DGN Confirms No Live Broadcast at Masters Cup

Jeffersonville, VT – After months of troubleshooting, and due to a lack of service at Delaveaga Disc Golf Course, the Disc Golf Network can confirm that live coverage will not be an option for this weekend’s Santa Cruz Masters Cup, a PDGA National Tour event. After significant testing and efforts to implement solutions on site, the final call was made late last week to suspend attempts to run a partial broadcast with unreliable service. The Disc Golf Network will still run a press conference at the event and the Disc Golf Pro Tour will be on site to assist with COVID-19 policy support and crowd control. 

Due to the well known signal issues at Delaveaga that have prevented past live broadcasts, the Disc Golf Network has been working since late 2020 in an attempt to troubleshoot signal issues in order to provide a quality live broadcast at the historic venue. “We worked with both LiveU and Verizon for months in attempts to activate a temporary network on site” said DGPT CEO and Director Jeff Spring. “While we were able to find ways to improve the signal, we ultimately were not able to enhance connectivity to a level that we were confident in to execute a live broadcast.”

Efforts included enhanced testing with signal “Xtender” units from LiveU as well as onsite visits from Verizon’s crisis response team, experts in activating cell and wifi networks in hard to reach areas. Despite finding limited success, the signal boosts were not able to provide enough strength to confidently stream a live broadcast. The one method that could’ve worked, activation of a C.O.W. (cell on wheels) provided by Verizon, is reserved for events with over 50,000 people, like the Superbowl or Boston Marathon, or public emergencies. 

“We are committed to doing everything in our power to find solutions and even replace events when necessary,” said Spring. The DGPT recently added the Des Moines Challenge to the schedule after needing to postpone the PCS Sula Open due to travel restrictions to Norway. Earlier this year, the DGPT added Resistance Discs Open (Silver Series) to the slate to help fill a gap left by the cancellation of the BSF. Spring added, “Ever since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve tried to troubleshoot and innovate to ensure events happen and that we can broadcast them live whenever possible.”

The Masters Cup will still have a wide range of media offerings thanks to the PDGA. “While we’re disappointed that a live broadcast will not be an option at this year’s Masters Cup, we are grateful for all of the efforts that the Disc Golf Network has made to find solutions. We are looking forward to a great event as the National Tour returns to Dela for the first time since 2019 and with a full slate of post-production coverage, fans will still be able to catch all of the action,” said Matt Rothstein, PDGA Media Manager. There will be post-production coverage for the Men’s lead, Women’s lead, Men’s chase, and Men’s third cards provided by JomezPro, CentralCoast Disc Golf, GK Pro and Gatekeeper Media respectively. 

The Disc Golf Network has nearly tripled their live offerings this year, and will stream over 30 events live by the end of the season. DGN will provide full live coverage at all of the remaining Elite Series events of 2021, as well as the PDGA Pro World Championships in June. The next live broadcast will be June 4-6 of the Portland Open. The next PDGA National Tour event will be August 27-29 at the Delaware Disc Golf Challenge.