"Golf doesn’t have the luxury of a time outs": Brandel Chamblee compares NFL and PGA Tour amid commercial debate

Brandel Chamblee recently defended the advertisements in PGA Tour events, stating that they were necessary for the game to thrive. In comparison with the NFL, he pointed out that, unlike the football league, golf doesn't have dedicated time-out slots to show ads.

On Saturday, December 28, Chamblee took to X and wrote a long post to counter a few perceptions. One of them was about the abundance of commercials during televised golf. The former PGA Tour professional-turned-analyst defended the advertisements, stating that they were important for the game. He also cited the NFL, which has a significant amount of advertisements.

Australian Golf Passport Podcast host Scott Warren countered that the NFL doesn't show ads during key moments of the game. In response, Brandel Chamblee reasoned that the NFL has dedicated timeouts, unlike televised golf.

"The NFL has the benefit of time outs, but those 'time outs' are to some extent by design so the networks can offset their HUGE rights fees with commercials," he wrote. "Golf doesn’t have the luxury of a time outs, but they generally show anything that happened of importance in break, when they come back."

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"They are necessary, and they work" - Brandel Chamblee defends ads during PGA Tour events

In another tweet, Brandel Chamblee shared data regarding NFL commercials to defend the airing of advertisements during PGA Tour event broadcasts.

"On average, a three-hour golf broadcast will have 54 minutes of commercials. For comparison, the typical NFL game will last three hours and 12 minutes and will have 67 minutes of advertising. Yet, the NFL is booming and indeed 42% of those polled said they watch the Super Bowl for the commercials and 50% said they will be buying from a brand in a Super Bowl commercial."

"Clearly, ads are necessary for networks to offset the huge rights fees they pay the sports leagues but from the advertisers point of view, the ads work. According to data, ad recall is significantly higher on linear TV than on streaming devices."

He added that as per the data, 60 percent of people were willing to watch the ads.

"In 2024 alone, 56% of new streaming subscribers have chosen a lower priced ad tier compared to 39% in 2023. Ads may be annoying to some, but they are necessary, and they work," he concluded.

Chamblee has been working as the lead studio analyst for Golf Channel for over 20 years.