After airing exclusively online for its inaugural season in 2022, LIV Golf is ready to make its TV debut in 2023, as the professional golf league has struck a US broadcast TV and streaming deal with The CW. All 14 of LIV Golf's global events for its 2023 season are going to air on the network, as well as be available live on The CW app.
This is a big step for LIV Golf. Though it had some of the biggest names in professional golf, including Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Cameron Smith, Ian Poulter, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia and more, it was only available to watch through its own website or live streams on YouTube and Facebook. Now it has a home on a network that is available to most households with a traditional pay-TV subscription and live TV streaming services, including FuboTV, Hulu with Live TV and YouTube TV.
"This is a momentous day for LIV Golf as this partnership is about more than just media rights," said Greg Norman, CEO and commissioner of LIV Golf. "The CW will provide accessibility for our fans and maximum exposure for our athletes and partners as their reach includes more than 120 million households across the United States."
LIV Golf tournaments last three days — Friday, Saturday and Sunday — with each round featuring a shotgun start, meaning that all players, broken up into teams, go off at the same time, so viewers won't have to worry about players they want to watch starting at different times. The CW app (available to anyone with a service that offers The CW) will exclusively offer Friday rounds, with Saturday and Sunday rounds then airing on both The CW network and app.
The broadcast crew for LIV Golf on The CW is going to include Arlo White as the play-by-play announcer, with David Feherty and Jerry Foltz also in the booth. Dom Boulet, Su-Ann Heng and Troy Mullins provide coverage on the course and with feature segments.
At this time, LIV Golf does not have a deal with a UK broadcaster. Until it does, tournaments are likely still going to be available to watch online or through the DAZN streaming service.
Of course, this is the second professional golf league that now has a TV deal in the US, along with the PGA Tour, which often airs on CBS, NBC and ESPN platforms, including streaming services Paramount Plus, Peacock and ESPN Plus.
The two leagues have been rivals since LIV Golf got started, with a few reasons for that. The biggest has been the move many former PGA players made to LIV Golf, in many cases forfeiting their PGA Tour membership; the PGA also issued some suspensions because the players chose to participate in a competing league. Expect some of that tension and bad blood to be on display in the upcoming Netflix docuseries, Full Swing.
LIV Golf has also courted controversy because of its ties to Saudi Arabia and their role in financing the league. Saudi Arabia has a notedly poor history when it comes to human rights, which has drawn the criticism of many.
The first LIV Golf event is scheduled to take place from February 24-26 at El Camaleón Golf Course in Mexico.
