Has LIV Golf lost the plot again? It has been nearly 3 years since the Saudi-based promotion first began. Initially, fans were hesitant to follow the product due to the vastly different format. But LIV Golf was eventually able to win over the fans with their modern style of fast-paced golf. And they have constantly tried to improve it to keep fans engaged in the format.
Just a few days ago, LIV Golf announced that the 2025 season will have a major format change. They stated that the scores of all 4 players of a team across all 3 rounds of an event will be considered for the club’s final score. This refreshing change was introduced to make sure the majority of the team doesn’t ride along on the good scores of their better players. As LIV Golf stated, “The scoring adjustment for 2025 will increase the drama and volatility on the team leaderboard throughout the three tournament days, putting added pressure on every player to contribute a low score (or at least avoid the really high ones) for their teams.”
While the format change certainly excited the community, insiders are still not in favor of another new aspect that they have observed this season. For context, the first LIV Golf season event has begun, and to everyone’s surprise, they are playing it after daylight. Yes, the 2025 LIV Golf Riyadh event will take place after 6 PM local time.
Speaking about the issue, the Golf Channel shared a YouTube video. The segment of the Golf Podcast with Rex & Lav had the two hosts discussing the situation of LIV Golf currently. Rex kicked off the session by acknowledging that ‘Lonely’ Ollie Schniederjans replaced an injured Phil Mickelson for the first event of the season. He clarified that despite his comments in the last segment, he is still eager to see what LIV Golf does with Fox Sports as their broadcast partners now.
The journalist also mentioned that LIV Golf might attract better viewership during some of its events that coincide with a PGA Tour event. A good example of that might be the ongoing 2025 WM Phoenix Open. However, Rex also stated, “playing under the lights is an unnecessary gimmick”. It seems that the PIF-funded league is trying to adjust the schedule of its events to be more suitable for the American audience.
As per Rex, the quality of LIV Golf’s product will drop if they make such unreasonable requests from their players. He mentioned how “both Brooks (Koepka) and Bryson (DeChambeau), who would be playing under the lights in Saudi Arabia this week talked about ‘Yeah, you struggle with depth perception’”. Lack of vision would suddenly hinder the golfer’s ability to perform better.
However, Lav had a contradicting opinion about the situation. He acknowledged how LIV Golf is trying something new and making the sport fun. Lax believes that “we’re so far removed from the major championships season,” that LIV Golf can focus on the “entertainment” aspect of it. Rex stated that he didn’t have a problem with making golf fun. However, he believes that LIV Golf is only doing this to align with the “viewing habits” of the American audience.
Rex gave a great example of how the Olympics stopped scheduling their events for the mass viewers. As observed in 2024, the organizers scheduled the Paris Olympics events at a suitable local time. He believes that “the people that want to watch it, they will wake up at whatever time it is that you want them to wake up and just run it then”. Rex suggests that real LIV Golf fans will watch the league’s events whenever they are broadcast.
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But will such a formula really work for LIV Golf and its fans? Let’s find out.
Will LIV Golf fans tune in at odd live broadcast scheduled times?
There is no question that more people follow the PGA Tour than they watch LIV Golf. Their viewership numbers signify how big of a difference there is between their viewership. Hence, even during oddly scheduled events like the Scottish Open, the PGA Tour still has many fans tuning in. Hence, the Tour can still manage to get around 1 million viewers while LIV Golf averages at 150,000 per event.
The Saudi-based league has a very small fan following as compared to their rivals. The numbers might drop further if they don’t broadcast in a window when the majority of their fans tune in. With LIV Golf still being relatively new, it’s vital for them to attract better viewership. That is probably the only way they can see an increase in fans.
But why would LIV Golf focus only on the Eastern time zone? Well, the PIF-funded promotion would have collected the database that tells them where most of their fans are from. And if the majority of their audience comes from the Eastern zone, then there is no question that they would schedule their product accordingly. Hence, this might be more of a strategic approach than a desperate “gimmick” as suggested by Rex. We can also assume that access to live broadcasts on Fox Sports has made them change the schedule. The appropriate time and better network coverage will help LIV Golf gain better viewership much sooner than expected.
What do you think of LIV Golf’s decision to choose such a bizarre schedule? Share your views in the comments section.
The post LIV Golf’s Attempts to Revive TV Ratings Slammed as ‘Unnecessary Gimmick’ Amid Season Debut appeared first on EssentiallySports.
