The Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour has finally struck a deal with an American broadcaster, signing a television and streaming agreement with the CW Network after failing to come to terms with any of the top media outlets.
The Nexstar Media Group has announced a multiyear deal with LIV Golf to broadcast on the CW, although terms of the contract have not been revealed. The deal is believed to be a revenue-sharing agreement, meaning LIV Golf will not receive any rights fees and will pay production costs, according to ESPN.
LIV Golf's first event of the 2023 season is scheduled for Mexico from February 24 until the February 26. Previously, the controversial PGA rival had been limited to YouTube broadcasts.
The deal gives LIV Golf a chance to reach a wider audience, according to CEO and Commissioner Greg Norman, himself a former PGA star.
'[The agreement] will provide accessibility for our fans and maximum exposure for our athletes and partners,' Norman said in a statement.
'We're very proud to note how consequential it is that a league that has only existed for one year has secured a full broadcast deal in its debut full league season.'
LIV Golf is heavily funded by Saudi Arabia's sovereign-wealth fund, which has committed at least $2 billion to the circuit. But while the rebel tour has attracted media attention in the form of news articles, that publicity had yet to translate to any media rights or sponsorship deals.
There are some major names involved with LIV Golf, including major winners such as Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Cameron Smith and Bryson DeChambeau, have been lured to LIV Golf with lucrative signing bonuses reportedly worth as much as $100million to $200million. Phil Mickelson was paid a reported $200 million to defect to LIV Golf.
Critics say LIV Golf is simply 'sportswashing' Saudi Arabia's brutal human rights record.
Its rebranded tour is set to begin on February 24 at the El Camaleon Mayakoba Golf Course in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, though no announcement on its 48 participants has been made. Its full 14-event calendar has yet to be made official too. Last year, the tour hosted a tournament at ex-U.S. President Donald Trump's golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Earlier this month, several reports indicated that LIV came close to offering live TV rights to UK broadcasters free of charge amidst desperation from senor executives, including Norman, to find a traditional broadcast partner.
Sportsmail learned that a fresh round of negotiations with Sky Sports, BT Sport and DAZN failed to reach an agreement over the winter holiday period, not long after LIV failed to convince major U.S. broadcast networks to take on the Saudi Arabia-funded rebel tour's second season.
DAZN only showed the tour's events outside major markets, including in Germany, Italy, Spain and Japan.
Loyalty is the main reason behind refusals from the world's most watched channels to take on the PIF-backed tour, as they are closely aligned with LIV's arch-nemesis, the PGA Tour.
Golfweek Magazine reported last year that LIV came close to an agreement with American network Fox Sports about buying airtime, six years after the network parted ways with Greg Norman.
Despite Jared Kushner's effort to broker a deal between both parties, no accord had been struck by the end of 2022.
Western media outlets and golf commentators have repeatedly slammed the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour for its corruption and human rights abuses and for its efforts to improve its worldwide reputation image through sports.
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 being an employee of the American TV network for seven years.
'I hear, ''Well, it grows the game.'' Bulls***,' the 64-year-old Northern Irishman said. 'They paid me a lot of money.'
He also hinted at a new challenge after 'covering all the majors', as well as the Winter and Summer Olympics.
'It was a chance to be a lead analyst. And more than anything else, to be me,' he added. 'To be myself. Maybe have that edginess, but to push the irreverent envelope a little bit. The shackles are off. I felt a bit constrained toward the end [at NBC] and at the end of my CBS tenure as well. I loved all of it and was incredibly lucky.'
The tour is also involved in a legal battle with the PGA Tour for interfering with its contracts with players. While the PGA is being accused of violating antitrust laws by banning LIV players from its tour, golf's preeminent circuit countersued its Saudi-backed rivals, accusing the outfit of interfering with its deals.
Players who have defected to LIV Golf have been banned at PGA events, but they can still play at the majors, provided they meet qualifying criteria.
Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the fund that finances LIV Golf, were also named in the lawsuit in October.
