Ryder Cup director sparks fierce debate with Super Bowl comment

Ryder Cup Director Bryan Karns believes golf’s premier team event is “on par” with the Super Bowl, sparking debate among the online sporting community.

Speaking ahead of the 2025 Ryder Cup at the Bethpage Black Course on Long Island, New York, from Friday, September 26, to Sunday, September 29, Karns voiced his belief that the tournament has a similar cultural impact to the NFL’s marquee game.

The Ryder Cup “on par” with the Super Bowl

“It’s not just the Super Bowl of golf, this is on par with the Super Bowl,” Karns said.

“I think in terms of what it represents, and it’s just not one day, it’s three days. And I think, in the same way, the Super Bowl is an absolute event for the people in attendance, this is also an event for people at home who tune in, who are gonna be together. This is a unifying event that really lasts an entire week, and I think that’s what makes it special.”

“It’s unparalleled and unmatched, even by some of the peers like the Super Bowl, Final Four, some of these F1 events,” he continued. “We feel like we’ve really carved out a niche for ourselves that is just a bucket list item for any sporting fan.”

Ironically, Karns himself highlighted one factor that makes direct comparisons difficult: the Ryder Cup takes place over three days, while the Super Bowl unfolds in just a few hours, not counting the growing pre-game buildup.

Ryder Cup vs Super Bowl U.S. viewership figures

Viewing figures show the Ryder Cup has a long way to go to match the Super Bowl in popularity, at least in the United States.

At the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome, where Team Europe defeated Team USA, NBCUniversal’s coverage averaged 1.41 million viewers on Saturday and 1.32 million on Sunday. These numbers were significantly lower than the 2.12 million and 2.47 million viewers recorded in 2018, the previous European-hosted tournament.

Much of the lower viewership was influenced by overnight and early-morning broadcasts and disappointing performances by the U.S. team.

Comparing U.S.-hosted Ryder Cups

A fairer comparison comes from the last Ryder Cup held on American soil. In 2021, NBC averaged 2.98 million viewers on Saturday and 3.51 million on Sunday, marking the least-watched Sunday of a U.S.-hosted Ryder Cup since 1997. Overall, the tournament’s viewership was down 18% from the previous U.S. edition in 2016.

By contrast, Super Bowl LIX, played in February 2025, drew a record-setting 127.7 million average viewers across all platforms, a 3.2% increase over Super Bowl LVIII the previous year.

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