The 2023 Ryder Cup in Italy set new records across the board, with Europe’s 16½-11½ victory against at United States attracting unprecedented levels of engagement across social media and global broadcasts.
A total of 271,191 people from 100 different countries attended the 44th Ryder Cup in person at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome, with millions more following the action from afar on television and digital platforms.
There were 2,653 posts across official Ryder Cup Europe, Ryder Cup USA and joint Ryder Cup social channels during the Ryder Cup week, which led to more than 600million impressions and pageviews. Furthermore, early figures show views of Ryder Cup official social media channels amounted to 197.6million, with a total of 26.7million interactions, contributing to the channels gaining 500,000 new followers.
On Ryder Cup Europe’s platforms alone, impressions numbered 347,106, 426 – a remarkable 117 per cent increase on the 2018 Ryder Cup in Paris which totalled 160million.
Footage from the European Team Bus on the Sunday night particularly resonated with fans, with 14,054,985 views across all channels in the first 48 hours, total impressions of 19,188,189 and engagement amounting to 1,482,709.
Early figures also show notable increases across global broadcasts, with a rise in average viewership on Sky Sports in the UK of 38 per compared to the 2021 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits and 25 per cent up on the 2018 edition at Le Golf National, making it the most watched Ryder Cup on Sky Sports on record.
Guy Kinnings, Executive Director – Ryder Cup, said: “The 2023 Ryder Cup in Italy once again underlined the global appeal and continued growth of one of the world’s leading sporting events.
“This year’s contest, played against the backdrop of the historic city of Rome, truly connected with fans around the world, and our early figures show significant increases in engagement even from the recent record-breaking editions.
“The Ryder Cup is undoubtedly a unique and special event in sport. These extraordinary numbers certainly are testament to that and to the wonderful entertainment the European and US team provided on the course, as well as the unforgettable scenes of Luke Donald and his players celebrating a memorable victory at Marco Simone. Luke was a magnificent captain and those scenes really captured what it means to play for something bigger than yourself, which is something that inspired Luke and his players throughout his Captaincy.”
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While many golf fans around the world now know the likes of the Molinari brothers Francesco especially, Constantino Rocca, Matteo Manassero, Andrea Pavan, but others in this forever soccer mad country, like Sophie Sandolo, Silvia Cavalleri, and pioneers like Veronica Zorzi and Stefani Croce have not met with the worldwide acclaim others of equal talent from countries like USA, Britain, Australia etal.
This Ryder Cup and it's phenomenal success and celebration outside the USA can only help Italians in Italy to both take up the game, and participate as fans.
However change comes slowly, older generations, full of passion for soccer, have not passed on the same DNA to their offspring for golf. Golf is a rich man's game in Italy. Will the Italian Golf Federation be swamped by renewed demand from the public in general, and get support for more affordable memberships, on old courses and new.
I hope so for the game I have been privelged to play and cover all my life, but I expect the seeds planted by this Ryder Cup in Italy, will take a generation or two to take root and grow.
Bryan Angus (edit)
europeantour.com
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