We’ve got serious money flowing into YouTube golf.
After the inaugural Internet Invitational captured the golf world’s attention last year, the same tournament is coming back stronger for year two.
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy announced that the influencer event will have a $4 million purse, up from the $1 million purse of 2025.
Let’s put this into context here.
The average LPGA Tour event has a purse around $3.7 million. The average DP World Tour event is around $3.5 million.
Those are tours with some of the best professional golfers in the world, and they regularly play for less money than what we will see at the Internet Invitational.
That’s absolutely insane.
The YouTube golf train keeps humming
If you’ve been following the content creation game, this is no surprise at all.
The first Internet Invitational garnered a total of 28.7 million views over six episodes. It inspired controversy and tons of debate online.
The format was captivating as team golf was used to stir up drama while also mitigating handicap differences. The brilliant use of drafting teams/alternate shot made it so everyone was involved. Even the 20-handicap hackers could compete.
Last year, I brought up the idea of how the professional golf concept is evolving. There will always be professional golfers of great skill but now there is meaningful money to be made in the world of professional entertainment in the golf arena.
A lot of the golfers involved at the Internet Invitational are not particularly good players. Some of them are, some of them are not. But virtually all of them are entertaining for one reason or another.
The major advantage a tournament like the Internet Invitational has on a random PGA Tour event is that it can be played and then edited. Episodes can be dropped 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-esque, is very fun to watch.
And every notable 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 a main sponsor, and the advertising within the tournament was seamless and inventive.
It sounds like there will be more to come this year as the sponsorship dollars increase.
Pair the Internet Invitational with the Your Golf Tour—a four-event influencer tour with a $1 million finale—and it’s clear that YouTube golf is becoming a serious product.
YouTube golf has not grown stale yet
There are a lot of questions about whether YouTube golf is a fad or whether it will grow old as many of the same tactics are repeated.
There are an unlimited number of creators and breaking into the space is both easy and hard. It’s easy to get started (anyone can do it) and hard to get noticed.
The volume of top-tier channels is high. Most everyone is competing for the same kind of audience. There are nuances—some are more comedy channels and others are more about golf skill—but there isn’t a ton of separation there. The novelty factor of watching YouTube golf is wearing down for some.
I’ve definitely noticed some anti-YouTube golf sentiment growing.
Despite this, viewership and buzz are still soaring. It seems like YouTube golf is only becoming more of a monster.
I’m interested to see whether this Internet Invitational commands the same level of attention across the golf world as it did a year ago.
I’m sure this field will be even better than the original, and I’m betting the buzz for it is just as strong.
Hell, the Internet Invitational is more of a disruptor than LIV at this point.
What are your thoughts on this? Let me know below in the comments.
Top Photo Caption: Dave Portnoy announced the Internet Invitational purse is rising to $4 million. (GETTY IMAGES/Michael Hickey)
Sean
3 weeks ago
Watching a bunch of loathsome narcissists stroke their own egos and line their own pockets, I could watch just the PGA and get all that.