Golf Business News – Open Champion Sets New Benchmarks for Attendance, Ratings and Engagement
Royal Portrush’s 153rd Open sets a new benchmark for attendance, broadcast audiences and digital participation as the original golf champion returns to the iconic Antrim Coast, providing memorable wonders and fascinating fans around the globe.
The record 278,000 fans were the highest ever attendance rate for the Open outside St Andrews, reinforcing the enormous enthusiasm for golf throughout Ireland.
All practice days have been sold out throughout history, with 90,000 fans participating, and 19,000 children can enjoy the Open as part of the long-running “Kids Free” initiative. More than 1.2 million applications were received in the ticket voting.
The Open is well beyond Royal portrayal, reaching millions of TV viewers around the world. In the UK, Sky Sports recorded the most watched open-end ever with 21.2 million viewers hours, up 36% year-on-year.
The final round is Sky’s second-largest Sunday viewer since 2021. In the U.S., NBC/Peacock’s last round of coverage averaged 4.1 million viewers, a 21% increase from 2024, with more than 6.1 million viewers on Sunday. Overall, NBC Sports reports are the most watched since 2022.
“Royal Porthush’s 153rd Open does set new standards for attendance, TV ratings and digital engagement,” said Neil Armit, R&A Chief Commercial Officer. “The incredible support of open fans and those who watch around the world, as well as performing well in the courses to create an atmosphere that will be remembered in the years to come. These record-breaking numbers prove the ongoing charm and the enduring appeal of fans to Links Golf, and the passion for Links Golf is the best we have achieved with our party.”
Digital platforms connect with fans through innovative and interactive ways, which is equally crucial in the success of the champion. theopen.com experienced record traffic, achieving its most daily users and recorded views, while page views increased by 60%. Compared to 2024, featured groups also hit an all-time high in viewing times and weekend performances, thus occupying the second highest life landscape, up 15% from 2024.
The official Open app also saw the highest daily users ever, up 21%, recording more than 400,000 users in four days. New features such as Lockscreen rankings and improved live streaming access resulted in an increase of 96% on average session duration.
Social media engagement soared, gaining nearly 400,000 new followers, a 178% increase from 2024 and generating more than 436 million views across platforms. Key follower milestones have been reached on all major platforms, including 795,000 on Instagram.
R&A’s fan member program MasterCard has proposed a club that now has 2 million members in 184 different countries, with more than 155,000 new members joining this week, the best growth since 2022.
154 ticket votingTh The most applications have been open at Royal Birkdale since 2022, taking part in the championship at St Andrews.
