Live From Winged Foot: U.S. Open — In Part — Streamed Online

The World Cup has a challenger for ways to make work less productive this week … for the sixth year running, some of golf’s U.S. Open will be streamed live on weekdays. All of the action at two of the 18 holes — the 6th and 10th, to be exact — will be streamed Thursday and Friday not by media rightsholders ESPN or NBC but by the U.S. Golf Association with production by an ESPN Regional TV. The run started with one hole and one announcer for six hours in 2000. The folllowing year a second announcer was hired and a second hole added. It was simulcast last year on ESPN Classic but is back to internet only. It’s not just golf-cam, either. Interactive elements play a large role; as Richard Sandomir writes, fans are invited to send in pictures of themselves watching. “The real charm of the whole thing is to interact with the audience,” announcer Roger Twibell told him. Going full-course would compete with ESPN.
With all of the attention on the newcomers, it helps to remember that streaming sports video is nothing new. It’s just more routine.

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