One of many fascinating elements of professional golf’s murky panorama 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 because the PGA Tour has rebounded from an abysmal 2024. In the meantime, LIV continues to wrestle in relative anonymity.
The viewers distinction is almost 20-fold some weeks. In fact, the Tour having a $700-million-per-year contract with CBS and NBC is a major 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 doesn’t correlate with in-person attendance.
LIV is having a promising attendance 12 months
There isn’t a doubt LIV has been in a position 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 the most effective single-day attendance numbers in league historical past, a roughly 25-percent improve in comparison with final 12 months’s occasion on the similar course. These numbers had been anticipated to be damaged this week—probably twice—because the circuit travels to professional golf-starved Indianapolis. Subsequent week, LIV Michigan in Plymouth, simply outdoors Detroit, has equally excessive hopes for setting attendance data.
Anecdotally, attending followers at Chicago and Indianapolis have mentioned the grounds had been saturated with followers. Lengthy entrance strains and large galleries had been posted on social media. Live shows 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 PGA Tour has largely ignored over time, so it’s good for LIV to benefit from these areas.
I wrote about this final 12 months when LIV got here 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. document which was then damaged this previous couple of weeks. And, in fact, the LIV Adelaide occasion has been the poster youngster 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 will be naive to say there isn’t a significant marketplace for golf followers to look at prime execs compete in locations which might be determined to look at the sport’s greatest. Particularly as we march by the canine days of August when the sports activities calendar is sparse and plenty 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. Except occasions just like the WM Phoenix Open, Gamers Championship, Vacationers Championship—and some others relying on that 12 months’s discipline—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 posh of understanding all of its gamers are going to indicate 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 every part will likely be completed in lower than 5 hours. Each participant you wish to see will likely be on the course in that point.
For that cause, LIV has taken benefit of hitting energized markets and cashing in with good attendance.
However attendance is a comparatively small consider success
On the listing of priorities for monetary success, attendance ranks properly 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, mentioned 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.
Nonetheless, every part 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 so as to compete.
Scores and anecdotal proof recommend LIV just 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 look at LIV Singapore.
Opposite to fashionable perception, I do say some good issues about LIV. They’ve made some optimistic strides.
It’s simply that none of it will matter if folks don’t watch on TV. LIV is type 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 generate profits and be useful, followers must watch.
And it must be greater than the one week per 12 months they purchase a ticket to be there in particular person.
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