PGA Tour announces new TV deal for 2007

HONOLULU -- There won't be as much channel-surfing to find the PGA Tour next year, the start of a six-year deal that includes only two major networks and gives The Golf Channel exclusive cable rights for 15 years.

The announcement Wednesday culminates a major shake-up in the structure of the PGA Tour, which also revamped its schedule to create a seasonlong points race and a blockbluster finish.

And while financial terms with CBS Sports and NBC Sports were not disclosed, commissioner Tim Finchem conceded that prize money that was escalating at a bullish rate will flatten over the next six years.

"I think it's fair to say that the purse level increases year-to-year will not be as steep in the next six years," Finchem said in a conference call.

It was the most taxing negotiations since Woods joined the PGA Tour in 1996, became an instant star and allowed the tour to negotiate TV deals that sent the total purse from $96 million to $255 million in eight years.

ABC Sports walked away from negotiations late last month, and cable partner ESPN followed. That keeps the PGA Tour away from the biggest sports brand on cable, relegating all Thursday and Friday rounds -- along with three tournaments at the start of 2007 -- to a cable channel, The Golf Channel, that still doesn't reach every market.

More pieces of the puzzle are to follow in the next week, such as the how the 2007 schedule will look, and how many tournaments will be part of the "Quest for the Card," a series of tournaments after the Tour Championship that will allow players to try to finish in the top 125 on the money list.

Along with announcing a television deal, Finchem said The Players Championship would move from the last weekend in March to the second week in May. He also said NBC would have no more than five minutes of commercials every hour at The Players Championship, similar to the arrangement CBS has with the Masters.

And in a move that might further muddle the meaning of "World Golf Championships," all of them will be played in the United States in 2007.