Saudi-Backed LIV Golf Reaches TV Deal With The CW

Topline

LIV Golf and the CW Network reached a multiyear agreement to bring the Saudi-backed PGA Tour rival to American broadcast television, the parties announced Thursday morning, following reports earlier this week that the parties were nearing an agreement.

Phil Mickelson and his LIV cronies are soon coming to a television screen near you.

LIV Golf via Getty Images

Key Facts

Financial terms of the deal were not immediately available, though a person familiar with the agreement told Forbes it was a mutually “financially beneficial” agreement and confirmed that LIV had not simply bought air time on the network.

CW’s first LIV broadcast will be the league’s first tournament of 2023 next month.

In a statement accompanying the announcement, Dennis Miller, president of the CW, called it a “significant milestone” in the network’s restructuring, noting it’s the first time the CW will be the exclusive airer of a major sporting event.

LIV CEO Greg Norman called it a “momentous day for LIV Golf” in a statement.

Key Background

The media conglomerate Nexstar Media Group acquired a 75% stake in the CW last August, while Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery retained 12.5% stakes in the network. Sports Illustrated and Front Office Sports reported Tuesday that LIV and CW were nearing a deal. LIV aired tournaments during its inaugural 2022 season on its YouTube, Facebook and website, as well as on the London-based DAZN network. Backed by billions from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, LIV poached numerous golfers from the PGA Tour last year thanks to often nine-figure signing bonuses, getting the likes of popular American former major winners Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka to jump ship. The source of the league’s funding proved highly controversial, and LIV reportedly failed to make significant headwinds in negotiations with major networks and streamers experienced with sports programming, despite its popularity.

Surprising Fact

Paramount’s CBS is among the PGA Tour’s most lucrative television partners, striking a nine-year deal with the tour in 2020 alongside NBC, worth a reported $700 million.

Tangent

Though the CW is best known for its original scripted shows like Riverdale and Supernatural targeting younger audiences, Nexstar said last year the average age of CW’s average viewer is 58 years old, with the network’s new owner vowing to focus on cheaper original programming as part of its effort to make the network profitable.

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