LIV Golf (Saudi PIF), "Mergers," and More

[phan52]

LIV says they are trying to increase viewership by expanding viewership to other demographics. But PGA Tour viewership demographics are people who decidedly spend a lot of money. That won't change and that is why the TV contracts are so massive. 

I would guess that a lot of the PGA Tour demographics don't even know how to find Youtube. 😎

 

Edited October 17, 2022 by phan52

[GolfLug]

The low viewership is not surprising. This goes a long way to prove that Golf is really hard to watch without a significant competitive aspect or historical context. Outside of generational names like Tiger or maybe Rory every now and then, no one in the current crop can pull viewership worth mentioning in silly quasi competitive events at non-descript venues.    

Maybe they were thinking they would have a successful model of equivalence of the wildly popular IPL (Cricket) model with all the dumb team names. I am obviously biased but I am not sure how even the most ardent supporter of LIV thinks of it as a hit. 

I am wondering what the life expectancy of LIV is at this point. Saudis may not care about throwing away money but now that some of the dust has settled around the launch and the actual golf has begun it is noticeably dull and thoroughly ungripping. This can't be washing too many dirty linens for them.  

Edited October 17, 2022 by GolfLug

[Archie Bunker]

The Saudis are spending the big bucks to gain something out of it. I doubt if Saudi Arabia is a nation of passionate golfers. Once they realize that they are not getting what they want, they will pull the plug. It could go on for quite some time though. I don't think right now they are getting their money's worth.

[iacas]

12 minutes ago, Archie Bunker said:

The Saudis are spending the big bucks to gain something out of it. I doubt if Saudi Arabia is a nation of passionate golfers. Once they realize that they are not getting what they want, they will pull the plug. It could go on for quite some time though. I don't think right now they are getting their money's worth.

Who says they're not getting what they want, though?

[Aguirre]

LIV Golfers On Saudi Course Forced To Putt Around Woman Being Beheaded

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KING ABDULLAH ECONOMIC CITY, SAUDI ARABIA—Players on the LIV Golf tour expressed frustration Friday over the hazards on the course at the Royal Greens Golf and Country Club, where they were reportedly forced to putt...

 

[boogielicious]

6 hours ago, Aguirre said:

LIV Golfers On Saudi Course Forced To Putt Around Woman Being Beheaded

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KING ABDULLAH ECONOMIC CITY, SAUDI ARABIA—Players on the LIV Golf tour expressed frustration Friday over the hazards on the course at the Royal Greens Golf and Country Club, where they were reportedly forced to putt...

 

I love The Onion!

[Archie Bunker]

13 hours ago, iacas said:

Who says they're not getting what they want, though?

They will know it at some point. The exposure right now always seems to lead to the negatives in Saudi Arabia whenever LIV is brought up. They can't seem to shake it. Unlikely to be transformed into "good guys" by sponsoring a controversial golf league.

[Vinsk]

I’m not even sure what their motive is at this point. The Saudi’s continue to commit atrocities and certainly can’t think having a golf league will neutralize that. They have a ridiculous amount of funding but they’re not immune to the power of money. Eventually pouring money out to non-Saudi people will become tiresome. Based on the numbers shown it doesn’t appear the interest is going the way Norman claims it to be. Not sure what the projected goal is here.

[Friz]

Its interesting, I feel my attention to LIV has completely run its course.  It was somewhat fascinating to follow in the beginning, i never wanted it to succeed but I was curious enough to tune in to a few minutes and follow the news stories.  Now, I don't even know when LIV events are happening, its fallen 100% off my radar.

However, I'm significantly MORE aware of the negative things happening in Saudi Arabia because of LIV, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.  If sportswashing was some sort of motivation in the beginning I feel like thats significantly backfired.

[Golfingdad]

4 hours ago, Friz said:

Its interesting, I feel my attention to LIV has completely run its course. 

My interest in LIV is, quite literally, confined to this thread, and this thread only.  I'm with most of you as well by being perplexed at what they're goal is, and if they think they're achieving it.

[turtleback]

9 hours ago, boogielicious said:

I love The Onion!

 

Meh, I remember whent the Onion was clever and witty.  This is just ham-handed.

[iacas]

9 minutes ago, turtleback said:

Meh, I remember whent the Onion was clever and witty.  This is just ham-handed.

Yeah, that was bad.

[Zeph]

Not to turn this topic into Saudi News, but I wonder how these players that do it for the money feel about stories like these. Feel about it really, not just what they say in interviews.

 

[chspeed]

Good article about LIV in New Yorker. Behind a paywall, but you can get a few free articles.

My favorite part of is an analysis of the hypocrisy of the PGA tour itself. As the article states:

"A sport that long excluded Blacks, Jews, and women, and with a standard share of avarice and misbehavior, had turned itself into the image of nobility—an ideal advertising vessel."

Sure, that's different than Saudi Arabia's reputation, but point taken (at least by me).

 

Will the Saudis and Donald Trump Save Golf—or Wreck It? | The New Yorker

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High-level defections! Tiger Woods and Jared Kushner! Lawsuits and blacklists! Is the new LIV league a way to reward players, or the vanity...

 

[iacas]

3 hours ago, chspeed said:

"A sport that long excluded Blacks, Jews, and women, and with a standard share of avarice and misbehavior, had turned itself into the image of nobility—an ideal advertising vessel."

Kinda different when it is decades old versus still happening.

Weak point at best. Just like “do you put gas in your car?”

[chspeed]

9 minutes ago, iacas said:

Kinda different when it is decades old versus still happening.

Weak point at best. Just like “do you put gas in your car?”

I can see that.

I'm not fan of Saudi Arabia (to say the least) nor of LIV golf; Even if it had nothing to do with SA. However I did walk away from this article with a stronger feeling that the outrage over LIV's SA ownership is for most players and others in the PGA, a strawman. Their real concern is what's best for business.

[iacas]

14 minutes ago, chspeed said:

I can see that.

I'm not fan of Saudi Arabia (to say the least) nor of LIV golf; Even if it had nothing to do with SA. However I did walk away from this article with a stronger feeling that the outrage over LIV's SA ownership is for most players and others in the PGA, a strawman. Their real concern is what's best for business.

Of course. But as a fan I don’t care about the business, while fully expecting them to almost exclusively care about it.

[Dinglegolf]

To play Devil's advocate here, is there something to be said that LIV golf has exposed a weakness in the business model of the PGA Tour given their immediate introduction of the limited field events?  I.e. was the PGA Tour not listening to their player demands and was prompted into action by necessity?