Tag: LIV Golf ratings

Report: Viewership on the CW drops for LIV Golf Tucson event

Sports Business Journal also reported CW affiliates kept LIV Golf off the air for 29 million homes in the U.S.

The viewership reports are starting to roll through for the second LIV Golf League event of the season, and early numbers aren’t great for the Saudi Arabia-backed circuit.

The Sports Business Journal, citing a source with numbers from Nielsen, reported last week’s LIV Golf Tucson event had an average of 274,000 viewers on the CW for Sunday’s final round from Gallery Golf Club in Marana, Arizona, after an average of 284,000 viewers for Saturday’s second round. At LIV Golf Mayakoba, the season opener last month, the CW averaged 286,000 viewers for Saturday’s second round and 291,000 for Sunday’s final round. Friday’s opening rounds are only available via the CW app and other digital streams.

Outside of the viewership, the SBJ report also claimed that 24 percent of homes – or 29 million – in the United States were unable to watch LIV Golf Tucson on television because their local CW affiliate did not carry the coverage in the 1-6 p.m. ET window.

LIV Golf plans to release its own data on viewership later this week, which will predictably look different from the SBJ report citing just Nielsen numbers. The same thing happened with the Mayakoba viewership.

The league signed a multi-year revenue-sharing TV deal with the CW in January that will see its events be distributed across both not just CW affiliates, but also various Nexstar properties. It’s unclear how many watched on Nexstar stations or whether any Nexstar outlets carried LIV Golf Tucson in areas where CW affiliates elected not to. Competing with the opening weekend of the NCAA basketball tournaments surely doesn’t help the viewership numbers, either.

It’s also important to note which numbers are used in television reports. LIV reported 3.2 million total viewers across the three days in its season opener, while the Nielsen numbers cited above are average-minute audience, the industry standard. LIV is also using iSpot, a TV ad measurement and analytics company that offers a different way to measure viewership compared to Nielsen ratings.

LIV Golf will next head to Florida for its third event, March 31-April 2 at Orange County National in Orlando.

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LIV Golf executive explains delay in reporting Mayakoba viewership, why early reports were ‘incomplete’

“We’ve had our expectations in the realm of reality, and these numbers exceeded our expectations.”

LIV Golf made eyes squint and ears perk up when it reported an audience of 3.2 million viewers for its season-opening event, especially after some early, unflattering reports.

The upstart circuit, now in its second season but first as the re-branded LIV Golf League, signed a multi-year revenue-sharing TV deal with the CW in January and was criticized for waiting five days after the conclusion of its LIV Golf Mayakoba event in Mexico to release its numbers, but that was the plan all along.

“This is why we wanted to be thorough and take our time and not leap or react to initial stories which were incomplete,” explained LIV Golf’s Chief Media Officer, Will Staeger. “The way that we are distributed on Nexstar and CW platforms includes both the CW affiliates throughout the country, but also a web of Nexstar owned stations and some independent stations.”

“So just taking a small sample is just not going to be accurate given the distribution strategy of our partner on linear,” he continued, noting how some Nexstar stations, like WGN in Chicago, are more widely viewed than CW affiliates. “So those numbers were not taken into account from the small sample.”

It’s also important to note which numbers were used. LIV reported 3.2 million total viewers across the three days, while the early Nielsen numbers were average-minute audience, the industry standard. LIV is also using iSpot, a TV ad measurement and analytics company that offers a different way to measure viewership compared to Nielsen.

“iSpot has a broader glimpse of the way viewers view content than simply the panel process,” said Staeger. “These numbers take into account not only the Nexstar stations and the combination of CW and Nexstar, but also set top boxes, connected TVs, out of home and video players, so the attempt here is to be comprehensive and thorough.”

The result? Reports of 1.6 million total viewers for Saturday’s second round and 1.3 million total viewers for Sunday’s final round. According to Nielsen, the CW’s weekend primetime national ratings were up 24 percent compared to the network’s weekend season-to-date average.

“It’s a very good start in that sense and our strategy seems to be working. The other piece of the puzzle is this is just a start. It’s a long-term growth curve for a new league,” said Staeger. “We’ve had our expectations in the realm of reality, and these numbers exceeded our expectations.

“We thought it was a great strategy in 2022, in our beta season, to put the product out where people could find it for free, and YouTube was one of the better ways of doing that. We’re pretty proud of the numbers that we tallied, but we’re talking 20 times what we saw in viewership, just on the first weekend, by being on a broadcast network in 120 million homes. So it’s a big growth step for us.”

LIV is known for its bold and brash moves, but Staeger stressed the importance of incremental growth going forward as the league develops.

“For us, it’s about doubling down on letting fans and non-fans who haven’t discovered us yet, let them know where to find us. It’s really about getting that message out,” said Staeger, who also spoke the company line and praised LIV’s 54-hole, shotgun start format. “I think it’s the product for the next generation of golf fans, and it respects the heritage of the game and the core viewers who’ve grown up on the incumbent properties in the sport. So it’s a really good start.”

LIV will return to the U.S. for its second event, Marc 17-19 at the Gallery Golf Club in Marana, Arizona.

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LIV Golf reports 3.2 million viewers for opening event in Mexico, a stark difference from early reports

More people watched LIV Golf’s opening event than previously thought, according to the circuit.

The Sports Business Journal shared the estimated LIV Golf Mayakoba and PGA Tour Honda Classic viewership from last weekend, and the early reports didn’t paint a pretty picture for the rival circuit.

On Friday morning, LIV Golf shared some new numbers that tell a different story.

Using iSpot, a TV ad measurement and analytics company, as well as CW and LIV Golf internal data, the upstart circuit financially supported by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund reported an audience of 3.2 million viewers across all linear and digital platforms for its season-opening event in Mexico. With its new TV deal, LIV airs in every U.S. market via CW affiliates and Nexstar stations and reported 1.6 million viewers on Saturday and 1.3 million viewers on Sunday.

LIV’s report also stated an average linear viewership domestically in the United States of more than 537,000, which it claims is more than the current season viewership average of the MLS (343,000), NHL (373,000) and the 2023 Australian Open men’s tennis final (439,000).

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It’s easy to make jokes about some of the programming on the CW, but LIV airing in every U.S. market was key for its development in 2023. If accurate, the reported numbers are another step forward, but let’s not forget this was LIV’s first event of the season, not to mention it compared its viewership to the season averages of three of the least-watched major sports in America.

That said, according to Nielsen, the CW’s weekend primetime national ratings were up 24 percent compared to the network’s weekend season-to-date average. With Friday’s opening round only available via live stream, LIV reported a 40 percent month-to-month increase in downloads of the CW app, as well as 350,000 views over its new app, LIV Golf Plus.

Long story short, more people reportedly watched the opening event than previously thought. Now LIV needs to keep them watching.

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