LIV Golf viewing figures offer damning verdict on need for PGA Tour merger

The LIV Golf play came to a adjacent implicit the play arsenic Jon Rahm won the idiosyncratic title successful Chicago but the viewing figures person lone highlighted the request for much PGA Tour merger talks

The viewership figures for LIV Golf's lawsuit successful Chicago implicit the play person been analysed and they overgarment a bleak representation of the tour's existent state.

Jon Rahm emerged victorious successful Chicago, clinching the idiosyncratic championship. However, it seems that galore golf fans didn't deem the lawsuit worthy their time, arsenic the LIV Golf play reached its climax with a dwindling audience.

According to SportsTVRatings, the LIV viewership for this play was astatine 89,000 connected America's CW Network for the last circular connected Sunday erstwhile Rahm claimed his victory. The enactment for Saturday's 2nd circular attracted 134,000 viewers. The LIV Golf app has yet to merchandise its figures, portion Sunday's sum connected YouTube drew successful 145,000 viewers.

Former PGA golfer, commentator, and writer Brandel Chamblee responded to a station connected X sharing the viewing figures. "Despite billions of dollars for play megastars, LIV remains successful the witnesser extortion programme of sports viewership," Chamblee said.

"Partly due to the fact that they are trying to 'scale' the county-fair motleyness of the 16th spread astatine the WM Phoenix Open and the Seve-like passionateness of the Ryder Cup, they fail, not slightest for the deficiency of innovation of their ideas but besides for the root of their investment."

Josh Carpenter of Sports Business Journal revealed that a specified 69,000 viewers tuned into Golf Channel to ticker Patton Kizzire's triumph successful the Procore Championship. This was a important driblet from the 298,000 who watched Sahith Theegala's triumph past year, though helium did enactment that the sum clashed with the Emmy Awards and different TV events.

The Solheim Cup, won by Team USA, besides had its viewership scrutinised, with 657,000 tuning into NBC connected Sunday. This compares to past year's variation successful Spain which attracted 277,000 viewers. However, this fig is inactive little than the past U.S.-based Solheim Cup broadcast connected NBC successful 2017, which drew successful 946,000 viewers, according to Carpenter.

One instrumentality questioned Chamblee astir the wide diminution successful viewership crossed the sport, to which the four-time PGA Tour victor responded: "It depends connected the event, and to beryllium definite viewership is down, but wide the representation of the PGA Tour is inactive astir foundation and merit. Which is wherefore it inactive remains specified a beardown commercialized property. ".

Chamblee continued his disapproval of LIV, stating: "Innovation is nary uncertainty coming, but the PGA Tour with its partners inactive gives hundreds of millions to foundation and has the astir sought aft demographic successful each of sport. None of which tin beryllium said astir LIV."

Talks are inactive ongoing betwixt the PGA and the Saudi Arabian-backed LIV Golf League. A binding statement is reportedly "inching closer" but a stumbling artifact connected the woody has seen PGA players request those who defected to the breakaway enactment instrumentality to their contracts.