J.J. Spaun’s victory at the Valero Texas Open did more than just end a personal winless streak; it sent a shockwave through the PGA Tour’s viewership numbers, posting figures unseen in 25 years.
The final round of the Valero Texas Open on NBC & Peacock averaged 3.0 million viewers. This is the second-largest audience since 1999 (behind only the 2021 one). Last year, the Valero Texas Open final witnessed about 1.746 million viewers tuning in to NBC to watch Brian Harman win the tournament.
This was about 20% less than the 2024 viewership, when 2.179 million fans watched Akshay Bhatia claim the win at the championship. But the highest number came in 2021, when the tournament delivered a record-breaking 3.4 million viewers for its final round.
The momentum doesn’t stop there. The Valero Texas Open continues a broader upward trend for the PGA Tour, with final-round broadcasts increasing viewership in five of the last six weeks compared to the previous season. This aligns with a larger pattern of rising Sunday audiences across NBC’s golf coverage, signaling renewed fan engagement at a crucial point in the calendar.
It’s worth noting that all six final rounds in 2025 posted higher peak viewership than those in 2024. Starting from the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld through the Texas Children’s Houston Open, the PGA Tour’s coverage on NBC and Peacock went to a total audience delivery of 2.2 million across 41 hours. And five of the six rounds went beyond three million viewers in 2025.
Pretty good numbers for Sunday at Valero https://t.co/mR0tr1ytgR
— Josh Carpenter (@JoshACarpenter) April 7, 2026
But what made the final round at the 2026 Valero Texas Open worth watching? Of course, it was Spaun’s rise from the bottom. Historically, the Valero Texas Open has served as the final tune-up before the Masters Tournament, and that timing plays a key role in its viewership appeal. With fans already shifting their attention toward Augusta, any dramatic finish in Texas naturally benefits from heightened anticipation. This year, Spaun’s victory amplified that effect.
In 2026, Spaun made only four out of eight cuts before coming into the Valero Texas Open. But things changed. He began the final round two shots behind Robert MacIntyre. But he pushed through with two birdies on the 14th and 16th and an eagle on the second-to-last hole. He marked his second win at the event to gain momentum ahead of the Masters, with a margin of only one shot.
However, the future of golf holds a significant potential change for the PGA Tour’s viewership.
PGA Tour CEO acknowledges fans’ viewership habits
The current scenario has witnessed a major shift in viewership from television to streaming platforms. And that’s something Brian Rolapp has already addressed. With about four more years of the PGA Tour’s $700M media deal with NBC and CBS, we can expect the tour to adapt to the fans’ habits.
Not too long ago, the CEO of the PGA Tour acknowledged, “You see fans are changing their habits: television versus streaming. You see the companies and the economics of the media industry changing. Paramount just announced a very large acquisition. It’s a very dynamic time in media.”
“If you are in the sports business, it behooves you to put your house in order as much as possible. That is a significant part of the work that the Future Competition Committee is doing, and it’s one of the reasons why it’s so important.”
It remains to be seen if things improve significantly on streaming platforms. For now, we can all turn our attention to the action at Augusta National.
