Breaking Records, But Still Falling Short

LIV Golf finally has something to celebrate in the TV ratings department, with their first U.S. event of 2025 pulling in a record 484,000 viewers to watch Marc Leishman’s triumph in Miami on Sunday.

But before the champagne corks start flying at LIV headquarters, there’s a sobering reality check: that record-setting number was still less than a third of the audience who tuned into Brian Harman’s victory at the Valero Texas Open on NBC, which attracted a whopping 1.746 million viewers.

The Fox Sports Effect

LIV’s new broadcast deal with Fox Sports seems to be helping their visibility compared to last year’s CW arrangement. Their previous viewership high in the U.S. was 432,000 for the 2024 season opener in Mexico.

Interestingly, Friday’s opening round actually gave LIV a rare win, with 389,000 viewers outpacing the Valero’s 327,000 on Golf Channel. But that advantage evaporated quickly when weekend coverage shifted to the major networks, with Saturday’s Valero audience reaching 1.583 million on NBC while LIV managed just 137,000 on FS1.

Star Power vs. Tour Loyalty

What makes these numbers particularly telling is the contrast in star power. The Valero Texas Open featured a relatively modest field with Harman holding off less-familiar names like Ryan Gerard and Andrew Novak.

Meanwhile, LIV’s Miami event showcased household names including Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, and Jon Rahm all in contention during Sunday’s final round – yet still drew less than a third of the PGA Tour audience.

Merger Implications

The timing of these ratings couldn’t be more significant as the long-running merger saga between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) continues. While PIF’s deep pockets were once thought to give them the upper hand in negotiations, the creation of PGA Tour Enterprises – backed by a $3 billion investment from the Strategic Sports Group – appears to have shifted the balance of power.

Recent reports indicate the PGA Tour rejected PIF’s offer to invest $1.5 billion into PGA Tour Enterprises, primarily because the deal would have kept LIV Golf operating as a separate entity. The tour’s apparent stance is clear: they want the world’s top golfers competing on one circuit.

Not All Sunny for the PGA Tour

Despite comfortably outpacing LIV, the Valero’s viewership still represented a 20 percent drop from last year’s tournament. However, the tour has enjoyed strong overall ratings to begin 2025. After a general decline last year, weekend coverage on CBS and NBC has seen a 10 percent increase compared to the same point last season.

CBS is enjoying particular success, with an average of 2.3 million viewers marking a 17 percent jump year-over-year, while NBC has posted six consecutive weekends of viewership gains.

“While the numbers are good and strong and positive, pretty much across the board, we’ve got a lot of golf left,” Norb Gambuzza, EVP/media at the PGA Tour, told the Sports Business Journal. “We want to be humble. We want to continue to focus on our product and giving fans what they want.”

As golf’s power struggle continues off the course, the viewing habits of fans might ultimately prove just as important as the billions being discussed in boardrooms.