Rumours are circulating that the BBC will ditch Open Championship golf coverage a year early and hand it over to Sky.
The broadcaster was due to show the Open championship up until 2017, with Sky waiting in the wings to take the tournament off terrestrial telly altogether after that.
According to The Guardian, the BBC is looking to save £7 million by not broadcasting the 155-year old four-day tournament live. Instead, the BBC would show two-hour daily highlights at the end of each day.
BBC spokespeople have however denied the rumours, telling Recombu: “We remain committed to our current contract with the R&A.”
The BBC has had a long-standing agreement with the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews – colloquially known as the R&A – and has broadcast the competition for the last 60 years.
While Sky has snaffled broadcast rights to Open Challenge from 2017 onwards, there will be at least two more years of the Open shown on free to air TV.
The 2015 Open takes place between July 16-19 and will be broadcast live by the BBC.
Would you be happy to see the BBC withdraw early from showing live Open golf? Let us know in the comments.
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