As the dust settles on the third instalment of the Saudi backed golfing event LIV Golf, what does the future look like for a sport that was created in the 15th century as it tries to adapt to a modern era?
The 2024 LIV season was won by Spaniard Jon Rahm, who has created his own controversy with Ryder Cup rules stipulating he would not be able to play in 2025 unless he competed in enough DP World Tour events.
He has been fined and suspended by for participating in conflicting events for LIV. He has since committed to meet that quota after appealing and playing in the grace period but still refusing to pay the fines.
RAHMBO SWEEP 🏆🏆@JonRahmOfficial is the 2024 LIV Golf League Individual Champion and takes the Chicago Individual Title 👏#LIVGolf @LegionXIIIgc pic.twitter.com/JQZ9zvNujy
— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) September 15, 2024
So, what is so different about LIV?
LIV (which is 54 in Roman numerals) only play across three days (which is 54 holes) compared to four on the PGA tour as well as only having 54 players play at each event whilst also earning points for their team in which they have a stake in themselves.
In contrast the PGA Tour can have up to 156 players per event which is then cut down to 70 after day two. LIV does not have a cut ensuring all players earn money from an event. Instead of teeing off one by one they opt to use a shotgun start meaning players tee off on different holes around the course at the same time.
LIV only holds 14 events across the calendar year, but these are across the world from the USA to Honk Kong. The PGA Tour operates in North America hosting around about 40 events per season. LIV players are still allowed to compete in the four majors every year.
The biggest noise around LIV is the money that players get, but is it substantially more than the PGA Tour are offering?
(Source: CBS and Golf Monthly)
It is arguably one of the biggest misconceptions that LIV are paying out more. There is some truth that of the signing fees for players to join were huge, but the season payouts are relatively similar if you ignore the number of events that are played.
LIV only split its prize fund in 2024 by 58 players and 13 teams compared to the PGA Tour which had 200 players who earned money this year.
(Source: Sportskeeda)
The viewing figures for LIV are fascinating as streaming is their main way to view the sport on YouTube and LIV Golf +. It also causes some questions around how many of these viewers are actually watching the event and engaging with it, but the streaming does seem to be working for them compared to the traditional route.
(Source: Sporting News)
These figures might not look great on Linear TV in the US, but the viewership of the sport as a whole has been declining with this year’s Masters at Augusta, where the green jacket was won by Scottie Scheffler, only had 9.589 million viewers in the US on championship Sunday.
This was the third lowest only ahead of the 2020 and 2021 events which were impacted by Covid. The Open at Royal Troon also hit a nine year low on its viewership of the major where Xander Schauffele produced the round of the year to become the champion golfer.
LIV tends to deliberately schedule its events to not clash with the PGA Tour but on one occasion this year they played on the same weekend and the figures don’t lie about where the audiences’ loyalties are.
(Source: Golf Magic)
These figures on US TV did improve on the Sunday where the PGA event in Pebble Beach was rained off leaving an open slot for LIV and the figure rose to 432,000 viewers but still it struggled to win over the TV audience.
This might not be such a cause for concern for the Saudi-backed event as they have dipped into the younger market with its average viewership age being 40, propped up by the average age of its TV coverage being 63.1.
If you compared this to the PGA tour, they have an average of about 65. This is where LIV are trying to gain its audience to keep golf in the main sport zeitgeist.
CEO of LIV and former pro Greg Norman claims that half of their fanbase is under the age of 45.
Although it’s hard to prove this, their mission statement and marketing tactics emphasise the route they are taking.
The mission statement on their website reads: “Our mission is to build on and compliment the existing format of professional golf and take it to new levels of excitement and engagement with generations of fans. LIV Golf is here to modernize and supercharge the wonderful sport of golf.”
LIV has used a wide range of influencers and golfing content creators in paid sponsorship deals to try and push the fans, who tend to be younger, away from the PGA and towards LIV by a simple tactic which is to be seen and talked about.
Players such as Bryson DeChambeau have also helped keep attention on the event, especially after he won the US Open at Pinehurst which is a PGA run event.
In 2023 the PGA ran a study on the UK golfing audience to see how golf is shaping up in this country.
(Source: PGA via BBC)
LIV aims to push each of these figures up but especially the viewing figures and they believe that their format and excitement around the game will help to grow and bring new audiences to the sport at a time that its viewership is flailing but engagement in the sport is increasing.
Whether or not its liked and the background of sportswashing are conversations for another time but golf needed a shake-up to excite fans and get people talking about the sport and LIV has done that especially with the younger demographic.
So, the good and the bad that comes with LIV will surely be worth it for golfing enthusiasts if they keep the sport going for few more centuries.
