Netflix's Full Swing viewership drops sharply in 2024
- The second season of Netflix's "Full Swing" saw a dramatic drop in viewership, with only 4.8 million views and 28.5 million hours watched from January to June 2024.
- Rory McIlroy had previously warned about declining fan interest in men's professional golf due to fragmentation and infrequent matchups between top players.
- The significant decrease in viewership reflects broader challenges in engaging audiences with sports documentaries amid ongoing disputes in professional golf.
Netflix's documentary series "Full Swing" experienced a significant decline in viewership during its second season, which aired from January to June 2024. The show garnered only 4.8 million views and 28.5 million hours watched, a stark contrast to the previous year's impressive 53.1 million hours. This downturn has been attributed to waning interest in men's professional golf, exacerbated by the ongoing fragmentation between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, which has led to infrequent matchups among top players. Rory McIlroy, a prominent figure in golf, had previously expressed concerns regarding the diminishing fan engagement, noting a 20% drop in PGA Tour TV ratings. He highlighted that the ongoing disputes and lack of compelling narratives have contributed to viewer fatigue. The struggles of LIV Golf to attract a substantial audience, coupled with their failure to secure a major US television deal, have further complicated the landscape. The initial excitement surrounding the PGA Tour-LIV Golf split had drawn viewers to "Full Swing," but as the novelty wore off, so did the audience's interest. Comparatively, the second season of "Break Point," which follows tennis stars, only managed 2.7 million views during the same period, indicating a broader trend of declining viewership for sports documentaries. Additionally, the cancellation of "The Netflix Cup" after just one outing, which featured popular golfers and F1 drivers, underscores the challenges Netflix faces in maintaining viewer engagement in sports programming. With only 700,000 live stream views, the event's failure to generate interest signals a need for a reevaluation of content strategies in the sports documentary genre.