we have serious money pouring into golf on YouTube.
After the inaugural Internet Invitational caught the attention of the golf world last yearthe same tournament will be back stronger for the second year.
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy announced that the influencer event will have a $4 million purse, up from 2025’s $1 million.
Let’s put that in context here.
The average LPGA Tour event has a purse of about $3.7 million. The average DP World Tour event is around $3.5 million.
These are tournaments with some of the best professional players in the worldand they regularly play for less money than we’ll see at the Internet Invitational.
This is absolutely insane.
The YouTube golf train keeps on rumbling
If you’ve been following the content creation game, this comes as no surprise.
First online invitation garnered a total of 28.7 million views across six episodes. It inspired controversy and much debate on the Internet.
The format was fascinating as team golf was used to stir up drama while also smoothing over differences and flaws. Great use of draft teams/alternate hitting made it all inclusive. Even 20-handicap hackers can compete.
last year, I brought up the idea of ​​how the concept of professional golf is evolving. There will always be professional players with great skill, but now there is significant money to be made in the professional world. FUN on the golf course.
Many of the players involved in the Internet Invitational are not particularly good players. Some of them are, some of them are not. But practically all of them are fun for one reason or another.
The main advantage that a tournament like the Internet Invitational has over a casual PGA Tour event is that it can be played and then modified. Episodes can be skipped one at a time to build suspense and conversation. Fans can watch at their own pace.
There is no dead space. The whole production, while contrived and reality TV, is a lot of fun to watch.
And every prominent YouTube golfer is in the mix.
This tournament has proven that sponsors are willing to pay for this type of stage. Last year’s event had Dunkin’ as the main sponsor, and the advertising inside the tournament was smooth and inventive.
It looks like there will be more to come this year as sponsorship dollars increase.
Pair your web invitation with your golf tour-an influential four-event tournament with a $1 million finale—and it’s clear that golf on YouTube is becoming a serious product.
Golf on YouTube isn’t standing still
There are many questions about whether YouTube golf is a fad or if it will get old as many of the same tactics are repeated.
There is an unlimited number of creators and entering the space is both easy and difficult. It’s easy to get started (anyone can do it) and hard to get noticed.
The volume of high-end channels is high. Most everyone is competing for the same type of audience. There are nuances — some are more comedy channels and others are more about golf skills — but there’s not much division there. The new golf viewing factor on YouTube is wearing thin for some.
I’ve definitely noticed an anti-golf sentiment growing on YouTube.
Despite this, viewership and buzz are still growing. It seems like golf on YouTube is becoming more of a monster.
I’m interested to see if this Internet Invitational gets the same level of attention throughout the golf world as it did last year.
I’m sure this pitch will be even better than the original, and I bet the noise is just as strong.
Hell, the Internet Invitational is more of a deal breaker than LIV at this point.
What are your thoughts on this? Let me know below in the comments.
Top Photo Caption: Dave Portnoy announced that the Internet Invitational purse is increasing to $4 million. (GETTY IMAGES/Michael Hickey)
