Welcome, officially, to golf in 2026.
Sure, it took us an extra week to get going in ’26, thanks to the postponement of the beloved Sentry at Kapalua. But with Jordan Spieth starting the year by bringing five 3-irons to Hawaii for the Sony Open, then agreeing he’d be better off with a 7-wood, we can say with clarity that the new year is off and running.
It’s also a new year for golf’s pals in the media — a corner of the sport growing as quickly and as diversely as any other. It feels like only a few years ago that the only discourse about golf media surrounded the volume of commercials on broadcasts. Now there are debates to be had across multiple tours, multiple networks and multiple disciplines.
It was a busy 2025 for golf media. Beyond booming ratings and the creation of a brand-new golf league (the TGL), there were also big stories in Hollywood (where AppleTV debuted Stick, Full Swing returned for a third season and Happy Gilmore 2 shattered Netflix records) and, of course, on YouTube, where golf’s longtime flirtation turned into full-blown love.
With the ever-expanding nature of golf entertainment in mind, let’s take a look at the five stories we’re excited about in 2026.
5. What’s happier than Happy?
Happy Gilmore 2 might prove hard to repeat. The movie bested even the most optimistic projections of those in the golf world, becoming one of Netflix’s largest cinematic releases ever. No other golf movie franchise possesses Happy‘s blend of cult fame status and celebrity cache, which means it’ll be hard to repeat Happy’s 2025 fame. But Hollywood is a cyclical business, and successful movies often beget more movies. Could that mean more exposure for golf on the silver screen in 2026? There aren’t any movies in development yet, but you can bet the PGA Tour’s partners at Pro Shop (who are aiming to serve as golf’s ambassadors in Hollywood) are kicking the tires.
Elsewhere, golf entertainment is due for another season of fun on television. Stick, the AppleTV show starring Owen Wilson, drew comparatively less success than Happy Gilmore 2, but it still earned a second season from the suits at Apple. Full Swing, on the other hand, is set to return for a fourth season on Netflix, covering all the drama of a season that ended in chaos at Bethpage.
4. Shanksgiving
Johnson Wagner did not think his golf career would manifest in social media stardom. Even if he had pictured himself achieving social media fame, it certainly didn’t look like the version that arrived in 2024 and 2025, when Wagner became live TV’s foremost shanking expert.
But fame works in funny ways, and Wagner’s sudden internet fandom helped generate the greatest promotion of his TV career, joining CBS as the No. 3 walking reporter behind Dottie Pepper and Mark Immelman. CBS doesn’t change staff often, and Wagner represents the network’s biggest talent shift for ’26 (following the departure of longtime analyst Ian Baker-Finch and promotion of longtime walking reporter Colt Knost to fill that slow). All eyes will be on Wagner as CBS kicks off its coverage from the Farmers Insurance Open.
3. Something old, something new
There are plenty of noble reasons for starting a new sports league, but there is one undignified truth: your success is only as good as your TV ratings.
For golf’s two newest leagues (LIV Golf and the TGL), 2026 will be a pivotal year on that front.
For TGL, the goal is consistency. After a surprisingly strong start in the league’s inaugural season in 2025, TGL has seen consistently dwindling ratings on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC. Of course, some level of regression was expected after the league’s much-publicized start, but if TGL can show its ratings are stable at a level above ESPN’s primetime averages, the league would have a pivotal data point in support of its continued existence.
For LIV, the goal is growth. The Saudi-backed upstarts have battled change in both network partnerships and competitive orientation over the past four years. With the league’s sights set on achieving global success, the hope is to show the audience of LIV fans in the United States is growing steadily and reliably (though a battle with, or even comparison to, the PGA Tour remains well outside the realm of possibility).
2. Bryson, YouTube and the creator economy
Perhaps no character in golf has better typified the newly fashioned vice grip of YouTube than Bryson DeChambeau, who suggested he could walk away from the golf league that paid him a reported $100 million signing bonus and create content full-time if his contract demands weren’t met.
Perhaps Bryson was merely taking advantage of his leverage in those contract discussions, but the fact that he could credibly float leaving LIV for YouTube reflects the explosive growth of the platform in golf.
I predict we’ll see even more exponential growth in 2026, with a heavy windfall for well-established “creators” like Bryson and those newly flush with venture capital cash, like Good Good Golf. With YouTube passing the 2.5 billion monthly active user threshold in 2025 and revenue on the platform up more than 8% YoY, the arrow is still pointed directly up on the platform. The golf establishment would be wise to not fall behind.
1. The return of the “old” Golf Channel
One media outcome from the last several years that wasn’t on my bingo card? Golf Channel’s divestment from its NBC Sports overlords.
If I’m being honest, I always felt that GC and NBC were too closely linked to successfully lop into two separate entities — at least, not while Golf Channel and NBC shared talent on PGA Tour rights. But I’ve been impressed with how the new, independent Golf Channel has operated. A new, long-term agreement with the DP World Tour made too much sense for both sides, and the network seems to be trolling the waters aggressively for other opportunities for live golf programming (like the network’s expanded LPGA offerings in ’26).
For my money, live golf and Live From are Golf Channel’s two precious gems. More hours of either in 2026 would represent a return to the Golf Channel of yesteryear — and that might not be a bad thing (y’know, like the network’s new-old logo).
