Not only was LIV Golf’s first-ever TV broadcast a ratings disaster, it was blown out of the water by the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic — which featured arguably its worst field of golfers of the year.
According to viewership numbers obtained by Sports Business Journal’s Josh Carpenter, LIV Golf Mayakoba — the controversial, Saudi-backed golf tour’s first event of the season — attracted 286,000 viewers on Saturday and 291,000 on Sunday during its maiden broadcasts on The CW. The PGA Tour, in broadcasts on NBC and the Golf Channel, outdrew LIV on each day — even the Thursday afternoon broadcast of the first round.
On Saturday and Sunday on NBC, the Honda Classic attracted 1.61 million and 2.38 million viewers, respectively. The Golf Channel broadcasts drew between 342,000 (Thursday) and 631,000 (Sunday) viewers.
All of this came on a weekend where the PGA Tour had one of its lowest-pedigree tournaments of the year. Ironically, the Honda Classic was one of the biggest victims of the new PGA Tour rules enacted in response to LIV. To combat the breakaway circuit’s huge payouts and guaranteed money, Tour commissioner Jay Monahan increased purse sizes for the Tour’s “elevated events” and designated four more events on the calendar as such.
The Honda Classic was not chosen as one of the Tour’s additional elevated events. The Waste Management Open, held Feb. 9-12, was. The Tour schedule saw the Honda Classic sandwiched between the WM Open and a number of already-elevated tournaments; the Genesis Invitational (Feb. 16-19), Arnold Palmer Invitational (March 2-5) and Players Championship (March 9-12).
As a result, none of the PGA’s biggest stars participated, instead opting for a break in the middle of a grueling stretch of the schedule. (Honda was clearly not thrilled, as they dropped the tournament at PGA National as a sponsor.) The betting favorite was Sungjae Im (World No. 18), who is known for playing nearly every tournament on the PGA Tour schedule.
LIV Golf absolutely had a more star-studded field, at least at the top; Cameron Smith (World No. 5), Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau all were in the field at Mayakoba. Still, LIV’s viewership numbers didn’t sniff those of the PGA Tour this weekend.
The CW Network was always viewed as an odd pairing for LIV, which is in its second season since Greg Norman’s renegade golf tour started poaching some of the PGA’s biggest names. Traditionally, the channel has marketed toward a younger audience with shows such as “Gossip Girl,” “Riverdale” and “The Vampire Diaries.” However, it is an over-the-air station, meaning one does not need cable to watch it (and it is included in nearly every cable package). The Golf Channel, which is owned by NBC Sports, is less widely available – and all four of Golf Channel’s broadcasts beat out LIV on CW.
“World’s Funniest Animals,” which aired later on in the day on The CW, had a higher rating than LIV Mayakoba.
Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that the Honda Classic was a thriller all weekend, despite the limited field, while LIV Mayakoba was not. The final day saw 34-year-old veteran Chris Kirk edge out Eric Cole — who came into the tournament ranked No. 330 in the world — in a playoff after blowing a one-stroke lead by sending his second shot on 18 into the water. At Mayakoba, Charles Howell III won the LIV tournament comfortably by four strokes.
Still, this was undoubtedly a disastrous first week of the season for LIV Golf, which promised to be “golf but louder” yet has been extremely quiet on the airwaves. They may have a limitless supply of cash courtesy of the Saudi Public Investment Fund, but at some point, people will need to tune in.
