Once reported to be at the center of a bidding war on the network, LIV Golf has announced it is now bringing live events back to YouTube, where the Saudi-backed PGA Tour rival began in 2022 before signing a multi-year deal for revenue sharing reached with the CW Network back in January.
That CW deal remains in effect, according to Golf Monthly, but the tour will now also broadcast tournaments on YouTube, starting with this week’s DC event at Trump National Golf Club in Virginia.
Oddly enough, viewers in the US, Canada, Mexico and South Korea will have to pay $3 a day to watch the tournament on YouTube, reportedly so LIV Golf can protect existing broadcast and streaming deals.
Fans can also watch for free on the LIV Golf Plus app, but the various viewing packages are a far cry from the massive TV rights deal envisioned by CEO Greg Norman several months earlier.
In September, Norman told ESPN that LIV Golf was getting “huge” interest from networks.
Patrick Reed tees off the ninth hole at the Pro-Am tournament in Washington
Despite its alliance with former President Donald Trump, LIV Golf has struggled to attract fans
Smash GC’s Brooks Koepka is pictured arriving at the clubhouse in Virginia
“We’re talking to four different networks — and live conversations putting offers on the table,” he said. ‘Because [the networks] can see the value of our product, they can see what we deliver.’
However, CW’s ratings for LIV Golf events were miserable, dropping 24 percent week over week until just 409,000 viewers watched a March tournament in Tucson, according to Golf.com.
Now LIV Golf is no longer reporting viewership data after claiming that Nielsen’s ratings are inaccurate.
Despite LIV Golf’s struggles, the fledgling circuit remains a hot topic on the PGA Tour, in part because LIV Golf’s Brooks Koepka recently won the PGA Championship.
But even with the presence of fan favorites like Koepka, Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau, not to mention the occasional appearances of former President Donald Trump, LIV Golf continues to struggle to attract fans.
By comparison, LIV Golf drew 40,000 fans to an event in Tulsa while the PGA Tour drew 150,000 fans to an event in Dallas, according to Pomp Investment’s Joe Pompliano.
LIV Golf CEO and Commissioner Greg Norman is struggling to gain a following in 2023
LIV Golf’s Chief Media Officer Will Staeger said the fledgling tour can boost its exposure by returning to YouTube.
“Expanding the availability of LIV Golf’s live coverage on YouTube marks another milestone in the innovative ways we are making our groundbreaking competition available to viewers,” said Staeger. “LIV Golf is a global league made up of some of the game’s biggest stars, and this supports our goal of bringing the sport we love to more people in more places around the world.”
Golfweek Magazine reported last year that LIV was closing in on an agreement with Fox Sports to buy airtime, six years after the network parted ways with former PGA star Norman.
Despite efforts by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner to negotiate a deal between the two parties, no agreement could be reached.
Western media outlets and golf commentators have repeatedly criticized the Saudi Arabian-backed LIV Golf tour for its corruption and human rights violations and for its efforts to improve the global image of golf through sport.
Last year, in August, David Feherty admitted in an interview with the Toledo Blade that the main reason behind his switch from NBC Sports to LIV was money, despite having been employed by the American TV network for seven years.
Trump takes pictures with his son Eric as they compete in the Pro-Am tournament
“I hear, ‘Well, it’s growing the game.'” Bulls***, said the 64-year-old Northern Irishman. “They paid me a lot of money.”
The tour is also embroiled in a legal battle with the PGA Tour for interfering with player contracts. As the PGA faces charges of violating antitrust laws by barring LIV players from its tour, the premier golf circuit has opposed its Saudi-backed rivals, accusing the team of interfering in its deals.
Players who defected to LIV Golf are banned from PGA events, but they can still play at the majors, provided they meet the qualification criteria.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the fund that finances LIV Golf, were also named in the October lawsuit.