The PGA Tour on Wednesday threw open its state-of-the-art production facility which went live with 82-time winner Tiger Woods featuring in the launch programme and coverage of the season’s opening event, the Sentry tournament in Hawaii, scheduled to begin on Thursday.
First thought up in 2017 leading into media rights negotiations, construction on the 165,000-square-foot building in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, began in 2022 and its capabilities were tested throughout the latter half of 2024. In a statement, the PGA Tour called Studios “a pivotal next step of golf content production in an ever-changing media landscape and one that will fuel exponential growth in the Tour”.
To commemorate the official opening, the first original content was created at its virtual set in Studio 1A featuring Tiger Woods and will be followed by the first round of The Sentry on PGA Tour Live on ESPN Plus.
The facility will house all Tour media operations, including live production of the senior tour, the feeder Korn Ferry series, over 5,000 hours of action live on ESPN+, as well as the Tour’s expansive roster of more than 50 original, social and digital media platforms. It will also have the largest library of golf content in the world, featuring more than 170,000 videos with 223,000 hours of content, with the earliest being a film transfer from 1920, the statement said.
“Studios is a landmark step in golf media, signalling a tangible investment to more deeply connect with our fans through energetic, compelling content that brings them further inside the ropes and closer to their favourite stars,” Commissioner Jay Monahan said on the occasion.
“Every new technology and forward-thinking innovation we introduce is about serving our fans and meeting them where they are, and the creative capabilities of Studios will help us further that mission while showcasing the beauty of our sport.”
With hardware and space to accommodate both current and future standards, Studios will enable production of creative content even beyond golf while giving its creators freedom to experiment with the latest cutting-edge technologies. It features eight production rooms, eight audio control rooms and seven LED-outfitted studios, including a 270-degree display in Studio 1A. The studios are capable of monitoring and displaying thousands of video and audio feeds, all capturing action from up to 144 cameras or live feeds, the Tour said.
Other unique attributes of Studios include a custom-built video review centre with access to all camera feeds for live, on-air rulings, a 34-seat theatre to screen latest content projects, studio-specific booths for podcasts and, coming in 2026, PGA Tour Radio. It also houses Pro Shop, the Tour’s preferred partner in Hollywood dedicated to creating premium content at the intersection of golf and culture.
“With Studios now live, our team can deliver for fans new, dynamic productions that chronicle the incredible stories of our athletes in a new era of golf media,” said tour chief commercial officer Rick Anderson. “This production studio will help usher in the next chapter for the Tour as fans around the world further guide our decision-making through their valuable feedback to our Fan Forward initiative.”
Studios will also deliver a new World Feed, produced and curated exclusively for international media partners and their viewers with a customized graphics package and specific cameras focused on international golfers. This live broadcast will feature weekly on-site reporters and include up to six dedicated cameras at select FedEx Cup events providing greater coverage of international players, which also allows the distribution of enhanced content across its social and digital platforms.
Following its debut at the Players, the World Feed will be produced for all remaining events on the 2025 schedule. Launching the World Feed is the first step toward producing localised live feeds specific to certain countries, with native language announcers and graphics in the pipeline.
The three-level facility is adjacent to the 187,000-square-foot Tour headquarters at Ponte Vedra Beach.