We interrupt your 2025 Masters viewing to bring you LIV Golf news: TV ratings from the Miami event.
A total of 484,000 people tuned into Sunday’s final round at Trump Doral, which saw Marc Leishman prevail over a loaded leaderboard. That figure still pales in comparison to the 1.746 million who tuned into the final round of the PGA Tour’s Valero Texas Open, which saw Brian Harman hold the lead throughout the final round in difficult conditions at TPC San Antonio. Sports Business Journal’s Josh Carpenter reported the viewership figures.
Let’s break down the numbers. For LIV Golf, it’s the highest-watched U.S. broadcast to date, topping the 432K that watched Joaquin Niemann win the season opener in Mexico last year. That event was on the CW, which doesn’t have near the reach that Fox, LIV Golf’s new broadcast partner, does.
On Friday, LIV Golf on Fox (389K) outdrew PGA Tour viewership on Golf Channel (327K), but for the week, the PGA Tour had more overall viewers.
LIV Golf’s Sunday numbers are the key
The trouble for LIV could be Sunday’s numbers. Although they were the highest for the league in the U.S., which is a market it has desperately tried to gain traction in, the league still fell short of the PGA Tour by about 3.5 as many viewers. And when you take a step back, the comparison and resulting numbers are worse than it looks.
At LIV Golf Miami, Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia and Phil Mickelson were in the final group. Jon Rahm was also in contention. Four of LIV Golf’s biggest figures, including its two best players, were in contention.
On the PGA Tour, Brian Harman never lost the lead in the final round and was up by as many as four shots at points. His closest followers were Andrew Novak and Ryan Gerard. Harman isn’t one of the Tour’s more popular players, known more for his waggles and slow play than he is his major championship win in 2023. Most golf fans couldn’t name Novak or Gerard if they were shown pictures of them.
That is an issue for LIV Golf. The numbers are something to build on as the year goes on, but LIV Golf had exactly what it needed at Doral. A loaded leaderboard on a great golf course, and it still didn’t compare to the PGA Tour with a less-than-stellar leaderboard. Many of LIV’s stars also collapsed down the stretch, like DeChambeau and Rahm, though the latter still hasn’t finished outside of the top 10 since moving to LIV last year.
The numbers barely being more than the 2024 debut, while being on a major network, is also cause for concern. The PGA Tour and LIV Golf also seem further from a deal than they have been in recent months. Both tours have recently stated they would be fine moving forward without a merger. That’s not a good sign for LIV, which only 15 months ago had all of the momentum it could possibly want after Jon Rahm’s signing.
LIV Golf still struggling to get U.S. market share
Since then, the league has struggled to garner any traction in the U.S market. Sunday’s numbers were good, in terms of what LIV has done in the past. But even with PGA Tour viewership down 20 percent from 2024 at the Valero, LIV Golf didn’t come close to challenging the PGA Tour when it had all of the variables in place for a big week.
With two tours competing head-to-head, it’s going to be hard for LIV to gain any TV traction. If there isn’t a merger, it’s only going to hurt the league long-term. Golf viewership is down across the board, and with two tours competing for one audience, neither is going to set records on weeks they both play.
But the Tour has the viewership advantage and the bargaining chips when it comes to unification. LIV has some positives early in its 2025 season, but the first true test of the season has come and gone, and the report card isn’t great for LIV Golf.
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