One of many fascinating components of pro golf’s murky landscape is that in-person attendance has not essentially corresponded with TV scores or general engagement.
TV scores, which management a lot of professional golf’s future, have been talked about at size as the PGA Tour has rebounded from an abysmal 2024. In the meantime, LIV continues to wrestle in relative anonymity.
The viewers distinction is sort of 20-fold some weeks. After all, the Tour having a $700 million per 12 months contract with CBS and NBC is a big distinction maker in comparison with LIV being on Fox Sports activities.
Final week, LIV had 334,000 viewers whereas the FedEx St. Jude Championship had 3.6 million. That substantial hole has been current each week the 2 excursions face one another—even when the Tour has a mediocre occasion or little drama on the leaderboard.
Now in its fourth season, LIV has by no means damaged 500,000 viewers within the U.S.
And but, the clear disparity in scores and different engagement metrics does not correlate with in-person attendance.
LIV is having a promising attendance 12 months
There isn’t a doubt LIV has been ready to attract nice attendance numbers in 2025.
Whereas not each occasion on their schedule has been packed to the brim with followers, there’s clearly an in-person marketplace for what they’re doing.
Final Saturday’s spherical at LIV Chicago garnered one of the best single-day attendance numbers in league historical past, a roughly 25 % improve in comparison with final 12 months’s occasion on the similar course. These numbers had been anticipated to be damaged this week—presumably twice—because the circuit travels to professional golf-starved Indianapolis. Subsequent week, LIV Michigan in Plymouth, simply exterior Detroit, has equally excessive hopes for setting attendance information.
Anecdotally, attending followers at Chicago and Indianapolis have stated the grounds had been saturated with followers. Lengthy entrance strains and large galleries had been posted on social media. Concert events have been a giant draw as bands like Good Charlotte, Think about Dragons and Jason Derulo have been performing after play is over.
Chicago and Indianapolis are two cities the Tour has largely ignored over time, so it’s good for LIV to reap the benefits of these areas.
I wrote about this last year when LIV came to my hometown of Nashville, a spot that hasn’t seen Tour golf because the Truman administration. Greater than 40,000 followers attended.
The are different success tales. The LIV Dallas occasion in June noticed greater than 50,000, setting a U.S. report which was then damaged this previous couple of weeks. And, in fact, the LIV Adelaide occasion has been the poster little one for large crowds as greater than 102,000 watched earlier this 12 months, trumping the 94,000 mark set final 12 months.
Not each occasion has threatened a promote out. LIV Miami and LIV Mexico Metropolis didn’t attain 20,000 followers.
Nonetheless, it could be naive to say there isn’t a significant marketplace for golf followers to observe high execs compete in locations which are determined to observe the sport’s greatest. Particularly as we march by the canine days of August when the sports activities calendar is sparse and lots of children haven’t gone again to highschool but, LIV is capitalizing on well-placed tournaments.
These surging attendance numbers meet or surpass most stops on Tour. Excluding occasions just like the WM Phoenix Open, Gamers Championship, Vacationers Championship—and some others relying on that 12 months’s area—LIV’s present attendance numbers are on par with the Tour.
There are greater than triple the variety of Tour occasions than LIV occasions, and LIV has the luxurious of understanding all of its gamers are going to point out as much as every of its 14 tournaments.
The fan expertise can also be helped by a shorter time window of play. You go for the shotgun begin and know all the pieces might be carried out in lower than 5 hours. Each participant you need to see might be on the course in that point.
For that purpose, LIV has taken benefit of hitting energized markets and cashing in with good attendance.
However attendance is a comparatively small think about success
On the listing of priorities for monetary success, attendance ranks nicely under having a profitable TV contract, viewership scores and supportive company sponsorship.
LIV has made some progress in these areas. The league’s CEO, Scott O’Neil, stated LIV’s general contract worth of league sponsorships has elevated by an element of 10 this 12 months. Including Salesforce and HSBC into the sponsor fold is a lift.
Nevertheless, all the pieces at all times comes again to the product.
With out the Tour’s company infrastructure and established TV deal, LIV has to attract curiosity by the viewer expertise with the intention to compete.
Scores and anecdotal proof suggests LIV isn’t drawing a lot constant curiosity.
The followers in Chicago, Indianapolis and Detroit are charged as much as attend a professional golf event, however they don’t appear as prepared to observe LIV Singapore.
Opposite to in style perception, I do say some nice things about LIV. They’ve made some constructive strides.
It’s simply that none of it will matter if folks don’t watch on TV. LIV is sort of boring. What makes it a greater watch than the Tour?
The Savanah Bananas make a pleasant dwelling by touring from city to city and promoting out baseball stadiums—however these minor league gamers didn’t signal $300 million contracts.
For LIV to earn money and be practical, followers must watch.
And it must be greater than the one week per 12 months they purchase a ticket to be there in individual.
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