2008 Masters Reaches nearly 100 Million

Billy Payne, chairman of the Masters Tournament and Augusta National Golf Club, has announced that close to 100 million people watched the year's first major on television around the world, with another 5.4 million visitors to www.masters.org.

The preliminary global television numbers were up approximately 15 percent from last year. In all, the Masters was viewed, either live or delayed, in over 190 countries. Additionally, the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service showed the event to U.S. bases around the world.

For the one week period during the Masters, the tournament's official website had 5.4 million unique users, a 16 percent jump from last year's figure of 4.7 million. There were 2.2 million unique users on Friday alone.

The total number of video streams requested was 6.7 million, a 59 percent increase from last year's 4 million total. Among the elements on the site were full-screen video of the Par 3 Contest, bonus coverage on Masters Extra, Amen Corner live, Hole Nos. 15 and 16 live and an interview channel. The average time spent on the site was, incredibly, over 90 minutes.

"With our goal of growing the game of golf internationally, we are very excited about the number of television viewers and visitors to masters.org," Payne said. "Television, the internet, new media and other media channels will allow us to expose people to this great game of golf."