LIV Golf’s slogan is Golf, but Louder, but is it?
The Nielsen ratings are out for this weekend, and the ratings for LIV Golf in its individual championship at LIV Golf Chicago were some of the lowest of the season.
Only 89,000 people tuned in on the CW to watch Jon Rahm win the title Sunday, and on Saturday in the second round, which LIV Golf said was its highest-attended round in the United States ever, drew 134,000 viewers on TV.
Those numbers don’t include LIV Golf Plus, but regardless, it paints a stark picture of fan interest in the breakaway league that concludes its third season this week at the Team Championship at Maridoe in Dallas.
IndyCar Nashville: 483K
LIV Chicago Saturday: 134K
LIV Chicago Sunday: 89K
Solheim Cup Saturday: 634K
Solheim Cup Sunday: 657K https://t.co/olk92h4sKj— Sports TV Ratings (@SportsTVRatings) September 17, 2024
Also on Sunday, the Solheim Cup drew an audience of 657K, seven times more than those who watched LIV. For comparison, the Solheim Cup ended about 2:45 p.m. ET Sunday, and LIV Golf Chicago concluded at 6:05 p.m. ET, so they weren’t competing head to head.
As fans of the game continue to be turned off about discussions of PGA Tour vs. LIV and the ongoing push to bring the top players back together, LIV’s TV ratings have yet to take off.
Also with direct competition from college football and the NFL, it’s hard to imagine people turning off football to watch LIV Golf, and the numbers show that.
Rahm won Sunday, making $22 million in the process. That’s $247 and some change for every viewer who tuned in.
Golfers are some of the highest-paid athletes in the world right now. But as LIV and the Public Investment Fund look ahead to what’s next for the league, it’s hard to imagine fan interest changing.
With three years of data, people are not tuning in to watch LIV Golf on TV.