PGA Tour dominates LIV Golf ratings Edit by Liam McGuire
CBSFoxGolfBy Drew Lerner on

One side is clearly winning golf’s ongoing divide.

Last weekend, the PGA Tour’s WM Phoenix Open averaged 2.87 million viewers during final round coverage on CBS, an increase of 36% versus last year’s 2.38 million viewers, per CBS Sports PR. However, the more stunning figure might be that the PGA Tour outdrew the audience for LIV Golf’s final round coverage last weekend by a factor of 50.

That’s right. According to X user YeahClickClack, who has been reporting golf ratings throughout the season, LIV’s final round in Riyadh averaged just 54,000 viewers on FS1 during its early window, then an even more ghastly 31,000 viewers for its afternoon window on FS2.

It’s important to note, these tournaments did not air at the same time. LIV Riyadh played its final round on Saturday, presumably to avoid Super Bowl programming on Fox, while the WM Phoenix Open played in its traditional Sunday afternoon window that leads directly into the Super Bowl.

The comparison is nothing short of embarrassing for LIV, who recently signed a multi-year media rights agreement to air its tournaments across Fox’s various channels. The league even played its tournament at nighttime in Riyadh to accommodate more favorable television windows in the U.S.

Even still, the paltry numbers were hardly unexpected. FS1, and especially FS2, are not exactly known for drawing big audiences for live sports. When LIV was airing tournaments on The CW during its last agreement, the league would regularly capture audiences around 200,000 viewers. Now, that audience has been cut by 75% on FS1.

With 78% of its tournament windows set to air on FS1, FS2, Fox Business Network, or the Fox Sports App this season, it’s looking unlikely that more people will be watching LIV this year than they were in the past.

The other side of this story is the PGA Tour’s strong start to its season. While audiences above 2 million viewers are hardly unfamiliar for the Tour, they’re a welcome sight after last year’s viewership struggles.

So far this year, PGA Tour broadcasts on CBS are up 36% versus last year. No doubt, the Tour has been helped by more favorable weather forecasts; last year, multiple early-season events either finished on Monday or had their final rounds canceled due to weather.

Right now, it’s clear which league is winning the hearts and minds of golf fans. Maybe for LIV, it’d be better to reunify sooner rather than later to save themselves further embarrassment.

About Drew Lerner

Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.

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