There’s an old saying that there’s no cheering in the press box, but NBC Sports is throwing that out the window for the 45th Ryder Cup. Get ready for a partisan booth.
“We’ve always covered our sporting events in an impartial way and never referring to the Americans as ‘We,’ ” NBC’s lead golf producer Tommy Roy said on a media conference call Wednesday. “I used to have to correct Johnny Miller quite often when he said, ‘We have to win this hole.’ I’d hit him in the headset and say, ‘No, Johnny, not we, the Americans.’ But if you’ve worked the Olympics like we have been fortunate to do and you’re in the International Broadcast Center, you can dial up the feeds from the different countries broadcast and they are all almost very partisan.”
Roy used to scoff at this style, he said.
“I was so brainwashed into impartiality, but you know what? It’s actually a pretty fun listen,” he said.
NBC experimented with this at the 2023 Solheim Cup with Judy Rankin and Catriona Matthew and again at the Presidents Cup last year. For the Ryder Cup, which begins on Sept. 26 at Bethpage Black in Farmington, N.Y., Roy said that with its two fervent fan bases, “We’re all in. This is not going to be the new norm at NBC Sports, but at Bethpage, this is what we’re doing.”
Dan Hicks will host the afternoon session on Friday and Saturday and Sunday singles and team up with Brad Faxon, representing the U.S., against Paul McGinley, representing Europe. Likewise, Terry Gannon will host the morning session with Notah Begay III for the U.S. and Nick Faldo for the Euros.
“I might need to adopt a referee jersey for McGinley and Fax,” Hicks said. “I think it’s a great idea, too. These guys bleed their country’s colors, especially at an event like this, and I really think we’re going to get more insight out of these guys with the gloves off, so to speak, and restrained from any of the usual journalistic responsibilities. They’ll be able to do their thing.”
NBC Sports’ 2025 Ryder Cup production will include the most cameras ever put into the field for a Ryder Cup on U.S. soil, featuring a record three drones, multiple bunker cams, broadcast booth cameras, and cameras from the practice area to the first tee to capture players’ every step as they walk to their opening tee shot. For the first time at a Ryder Cup, NBC Sports will also utilize Trackman at all 18 tee boxes.
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