ESPN has helped broadcast the Masters from Augusta National Golf Club every year since 2008.
The partnership is unique among sports media rights deals. The first and second rounds of the tournament air on ESPN, but CBS, which broadcasts the third and final rounds of the tournament, produces the coverage and uses its own broadcasters. Aside from a few ESPNers like Scott Van Pelt and Andy North, the vast majority of the on-air talent appearing on the telecast come from CBS.
Augusta National exercises extreme editorial control over how its tournament is covered, dictating how broadcasters speak about certain elements (“patrons” not “fans,” and “second-nine” instead of “back-nine”), in an effort to maintain the Masters’ mystique. CBS has aired the major championship every year since 1956 and likely will continue to do so in perpetuity, so long as Augusta National deems the network worthy.
So it’s no surprise that, even when someone not necessarily known for his golf coverage makes a joke at the expense of Augusta National, the green jackets deploy the banhammer. That’s apparently what happened to former ESPN anchor Kenny Mayne. Appearing on a recent episode of God Bless Football with Jon “Stugotz” Weiner, Mayne shared how he heard he was not welcome at Augusta National.
“I’m banned for life from Augusta, I think,” Mayne told Stugotz after he was asked if he’d played the storied course before. “I used to cover golf, I used to do the TPC Sawgrass, and I did the U.S. Open every year for, I don’t know, seven or eight years. It was me, Van Pelt, Andy North, the whole gang.
“At TPC one year, I just made some smartass comment about, ‘We’ll see you at the Masters, where we bring four saucy ladies out to play!’ Or, you know, just something stupid, right? But mentioning that I’m bringing women to play golf. And [Augusta National] called into the ESPN truck, like we’re still on the air, and the people in Augusta are literally, they somehow have the inside number to the truck. And they were like, ‘He is not coming!’ So I was never invited to go by my lords.”
Let’s be honest, Augusta National has likely banned people for less. But the visual of someone high up at the fabled club watching Kenny Mayne make a snarky comment on ESPN, and then actually having the ability to call into the ESPN truck just to tell him that he’s no longer welcome, is quite hilarious.
Only the green jackets at Augusta National have that kind of access and know exactly when and where to wield it.