract and extends it for a further three years. This gives Sky coverage of the 2001 and 2003 tournaments.

BSkyB managed to negotiate a new contract with Ryder Cup Limited despite becoming involved in a dispute earlier in the year over Sky’s decision to show the competition on its Box Office pay-TV channel. However, the matter was eventually resolved between the two companies. At the time, Mitchell Platts, a spokesperson for the Ryder Cup, said: “We are extremely pleased that our long-term good relationship with Sky enabled our discussions to reach [an] amicable agreement.”

BSkyB: 0171 705 3000