• by David Goetzl , June 25, 2009

Turner Sports and the PGA Tour have extended their relationship where the programmer operates the golf body's Web site until 2019. The agreement also means that coverage of golf's fourth Grand Slam, the PGA Championship, will remain on TNT for the next decade. And it includes an added bonus: Turner is marketing PGA merchandise to kids.

Turner has established a core competency in operating Web sites for major sports properties, including PGA.com, NASCAR.com and NBA.com. Turner handles content and ad sales. It is not clear if the deals involve Turner paying rights fees to run the sites or principally involve revenue sharing. But in the PGA's case, the popularity of its site should only grow over the next 10 years.

The new deal also has Cartoon Network's licensing arm gaining rights to serve as the PGA's licensing agent for products targeting kids, whether it be apparel, lunchboxes or golf schools. Some of the deals are likely to include co-branded PGA/Cartoon Network offerings.

In addition, Turner will continue to offer coverage on TNT of the PGA event exclusively during the first two days, as well as some morning coverage on Saturday and Sunday.

The network also has rights to continue to simulcast some of the coverage on PGA.com. Plus, it provides streams not on the network, such as a live feed from a particular hole or video following a group of top players as they play all 18 holes.

Besides operating PGA.com, Turner also has rights to develop and run new mobile offerings on behalf of the PGA, as well as social-media platforms.