- 20,000 FREE tickets available as part of ‘Sky Sports Thursday’
- Sky Sports has partnered with grassroots initiative ‘Get into Golf’
New and existing golf fans will once again be able to watch some of the world’s leading golfers for FREE at the British Masters supported by Sky Sports with the return of ‘Sky Sports Thursday’.
Following the huge success of the initiative at Woburn Golf Club last year, when all 15,000 free tickets for the opening round were snapped up in less than 48 hours, this year’s allocation has been increased to 20,000 for the first day of the 2016 British Masters supported by Sky Sports at The Grove, on Thursday October 13.
From 10am on Friday April 15, Sky customers will be able to take advantage of an extended exclusive one week ‘pre-sale’ giving them first option on the free ticket offer for round one of the British Masters supported by Sky Sports, which takes place on Thursday 8 October. Tickets will be available via www.sky.com/tickets and are limited to a maximum of two per person.
Tickets for the remaining three rounds (from Friday October 14 – Sunday October 16) will then go on general sale on Friday April 22, jointly via www.europeantourtickets.com and www.sky.com/tickets.
Tournament host Luke Donald, the former European and World Number One, today launched the Sky Sports Thursday free ticket offer live on Sky Sports News HQ and encouraged people of golfing backgrounds to take advantage of the initiative.
He said: “We want to continue the great work that Ian Poulter started last year. We have a big focus on participation and we want to get as many people as possible through the gates, starting with Sky Sports Thursday. It’s going to be a lot of fun and hopefully even more of a success than it was last year.”
“Sky Sports Thursday will have 20,000 free tickets for the first round at The Grove. Last year we got 57,000 spectators for the week at Woburn, so we want to increase that number. We want to get more and more people into golf and make it fun for them as well.”
Keith Pelley, Chief Executive of the European Tour, said: “We are delighted to announce the return of Sky Sports Thursday at the British Masters with an extra 5,000 free tickets available at The Grove this year. It was an incredibly successful initiative last year, helping to attract a new audience to the tournament, and combined with the many new innovations we have planned for this year, we are confident the 2016 British Masters will once again help to engage many new fans.”
Sky Sports Thursday again forms part of a range of initiatives being run by the European Tour and Sky Sports to help attract a new audience to golf alongside established fans.
As part of this drive, Sky Sports has teamed up with grassroots initiative ‘Get Into Golf’ to build on the success of last year’s live masterclasses, bespoke tutorial programming and digital content to appeal to golfers both young and old in the build-up to the 2016 British Masters at The Grove.
The scheme was created by England Golf and the Golf Foundation and is backed by both the European Tour and The R&A.
Sky Sports will support the campaign to get both children and adults playing the sport throughout the year, beginning this spring. To date, 3,896 adults have taken up a form of membership through the initiative, with females representing 41% of participants.
Key activation points throughout the year will include the 2016 Open Championship, the first time Sky Sports has broadcast the prestigious event.
Jason Wessely, Executive Golf Producer at Sky Sports, said: “Our partnership with Get Into Golf illustrates our desire to help get more people to the range and out on the course. Last year’s British Masters was a great success for players and fans of all abilities and this new partnership will see the 2016 tournament reach new heights.”
More than 57,000 spectators attended last year’s British Masters supported by Sky Sports at Woburn Golf Club, the home venue of 2015 tournament host Ian Poulter. Englishman Matthew Fitzpatrick, the youngest player in the field, claimed his maiden European Tour title with a two shot victory, as the tournament returned to the Race to Dubai for the first time since 2008.
After the conclusion of the tournament, Donald announced he would be taking the 2016 event to The Grove, which previously hosted the WGC – American Express Championship in 2006, which was won by Tiger Woods, with Poulter joint runner-up alongside Adam Scott, while Donald finished in a share of sixth place.
Hospitality packages are also available for the British Masters supported by Sky Sports. For further information or to request a brochure call 0800 023 2557 email enquiries@europeantourhospitality.com or visit www.europeantourtickets.com
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