The Elephant in the Room on LIV Golf
The LIV Golf “Chicago” Invitational concluded this past weekend with the leagues two most talented players — Cam Smith and Dustin Johnson — finishing first and second, respectively. This marked the fifth tournament offered by LIV Golf to date, providing everyone a decent sample regarding the tour’s on-course product. It’s not great, but it’s not the worst.
However, viewership appeared to dwindle for another consecutive tournament as LIV struggles to secure a major network television deal. YouTube remains the main (only?) way to consume live LIV tournament coverage. Reasons for this have reportedly spanned the gamut with the overarching sentiment remaining consistent: the tour is simply too toxic to touch.
Much has been said regarding LIV’s backing by Saudi Arabia and their Public Investment Fund, as well as that kingdom’s abysmal human rights record and subtle admittance to starting LIV to “help their image.” Still, despite all the media scrutiny surrounding LIV, its origins, and presumed end goal, perhaps the most conductive lightning rod and not-so-subtle contributor to LIV’s toxic perception falls onto one name: Donald Trump.
No matter one’s personal politics — or perhaps despite them — any affiliation with Trump these days is controversial at best. There’s no hiding the fact that he remains a global hot-button topic for all the wrong reasons no matter where you fall on a US political spectrum. Amid all of his pending and active legal troubles, LIV Golf maintains a strong connection to Trump and, in some ways, has chosen to lean into it.
This was most evident at LIV Golf’s third event at Trump Bedminster outside of New Jersey. The former president’s presence was up-front and center for much of the week, including a scene I’ve written about once already that could best be described as an opportunistic political moment. To see something like this play out at a professional golf tournament — not to mention in the midst of an ongoing national security threat investigation — was surreal.
LIV’s final event scheduled for 2022 will once again take place at a Trump-owned course: Doral. The backdrop of this event as LIV’s “championship” will undoubtedly serve as a preferred stage for Trump to once again make his presence known as loudly as possible. This is especially true due to the event’s late-October timing, mere days before mid-term elections take place throughout the US. Despite the cries of some golf fans to “stay away from politics and stick to golf,” the world will once again see the worlds collide live and in color.
Of course, there is inherently nothing “wrong” about a golf course’s owner appearing at a professional golf event held there. In fact it is expected. Current events, media coverage, and Trump’s own proclivity toward the dramatic make this set of circumstances much different than others.
October 2022 doesn’t mark the end of Trump’s connection to LIV Golf. Last week video and photos of Trump and roughly a dozen of his inner circle canvassing Trump National just outside of Washington, DC surfaced on social media, instantly prompting conspiracy theories from armchair internet detectives. Later reports disclosed this was merely a planning meeting for a future potential LIV Golf tournament in 2023… according to Trump.
While I believe that to be true, the point here is the negative buzz that Trump generates no matter what he does, where he goes, or who he is with. Therefore, there’s no mystery as to why LIV Golf hasn’t found a network home yet.
Make no mistake: LIV Golf will find a network partner sooner rather than later. There are already reports suggesting FOX is the most likely to pen a broadcast deal with the tour, especially considering its departure from the USGA and PGA TOUR in recent years. Unfortunately, and in many ways similarly, anything associated with the “FOX” brand also carries a stigma. You could argue that, too, has a lot to do with Trump.
Purely from a business standpoint, LIV Golf has needed such a deal more now than ever. The third round of LIV Golf Chicago, for example, had the least amount of YouTube viewers for any LIV Golf round to date. Competing with an NFL Sunday is always a great way to lose viewers, even for the PGA TOUR. However, LIV Golf’s ability to rest on its financial laurels will only last for so long (you’d assume) and additional sponsors are needed to boost the tour’s credibility and viability.
For Trump — and the future of all that is connected to him and his brand — more will be known regarding his own aspirations very soon. No matter one’s opinion on him or LIV Golf, it might be in the best long-term interest for the latter to separate from the former.
Doing so could assist LIV with focusing primarily on the product it is offering to golf fans, thus attracting the elusive television deal, and potentially additional golfers who have hesitated thusfar to protect their public image.
