FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, February 1st, 2017

PHIL MICKELSON, MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY & CONDOLEEZZA RICE HEADLINE FEHERTY’S 7TH SEASON

Feherty Returns Monday Nights at 9 p.m. ET, Premieres March 6; Farmers Insurance to Become Presenting Sponsor of the Series in 2017

100th Episode of Feherty Series to Occur During Course of 2017 Season

VIDEO: Feherty Season 7 – “Leave A Mark”

ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 1, 2017 – Emmy-nominated television personality David Feherty – described as “the last unscripted man on TV,” by Men’s Journal and “a wisecracking, maverick interviewer,” by Esquire – will return as host for a seventh season of his critically acclaimed, self-titled series, Feherty. The series will feature an A-list lineup of guests in 2017, including World Golf Hall of Fame member, PHIL MICKELSON; Golden Globe and Academy Award-winning actor, MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY; former United States Secretary of State, CONDOLEEZZA RICE; and U.S. Ryder Cup hero and five-time PGA TOUR winner, PATRICK REED. This season also will feature the series’ 100th episode, dating back to the series premiere in June 2011, and will return to its 9 p.m. ET Monday night timeslot, beginning March 6.

“Who’d have thought something with my name attached to it would be on the air for seven years and approaching 100 episodes,” said Feherty. “Certainly any sane person placing a bet ahead of the series premiere would have taken the ‘under’, and I’d have agreed with them. I’m very fortunate that dynamic personalities such as Phil Mickelson, Matthew McConaughey and Condoleezza Rice continue to make the conscious – or unconscious – decision to suck it up and spend a few hours with me.”

Airdates for the initial lineup of guests (scheduled to appear) this season include:

  • Monday, March 6          Phil Mickelson (Part I)
  • Monday, March 13        Phil Mickelson (Part II)
  • Monday, March 20        Patrick Reed
  • Monday, March 27        Condoleezza Rice

Farmers Insurance® will become the presenting sponsor of Feherty, through a range of multiplatform integrations in conjunction with the series.

“Given our affiliation with the game of golf and the Farmers Insurance Open®, joining as presenting sponsor was an organic fit for us,” said Leesa Eichberger, head of brand marketing for Farmers Insurance. “Working with Feherty will give Farmers® further opportunities to connect with golf enthusiasts.”

Building off 2016’s successful marketing campaign for Season 6 of Feherty, Make A Mark, Golf Channel has produced phase two of that campaign for Season 7, Leave A Mark, with Feherty wreaking havoc on a golf course in an effort to distract admiring bystanders while he fulfills his ultimate mission. The creative for the new season kicked off today on Golf Channel, and will continue to run across NBCUniversal networks throughout the season.

Feherty is coming off a banner year in 2016, highlighted by Season 6 of Feherty being the most-watched season ever (Live Same Day, Live +3); sitting down with now four Presidents: Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump; serving as an NBC Olympic correspondent in Rio; appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon; being profiled on the Emmy award-winning HBO original series, Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel; and playing a key role in NBC Sports’ unprecedented 12-week stretch of premier golf events beginning with The Open and concluding with the Ryder Cup.

Feherty has gone one-on-one with celebrities across golf, sports, entertainment, politics and business, including sports legends Bill Russell and Charles Barkley; Hollywood icons Samuel L. Jackson and Larry David; coaches Nick Saban and Bob Knight; as well a list of golfing greats spanning Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson, Annika Sorenstam, and many others.

Described as “golf’s iconoclast,” by Rolling Stone, and “a cross between Oprah Winfrey and Johnny Carson” by The New York Times, Feherty has made a name for himself not only through his self-titled Golf Channel talk show, but as one of the most irrepressible personalities calling golf over the past two decades. Beyond golf, Feherty continues to capture new and broader audiences with his wit and self-deprecating nature. A native of Northern Ireland and a former professional golfer who claimed 10 worldwide victories and a spot on the 1991 European Ryder Cup team, Feherty is now a proud American citizen who has risen above a history of alcoholism and addiction to become an Emmy-nominated television host, New York Times best-selling author and comedic relief for thousands of men and women in uniform.

ABOUT GOLF CHANNEL

Golf Channel is a multimedia, golf entertainment and services company based in Orlando, Fla. Serving the most-affluent audience in all of television, Golf Channel – co-founded by Arnold Palmer in 1995 and now part of NBC Sports Group – is available in more than 200 million homes in 84 countries and 11 languages around the world. Golf Channel features more live golf coverage than all other networks combined, including tournament action from the PGA TOUR, LPGA Tour, The Open, Olympics, and Ryder Cup, as well as high-quality news, instruction and original programming. Golf Channel Digital delivers unmatched coverage of the world of golf. Fans are able to enjoy 24/7 live streaming of Golf Channel content through Golf Channel Mobile and the NBC Sports App, both powered by Playmaker Media. In addition, Golf Channel connects the world to golf through a wide array of digital and lifestyle services including Golf Channel Mobile, a comprehensive app covering golf’s latest headlines, scores and analysis; GolfNow, the world’s largest online tee time booking platform and golf course technology partner, which includes the GolfNow Mobile App, featuring on-course GPS tracking, in-round scoring and game tracking; GolfAdvisor.com, the world’s largest golf course ratings and review resource for golfers, by golfers; a North American network of Golf Channel Academy instructional facilities; and Golf Channel Am Tour, the world’s largest amateur golf tour.

ABOUT FARMERS INSURANCE

“Farmers Insurance®” and “Farmers®” are tradenames for a group of affiliated insurers providing insurance for automobiles, homes and small businesses and a wide range of other insurance and financial services and products. Farmers Insurance is proud to serve more than 10 million households with over 19 million individual policies, across all 50 states, through the efforts of more than 48,000 exclusive and independent agents and approximately 21,000 employees. Farmers Insurance Exchange, the largest of the three primary insurance insurers that make up Farmers Insurance, is recognized as one of the largest U.S. companies on the 2016 Fortune 500 list. For more information about Farmers Insurance, visit Farmers.com, Twitter and Instagram, @WeAreFarmers, or Facebook.com/FarmersInsurance.

-NBC Sports Group-