Professional golfer Nelly Korda and the LPGA Tour are confronting significant viewership challenges, underscored by a sharp decline during the 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. The final round of this tournament attracted just 428,000 viewers on NBC, dropping nearly 50% from the previous year’s 867,000 viewers for Amy Yang’s win. This downturn raises critical questions about the LPGA Tour’s ability to captivate and expand its audience in a competitive sports market.

The dwindling numbers come amid growing frustration voiced by players. Veteran LPGA figure Michelle Wie West has publicly expressed serious concerns about the organization’s current state, particularly in regard to media exposure and broadcast quality. Her remarks shed light on the frustration felt by athletes who believe their efforts and skill are not fully recognized by the broader sports viewership landscape.

Michelle Wie West Critiques Broadcasting and Calls for Greater Investment

During a candid interview on Bloomberg’s The Deal podcast, Michelle Wie West revealed a mixture of hope and unease about the LPGA’s future. She acknowledged positive signs, such as increased prize purses and incremental improvements in viewership, but emphasized the persistent media deficits affecting women’s golf.

Wie West commented,

“Our purses are getting bigger on our tour, we’re getting better viewership. I still think there’s a lot that needs to be done to give these girls what they deserve in terms of media attention and viewership on broadcast,”

underscoring the gap between current progress and expectations. To enhance broadcast standards, she added,

“needs to get a lot better. And that means more cameras on site, more on screen technology.”

Her assessment points directly to how the production quality and presentation of LPGA events lag behind those of male counterparts. She highlighted the disparity in coverage intensity, noting the men’s tours benefit from over triple the number of cameras and more dynamic broadcasts, which amplify fan engagement.

Systemic Issues Impacting LPGA Broadcast Accessibility and Scheduling

The LPGA’s struggle to secure strong live viewing figures is compounded by structural challenges related to its broadcasting arrangements. The tour does not possess a dedicated television rights contract but shares a substantial media rights deal with the PGA Tour, valued at $700 million and set to run through 2030. While this partnership has greatly benefited the PGA Tour, which saw a 70% increase in revenue, the LPGA receives only a fraction of overall exposure, with most resources historically funneled toward men’s events.

Moreover, the LPGA faces hurdles with how and when its events are presented. Tournaments often air on tape delay or are relegated to NBC’s Peacock streaming platform, limiting live exposure. Insider reports suggest that late sponsorship commitments and delayed scheduling negotiations with networks restrict live broadcasting windows, forcing networks to shift LPGA events to less favorable time slots or non-live feeds.

Potential Growth Strategies: Incorporating Technology and Betting to Boost Attention

Michelle Wie West offered concrete suggestions to counter these obstacles, proposing enhanced on-site coverage and the integration of sports betting to attract a wider audience. She stated,

“It is a fact that sports betting does drive viewership in terms of people who watch sports.”

Through this lens, the LPGA could tap into the booming sports betting market to amplify fan interaction and engagement.

Complementing this, Wie West emphasized the need for expanded camera deployment, stating,

“the men have more than tripled amount of cameras that are on site, so they cut to a lot of places.”

These targeted improvements in broadcast production could enable viewers to experience the intensity and nuances of LPGA tournaments more vividly, aligning coverage quality with that of other premier sports events.

Technological Advances Highlighted in the 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship

In an effort to enhance the fan and player experience, the 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship introduced innovative technological enhancements, signaling potential paths forward for the LPGA. KPMG leveraged advanced analytics and artificial intelligence to provide daily AI-generated recaps and hole-by-hole course insights, a significant leap from earlier tournaments.

This evolution in data presentation has roots in the LPGA’s 2021 launch of KPMG Performance Insights, which offers players detailed performance metrics to refine strategies and training. Specifically, at the recent championship held at PGA Frisco, AI assessments delivered valuable breakdowns on hole challenges, such as hole 6—a 446-yard par 4 with a difficult green complex—that showed only 2% of players scored birdie or better while almost half bogeyed or worse. Such insights allowed competitors to approach the course with a sharper strategic focus.

The adoption of these tools reflects a growing recognition within the LPGA of the need to blend technology with traditional broadcasting to enrich spectator engagement and support player development.

Future Directions: Addressing LPGA’s Viewership and Presentation Needs

Despite these incremental steps, the LPGA’s journey toward resolving its deep-rooted viewership challenges remains uncertain and complex. With industry pressure mounting from voices like Michelle Wie West and notable players such as Nelly Korda, the tour must prioritize solutions that enhance media visibility and appeal to a broad audience.

The significance of addressing these challenges extends beyond ratings—it affects the sport’s commercial viability, sponsor investment, and the career opportunities afforded to female golfers. Progress will likely require a multifaceted approach involving better broadcast quality, strategic scheduling, enhanced technological integration, and innovative engagement methods such as sports betting.

As the LPGA contemplates these changes under new leadership, including commissioner Craig Kessler, the community awaits to see whether these promising discussions will translate into tangible transformations that elevate women’s professional golf to a platform commensurate with its talent and history.

Our Reader’s Queries

Q. Why did Nelly Korda have surgery?

A. Nelly Korda has successfully recovered from a blood clot surgery in her left arm.

After sharing news on social media, she decided to take a break and missed the first major tournament of the year.

Q. Is Nelly Korda rich?

A. Sportico.com recently published a list of top-earning female athletes, and Korda was ranked eighth, earning around $14.4 million. She made $4.4 million from winning competitions, with the remainder coming from endorsements.

Q. Did Nelly Korda have surgery?

A. Korda is generally strong, but she has faced health problems. In 2022, she had surgery to remove a blood clot in a vein in her left arm.