If you’re in the business of sports, you’re really in the business of media — and golf needs to look no further than its newest leadership class to know that is true.
On the PGA Tour, the leader of the flock is Brian Rolapp, Roger Goodell’s former right-hand man at the NFL and the previous head of the league’s prolific media rights business, which made up nearly 60 percent of its $23 billion in 2025 revenue. On the LPGA, the leader is an executive of less rarefied TV bonafides, but with no less commitment to the power of media.
The leader’s name is Craig Kessler, who joined the LPGA a little less than a year ago and has spent the better part of the last 12 months totally reinventing the way the LPGA approaches its audience. At last weekend’s Founders Cup, Kessler’s LPGA unveiled a new series of TV enhancements meant to take those dreams to the next level. The seven biggest of those shifts are listed below.
7 LPGA broadcast enhancements for 2026
1. More hours!!
The biggest shift on TV for the LPGA in 2026 was unveiled long before the Founders Cup, but it bears repeating: Thanks to a partnership with FM, every single round of every single LPGA event in 2026 will feature live TV coverage for the first time ever.
The big expansion in TV hours means the LPGA will have more opportunities for coverage, more eyeballs when its events are in session, and an easier path to impact with the golf audience, which won’t need to jump through hoops to tune into the action.
For years, Rolapp’s NFL playbook involved a strategy of “reach” — or doing everything possible to maximize the number of eyeballs watching each week, even if it came at the expense of a few TV dollars along the way. Kessler is doubling down on that strategy.
2. More cameras
Of course, any expansion to LPGA broadcast hours comes with a handful of expansions to LPGA broadcast equipment. In this case, the cameras are receiving the biggest upgrade, with a 50-percent increase in camera equipment for 2026.
3. More TV goodies
All the tiny details that help add texture and detail to a typical golf broadcast will also be receiving a boost in 2026, including the LPGA’s microphones and slow-motion camera capabilities, each of which received an upgrade in the new year.
4. More drones!
Perhaps the most noticeable visual shift from last year to this one occurred not on the course but in the skies, where an expanded fleet of drones captured a series of dynamic new images during the course of competition.
Drone photography has become a staple of men’s golf broadcasts over the last several years, and improvements in technology have brought down costs and expanded possibilities for broadcast teams. LPGA and Golf Channel investment to these ends shouldn’t be a surprise, but it’s certainly a no-brainer.
5. Shot tracer enhancements
The largest increase between ’25 and ’26 for the LPGA arrived in the graphics department, where the Tour 4x’d its output in shot tracing capabilities thanks to an expanded partnership with TrackMan.
6. Feature storytelling
One way to ensure that your best players’ stories are told? Tell ’em yourself!
The LPGA invested considerably in a series of features-driven programming for 2026 that will run during tournament broadcasts. The first iteration of those features — a look into Rose Zhang’s continuing education at Stanford — was told during Founders weekend.
A in depth look at Rose Zhang's decision to pursue her education while playing on Tour 💭 pic.twitter.com/kSLRrmrcdU
— LPGA (@LPGA) March 21, 2026
7. Expanded player access
Another way to ensure that your best players’ stories are told? Have them tell the stories!
The LPGA is expanding its walk-and-talk efforts during the 2026 season as part of Kessler’s efforts to make the LPGA’s most noticeable faces and names more accessible and more prominent. Some of that expansion has happened already on social media, but more will come during tournament broadcasts, mirroring the advancements in the walk-and-talk format in the men’s game.
