MEDIA ALERT: THE PLAYERS Championship Revised Media Credential Policy
January 29, 2021
To ensure the safety of the community and participants at the 2021 PLAYERS Championship, media coverage will be primarily remote and in accordance with the PGA TOUR’s Return to Golf Health and Safety Plan. The number of media credentialed to be onsite will be significantly reduced from previous years and will include our broadcast partners, local TV stations, major daily newspapers and wire services and a limited number of national and international golf media.
In order to accommodate the many media outlets that would like to continue tournament coverage of this high-profile event, we enhanced our Virtual Media Center with a considerable amount of content to aid in your remote coverage (examples below):
- Round-by-round notes and stat packages
- Pre-tournament player interview schedule with live link to watch press conferences
- Transcripts of player interviews
- Complimentary photos (8-10 per day) for each round
- Video files of player interviews and B-roll with competition highlights to be used in accordance with the media regulations.
To access the Virtual Media Center, please log on to www.pgatourmedia.com and provide your name, media outlet and email address. Select the tournament from the left side of the page and you will be redirected to the tournament’s homepage where you will have access to content to accompany your editorial coverage.
For those media outlets that are approved to be onsite, there will be a number of changes in place outlined below that you should be aware of.
- While media will not be tested for COVID-19, all media will be screened upon arrival (questionnaire) and will be required to adhere to health and safety protocols;
- Masks must be worn at all times while onsite. This applies within the media center and throughout the tournament grounds.
- Ensure proper social distancing at all times.
- Practice strong personal hygiene including washing your hands frequently.
- If you feel ill, please do not come onsite.
- The media center will be open Monday, March 8– Sunday, March 14 but will close each evening for cleaning (media center hours will be sent at a later date).
- Due to social distancing requirements, media center capacity will be significantly reduced. Media center workstations will be socially distanced thus reducing capacity significantly. Most print/digital media outlets and photography wire services will only be allocated one workstation. Media that are provided “grounds only” access will NOT have access to the media center.
- Players will be “in the bubble” and therefore interviews will be handled virtually or in the flash area with social distancing measures in place. Access to the flash area will be limited to broadcast partners and designated pool reporters. Media are prohibited from approaching players on their own. All interviews should be coordinated with PGA TOUR media officials onsite.
- There will be no media access to the practice range. Inside the ropes access to competition areas will be very limited and primarily issued to camera operators.
The media credential website will open for requests the week of February 8 and will close when capacity is reached.
Thank you for your understanding and patience during this time. If you have any additional questions, please contact Tracey Veal, traceyveal@pgatourhq.com or Stewart Moore, stewartmoore@pgatourhq.com.