LIV Golf vs. PGA Tour: Who’s really winning the ratings battle?
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LIV Golf promised disruption, stardom, and sky-high ratings. But with viewer numbers trailing everything from the PGA Tour to pickleball – and even the Puppy Bowl – does golf’s breakaway league have a future?
LIV Golf was supposed to be the big disruptor. The challenger to the established order. The threat to the very existence of the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. The crazy money and team-based glitz that would lure away the world’s best players and, with them, the fans. The thing that would change golf as we know it.
So, midway through LIV’s fourth season, it’s time for a half-term report.
Fan opinion is, to put it mildly, divided. While some have embraced LIV and proudly rock their RangeGoats GC merch, many refuse to get on board with the format, the lack of history, and the source of all the paychecks.
But opinions are one thing – what about the facts? LIV, like all tour golf, is at its core an entertainment product. That means its success is measured in attention, which is measured in eyeballs. A LIV suit or player telling you “we’re growing the game and making golf cooler than ever” is all well and good, but the truth is in the data. So let’s look at just how well LIV is doing in terms of the key metric: how many people actually watch it?
How LIV Golf’s TV ratings compare
For the first few years, comparing LIV to the PGA Tour was a bit of a guessing game. LIV wasn’t on a mainstream network and leaned heavily on YouTube and the cable network CW in the US. This year, things changed. LIV signed broader TV deals with Fox Sports, ITV, KC Global Media, and DAZN. In other words, if you want to watch LIV on a proper screen, wherever you are in the world, now you can.
With supply no longer an issue, demand becomes the story. Let’s dive into the head-to-head numbers…
LIV Golf Miami vs. PGA Tour Valero Texas Open
This was a marquee week for LIV – American soil, big names, and the spotlight.
One of its showcase tournaments went up against one of the PGA Tour’s least glamorous events. The Valero Texas Open had a modest field, with a Sunday leaderboard topped by Brian Harman – a man who, for all his Open Championship success, is about as box office as a soggy ham sandwich. LIV benefited from a leaderboard that included Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed, Phil Mickelson, Cam Smith, and Jon Rahm all in contention.
If ever LIV had a chance to beat the PGA Tour for viewing figures, this was it.
Ratings:
- LIV Golf Miami (April 4–6):
Friday – 389,000
Saturday – 137,000
Sunday – 484,000 (LIV’s best-ever TV figure) - Valero Texas Open (April 3–6):
Thursday – 327,000
Friday – 318,000
Saturday – 1.583 million
Sunday – 1.746 million
While LIV edged Friday, the PGA Tour blew it away over the weekend. LIV’s all-time high still only managed 27% of the PGA’s Sunday audience.
LIV CEO Scott O’Neil had prepped for this to be a pivotal moment. “Is this weekend important?” he said before the tournament. “Of course, it is. I have no problem being judged. Judge me this week, for sure.”
Well… we did. And the verdict wasn’t great.
LIV Golf Mexico City vs. PGA Tour Zurich Classic
If Miami was a disappointment with glimmers of hope for LIV, Mexico was a full-on flop.
Ratings:
- LIV Mexico City (April 25–27):
Friday – 30,000
Saturday – 84,000
Sunday – 110,000 - Zurich Classic (April 24–27):
Sunday – 1.63 million (with replay coverage; 2.29 million during live coverage)
The numbers speak for themselves, but the devil is in the detail. Weather delays and technical difficulties meant that a large chunk of the PGA Tour’s broadcast was a replay of last year’s tournament. Yep, that means almost 15 times more people decided to watch a replay of last year’s PGA Tour event than LIV Golf’s live event at the very same time. During actual live coverage, the PGA Tour averaged 2.29 million viewers.
Let that sink in: a replay of the previous year’s Zurich Classic pulled in over 1.5 million, while LIV’s live coverage couldn’t crack 150k.
PGA Tour fan reactions were predictably savage:
“I love that the worst tournament of the year did 10x better than LIV.”
“The Zurich had 23x the viewership of the best LIV leaderboard in history. Put a fork in them.”
LIV Golf Korea vs. PGA Tour CJ Cup Byron Nelson
This most recent showdown didn’t help LIV’s case either.
Ratings:
- LIV Korea (May 2–4):
Friday – 30,000
Saturday – 59,000
Sunday – 48,000 - CJ Cup Byron Nelson (May 1–5):
Final round – 2.918 million
This wasn’t even close. LIV was thumped by more than 60x on the final day. For a tour that says it’s the future of golf, it’s still struggling to make it onto the average fan’s radar.
O’Neil was candid again:
“Would I want more people watching us? Of course. Is that part of my job? Yes, it is. And am I ultimately responsible? Absolutely.”
How does LIV compare to other things?
It’s not just the PGA Tour that LIV is trailing. Let’s look at a few other eyebrow-raisers:
- TGL, the tech-infused, indoor league created by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy met a mixed response from fans, but still did far better numbers than LIV. TGL events averaged 500,000 viewers, with 650,000 for the prime-time events screened on ESPN1. That’s more than any LIV broadcast to date.
- Major League Pickleball, a sport often dismissed as “grandma tennis”, regularly outdraws LIV on TV. One FOX Sports broadcast drew nearly twice as many viewers as the equivalent LIV slot.
- The Puppy Bowl – yes, the annual Super Bowl parody where puppies play fake football – had 1.3 million viewers. That’s almost three times LIV’s best effort.
Brandel Chamblee summed it up: “People tune in to sports that matter. The PGA Tour is killing it and LIV is dying a slow, costly death.
“LIV players have seller’s remorse. They want the meritocratic cachet that competing at the highest level confers but they’ve shown in their choice to play for LIV that they’d rather have the money. The audience sees right through them and chooses to watch those that prefer to play for history and legacy.”
Is there any good news for LIV?
Actually, yes. While the TV side is bleak, LIV is finding more traction online.
During its main February-September season last year, LIV averaged 3.44 million views per month on YouTube, a 68% increase compared to 2.05 million per month in 2023.
The 5.3m views it drew in April this year represents its best month to date.
LIV has also seen significant growth on TikTok, having reached 1.1 million followers and gained more than 22 million likes to date.
A recent partnership with golf’s biggest YouTuber, Rick Shiels, is further evidence of LIV’s digital-focused strategy.
This is where LIV is genuinely different – and maybe smarter. They’re chasing younger, mobile-first fans who don’t do appointment TV viewing. LIV might not be able to win when it comes to Sunday afternoon TV, but it’s trying to win your attention while you scroll Instagram or swipe TikTok.
Don’t get it twisted: LIV certainly isn’t dominating tour golf when it comes to social platforms. The PGA Tour regularly brings in 30 million YouTube views per month, while the DP World Tour tends to average 10-15 million monthly views on YouTube.
But digital may well be LIV’s best chance. They may have failed to win the battle for the golf fan of today, but could build a product for the fan of tomorrow.
LIV isn’t just chasing clicks – they’re targeting Gen Z and Millennials who don’t and likely won’t ever sit through a traditional TV broadcast. It’s a bet that the next generation of golf fans will follow personalities and highlights on their phones, not full rounds on Sunday afternoons.
Final thoughts
TV-wise, LIV isn’t just losing to the PGA Tour. It’s getting hammered while also being trumped by second-tier events, niche sports, and even cute dogs. The vision of LIV as golf’s future certainly hasn’t translated into viewership.
But the story doesn’t end on broadcast. LIV’s digital growth is real. Their ability to adapt to the way younger people consume sports is something the PGA Tour is only just beginning to explore.
The question now isn’t whether LIV can beat the PGA Tour. It’s whether it can carve out its own space, find its tribe, and build something that lives alongside – rather than replaces – the traditional game.
LIV might never kill the PGA Tour – but if it can survive long enough to grow its online tribe, it might just outlive the traditional TV model it failed to conquer. Seems a better bet than the never-ending wait for a partnership agreement between the tours, anyway.
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LIV Golf's TV ratings are being crushed by the PGA Tour — and sometimes by replays, pickleball, and puppies. We dig into the numbers to see if the disruptor league can survive.
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Who's winning the ratings battle between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour?
