Rory McIlroy on the NFL's grip on football audience: ‘They drip-feed things'

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Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, celebrates at Pebble Beach Golf Links after winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Pebble Beach, Calif. (AP Photo/Nic Coury) (Nic Coury/Associated Press)


PEBBLE BEACH – Two days earlier, 83 miles away, the country's obsession with professional football was on full display at Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara.

And now Rory McIlroy, one of the world's most accomplished athletes – reigning Masters champion, career Grand Slam winner, No. 2 in the official golf rankings – sat before a room full of reporters at Pebble Beach. McIlroy will chase another AT&T Pro-Am title this week, after pocketing his first win at Pebble last year.

He also grew up in Northern Ireland, far removed from the all-consuming grip of American football. McIlroy's homeland favors soccer (as we call it) and rugby, among other sports. It also carries a rich history of golf, which helps explain why McIlroy picked up the game as a young lad.

Given his distant upbringing, McIlroy fielded an American football question Tuesday. What did he think of the U.S. fixation with the sport, considering his own background as a sports fan?

McIlroy, smiling, initially suggested it was a better question for Brian Rolapp, the PGA Tour CEO and former NFL executive. Then, after pausing several seconds, McIlroy offered a thoughtful response.

"I've tried really hard with football," he finally said. "Like, really hard. I appreciated the Super Bowl because of the defensive capabilities of both teams, and especially the Seahawks.

"I could watch a game of cricket for five days and be mesmerized. I just didn't grow up with (football), so that's why I maybe don't take to it quite as naturally."

McIlroy soon steered his answer down a logical and interesting path, comparing golf to football in how the sport reaches customers/viewers. That's a timely topic, amid the PGA Tour reshaping its schedule and format after LIV Golf poached several players (and now with five-time major champion Brooks Koepka returning and Patrick Reed planning to follow him).

McIlroy and other marquee golfers have long advocated shortening the season, rather than crowding the calendar with tournament after faceless tournament. The way he sees it, the NFL's raging success validates that strategy.

"It's a short season and then once it goes away, people miss it," McIlroy said of football. "From a marketing perspective it's genius, right? They drip-feed things. It's the (NFL) combine, then it's the draft, then it's preseason. The season is short but they drip-feed just enough to keep you really interested the whole way through the year.

"As we as golfers contemplate going to more of that scarcity model, there's certainly a lot to be learned from the NFL from that standpoint."

McIlroy will turn his full attention to golf Thursday, when he makes his 2026 PGA Tour debut. His win last February at Pebble launched a magical stretch, including victories at the Players Championship and Masters.

The triumph at Augusta National, of course, counted as a landmark achievement. The Masters tormented McIlroy over the years, annually leaving him frustrated over his inability to conquer the storied layout.

Then, amid familiar angst, he finally scaled the mountain and completed the career Slam.

McIlroy fell back a bit the rest of the year, finishing outside the top 10 in the PGA Championship, U.S. Open and Tour Championship (he tied for seventh in the British Open). That left him stuck at No. 2 in the world ranking, firmly entrenched as the best golfer not named Scott Scheffler.

Scheffler has created a wide gap between himself and all other players – his world ranking points (17.0) are more than double McIlroy's (8.4). Scheffler won six times on tour last year, including the PGA and British Open.

Scheffler, also in this week's field at Pebble, reliably plants himself in contention – witness his active streak of 17 consecutive top-10s, which he extended Sunday with a final-round 64 at the Phoenix Open.

"He's relentless," McIlroy said. "I'll never stop singing Scottie's praises, because he's incredible at what he's doing and the way he does it. I've had nice runs like that, but I've always been a little more up and down.

"I think anyone who wants to catch Scottie, or get anywhere close, is going to have to consistently bring that sort of game week in and week out like he does. He's really the first one since Tiger (Woods) to be doing this."

McIlroy did top Scheffler at Augusta, and then again at the Ryder Cup in September. That event carries special meaning for McIlroy because of his roots – Europeans may not embrace American football, but they relish the Ryder Cup.

So Europe's win at Bethpage Black resonated in a unique way, especially as McIlroy navigated through the boisterous and occasionally vulgar galleries. The challenge offered a sharp contrast to his Masters win five months earlier.

"The Masters was more me against myself," he said, "and the Ryder Cup was me against 50,000 New Yorkers."

This article originally published at Rory McIlroy on the NFL's grip on football audience: ‘They drip-feed things'.

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