AUGUSTA, Ga. — Possessing an unconventional and dynamic golf swing along with two victories this season, Joaquín Niemann is set to among the favorites This week at the Masters, many golf enthusiasts will have their first opportunity to watch the skilled Chilean golfer wield a club after an absence of over eight months.
He's over there. We get to see him just four or five times a year, which is disappointing for everyone," remarked ESPN commentator Curtis Strange, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. "I enjoy watching those players compete; I really miss seeing them in action. However, they've chosen their path—they’ve made their choice—and that’s perfectly fine.
Over there , referring to the LIV Golf series. Niemann is one of 12 participants from this rival league. in this year’s Masters In the field, despite LIV Golf being halfway through its season, numerous Masters viewers may encounter players like Niemann, Jon Rahm, and Bryson DeChambeau for the first time this year.
While the golf world remains bitterly divided , LIV had tallied during a standout campaign , eager for Its new agreement with Fox for television broadcasting. To attract new audiences and gain greater recognition. The past weekend marked the initial significant challenge when competing directly against the PGA Tour and making their debut this season in the U.S., providing an advantageous platform for LIV Golf. Many of its star players were close to topping the leaderboard, such as Rahm, DeChambeau, Sergio García, and Cam Smith, whereas most of the leading golfers from the PGA Tour chose not to participate in the Texas Open at all.
The outcome was as follows: approximately 1.75 million viewers tuned into NBC to watch runaway champion Brian Harman and the PGA Tour, whereas only about 484,000 viewers watched Marc Leishman secure victory at LIV’s Miami event on Fox, said two individuals privy to these statistics but unwilling to disclose them publicly due to lack of authorization.
Certainly! Here’s your revised version: These two circuits will undoubtedly view those figures in distinct ways. The PGA Tour experienced a 20 percent decline in viewership compared to last year’s Texas Open – an event won by Akshay Bhatia through a playoff finish – yet it still outperformed its competitor significantly. Meanwhile, LIV achieved its highest-ever linear ratings, though it continues to face substantial challenges and uncertain outlooks.
“I think we all hoped it would have been a little bit further along, and that’s no secret,” LIV golfer Brooks Koepka said last week of the 4-year-old circuit. “No matter where you’re at, you always hope everything is further along. But they’re making progress, and it seems to be going in the right direction.”
In Augusta, athletes from both tours are once more calling for the golfing community to unite, yet they simultaneously admit that genuine reconciliation seems distant. The PGA Tour and the Saudi backers of LIV had initially proposed collaborating in June 2023, however, after 22 months—with former President Donald Trump still involved—no significant progress has been made. taking part in negotiations — There isn't a finalized agreement yet.
I believe we all wish for that," Rahm stated on Tuesday. "However, based on what I can gather and what you folks have observed, it doesn’t seem likely to happen anytime soon.
The Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, which has invested heavily in starting LIV Golf, recently approached the PGA Tour with an offer of $1.5 billion. This was made conditional upon maintaining LIV Golf operations and appointing Yasir Al-Rumayyan, who heads the PIF, as co-chair for the tour’s commercial ventures, sources close to the situation revealed. However, the PGA Tour declined this proposition last week, emphasizing their commitment to bringing together professional golf under one main tour structure.
The standoff added further mystery to last weekend's ratings competition. The PGA Tour aims to establish itself as the leading force, presenting itself as an entity less eager for a partnership with Saudi Arabia and not very keen on bolstering a competing league.
A representative from the tour opted not to provide comments regarding the weekend ratings. However, tour executives remain optimistic about the substantial difference in viewer counts compared to their competitors. As per someone knowledgeable about the statistics, last season, LIV Golf’s broadcasts on CW usually attracted less than 150,000 viewers on average, peaking at around 432,000. In contrast, the PGA Tour consistently garners over 2 million viewers. One source privy to these figures noted that the highest number of viewers for Sunday’s finale exceeded 3 million.
The officials from LIV typically minimize the importance of traditional television ratings, arguing that these figures do not fully reflect their entire viewer base, which includes people streaming live broadcasts. However, they emphasize that their primary objective is to reach audiences worldwide rather than focusing solely on the U.S. market. Despite this global focus, they recognize the critical role played by the American viewing public, particularly as evidenced by recent performance metrics. For instance, during the event held in Miami over the past weekend, each of the three days saw an averaged viewership totaling approximately 1,079,000—representing a substantial increase of eighty percent compared with LIV’s highest prior rating for a single weekend. Moreover, the telecast recorded on Sunday marked the peak viewership figure ever achieved within the United States since the inception of the league.
The initial four tournaments of the year hosted by LIV took place abroad, potentially impacting viewer engagement due to the time zone differences. These matches were predominantly broadcasted on Fox Sports 1 rather than on regular Fox channels. The average audience size across these four events was around 50,000 viewers. This figure includes an attendance peak with an average of 120,000 viewers tuning into the tournament held in Adelaide, Australia; conversely, the opening match in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, drew significantly fewer viewers at approximately 19,000 on average.
The Miami leg served as a demonstration event, acting as a concluding warm-up for tournaments like the Masters for players including Niemann and Rahm, and also provided a crucial benchmark for LIV and Fox to evaluate LIV’s position within the golf landscape.
"Of course, I would like more viewers observing us," LIV Commissioner Scott O'Neil stated to the media. The Palm Beach Post from last week Am I supposed to do that as part of my role? Absolutely, yes. ... I’m completely fine with being evaluated. Go ahead and evaluate me this week, definitely when we're in the U.S. We operate on a global scale.
The inaugural LIV round on Friday aired on Fox and drew an average audience of 369,000 viewers. In contrast, Saturday’s LIV round broadcasted on FS1 managed to attract just 137,000 viewers on average. On the same day, however, the Augusta National Women’s Amateur garnered a substantial audience of 978,000 viewers on NBC. Additionally, Golf Channel’s preview coverage for the Texas Open on Sunday pulled in an average of 627,000 viewers.
Whenever I have the chance to face off against top-tier athletes from around the globe, it's fantastic," DeChambeau stated on Tuesday. "That's something we're all aspiring towards eventually, for those arrangements to come through. ... However, as expected, these situations are far more intricate than they appear. Fingers crossed that someday soon everything will align perfectly, allowing us to turn this aspiration into reality.
This week’s ratings aren’t expected to take a hit since the year’s initial significant tournament is attracting many of the globe’s best golfers to one venue. At age 26, Niemann was extended a specific invite to participate in the Masters. Given his position as the highest-ranked player from LIV, he has the potential to contend for the coveted green jacket, making him must-watch TV by Sunday.
“Joaquín Niemann is an incredible young player,” Strange stated during a recent media call. “I hope he were competing on either the DP World Tour or the American tour. He should be participating over here. In 25 years, he will stand out as someone whose achievements I’d love to compare against many others. This won’t occur while he’s focused solely on LIV.”