Honda Classic (NBC) crushes LIV Golf (CW Network) in weekend television ratings
LIV Golf strategically set its season opener last week up against the Honda Classic, avoiding four marquee events surrounding Honda, all significant stops on the PGA Tour with purses of at least $20 million.
The idea was to take advantage of an expected weaker field and hopefully jump start LIV's new partnership with The CW Network with strong ratings.
Time for a different strategy.
The Honda Classic crushed LIV Mayakoba in the weekend ratings, even with a field that included just three of the top 30 ranked golfers in the world. According to Josh Carpenter of the Sports Business Journal, the estimated golf viewership from the weekend:
Saturday: LIV 286,000; Honda 6.61 million.
Sunday: LIV 291,000; Honda 2.38 million.
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Because of its spot on the schedule, Honda's field was the weakest since at least the tournament moved to PGA National in 2007 and is expected to be among the least impressive on the tour this season. The tournament was sandwiched between the Phoenix Open and Genesis Invitational and this week's Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players Championship. Each of those will distribute $20 million in prize money with the exception of Players with a $25 million purse.
Honda's purse was $8.4 million with winner Chris Kirk taking home $1.512 million. The tournament, though, has kept viewers' interest in recent years with dramatic finishes. This year, Kirk defeated Eric Cole with a birdie on the first playoff hole.
Charles Howell III won his first LIV event Sunday at the El Camaleon Golf Course in Mayakoba, Mexico, and earned $4 million. Howell won an additional $750,000 for being part of the team champion for the event, Crushers.
The weekend was LIV's debut on The CW after the Saudi-funded league announced a multi-year agreement with the network last month. The CW is LIV’s exclusive broadcast partner and will air 14 global LIV live events on Saturday and Sunday. Friday's coverage will be streamed live on The CW App.
The overnight ratings for LIV's first CW telecast Saturday came in at 0.2, which means just 0.2 percent of households surveyed were watching. “World’s Funniest Animals,” which also aired on The CW later in the day, attracted more viewers.
CBS-owned CW affiliates leery of showing LIV Golf
Dateline Hollywood reported Friday that all eight CBS-owned CW affiliates refused to carry LIV Golf coverage, likely due to the relationship CBS has with the PGA Tour.
LIV was desperate to find a television partner to help promote and sell the league and its primary business model of team play. The model includes franchising each of the 12 4-man teams and selling them to individual owners.
LIV's next two events will be played in the U.S.; March 17-19 in Tucson and March 31-April 2 in Orlando. Those tournaments will be going up against the Valspar Championship and the Texas Open, respectively, on the PGA Tour.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: LIV Golf weekend TV ratings much lower than ratings for Honda Classic
