Golf is having a moment, but not in the way the TV networks probably hoped. If you look at the raw data for liv golf pga tour tv ratings, you’ll see a landscape that's fragmented, confusing, and—honestly—a bit of a mess for the traditional broadcast model.
It's been a wild ride since the 2024 season, where we saw the PGA Tour hit some of its lowest lows while LIV Golf struggled to find a steady home on the dial. Now, early in 2026, the numbers are telling a story that most "purists" don't want to hear. The fans are still there, but they aren't sitting on their couches for five hours on a Sunday like they used to.
The Reality of the Numbers: A 7-to-1 Gap
Let’s get the elephant out of the room immediately. The PGA Tour still crushes LIV Golf when it comes to total household reach. It’s not even a fair fight yet.
During the 2025 season, the PGA Tour’s final-round viewership across CBS and NBC averaged roughly 2.66 million viewers. In contrast, LIV Golf, even after moving its primary window to Fox, was pulling in an average of about 338,000 viewers. Basically, for every one person watching Bryson DeChambeau or Jon Rahm on a Sunday in the LIV format, seven people were watching the PGA Tour.
Why the Gap Persists
- Distribution is King: The PGA Tour is on major networks. It’s the "default" setting for golf fans.
- The "Fox" Factor: LIV’s deal with Fox was supposed to be the game-changer. However, many of those rounds ended up on FS1 or FS2 due to scheduling conflicts with other sports. When LIV lands on FS1, the ratings often tank to below 70,000 viewers.
- The Tape Delay Trap: Because LIV plays globally—Adelaide, Jeddah, Hong Kong—many of their U.S. broadcasts are tape-delayed. In an era of instant Twitter spoilers, nobody wants to watch a "live" event they already know the result of.
LIV Golf PGA Tour TV Ratings: The Shifting Tide
While the raw totals favor the PGA Tour, the momentum is a different story. The Tour had a rough 2024, with signature events seeing significant year-over-year drops. Fans were getting "schism fatigue."
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By late 2025 and moving into January 2026, the PGA Tour saw a slight rebound—about a 22% increase in some windows—but this was largely driven by star power. When Scottie Scheffler or Rory McIlroy are in the hunt, the needle moves. When they aren't? The ratings for smaller events like the Procore Championship have dipped as low as 69,000 viewers.
LIV, meanwhile, has found a weirdly successful niche in the digital space. While their TV ratings on the CW and Fox remain "embarrassing" (as some critics put it), their YouTube and social media numbers are exploding.
"LIV’s main viewership has migrated away from broadcast TV. The move to Fox actually hurt them in one specific way: they stopped the free, commercial-free YouTube stream that built their initial cult following." — Industry Analysis, 2026.
The "Silly Season" and TGL’s Impact
We also have to talk about the new kid on the block: TGL. Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s tech-infused league launched with a lot of hype, but the 2026 season opener on ABC drew only 646,000 viewers. That’s a sharp drop from its inaugural debut.
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What does this tell us about liv golf pga tour tv ratings? It tells us that the "casual fan" is becoming harder to catch. Even with Tiger involved, simulator golf isn't a guaranteed ratings goldmine. The audience is spread thin between traditional 72-hole stroke play, LIV’s 54-hole "shotgun" starts, and the high-tech TGL matches.
The Streaming Paradox
Here is the stat that should keep NBC and CBS executives up at night: By May 2025, streaming accounted for 44.8% of total golf viewership.
The traditional "rating" (the number of people watching on a TV set) is becoming an outdated metric. Younger fans are watching highlights on Instagram, following ShotTracker, or catching the "Main Feed" on Peacock.
The Hidden Wins for LIV
LIV Golf might be losing the "traditional" TV war, but they are winning in two specific areas:
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- International Markets: Their events in Australia (Adelaide) consistently outdraw almost everything except the Majors in those local markets.
- The "YouTube" Economy: Bryson DeChambeau’s personal YouTube channel often gets more views on a single "Break 50" video than a mid-tier PGA Tour event gets in an entire weekend. LIV is leaning into this, pairing players with creators to drive a different kind of "rating."
What This Means for the Future of Pro Golf
Is there a "winner" in the liv golf pga tour tv ratings battle? Not really.
The PGA Tour has the prestige and the legacy sponsors, but they are fighting a declining linear TV audience. LIV has the cash to wait forever, but they are struggling to become "appointment viewing" for the average American sports fan.
The reality is that "TV ratings" are no longer the only scorecard. If a tournament gets 500,000 TV viewers but 5 million views on TikTok and YouTube, is it a failure? The sponsors are still trying to figure that out.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Investors
If you're following the business of golf, here is how you should read the current data:
- Don't ignore the "Floor": The PGA Tour’s "floor" is still significantly higher than LIV’s "ceiling" in the U.S. market.
- Watch the Majors: The only time we see the "true" potential of golf ratings now is during the Masters or the U.S. Open, where both sides converge. These remain the only events that consistently pull 10M+ viewers.
- The Merger is the Key: Until the PGA Tour and the Saudi PIF actually finalize a deal that brings the players back together, expect the ratings to remain stagnant. The "split" is actively hurting the value of the TV rights for everyone.
- Follow the "Digital Move": If you want to see where the growth is, look at the engagement on apps like LIV+ or the PGA Tour’s revamped digital platform. That’s where the actual "viewers" are hiding.
The 2026 season is a pivot point. We're moving away from the era of "who won the Sunday afternoon slot" and into the era of "who captured the most total minutes of attention across all platforms." Right now, the PGA Tour has the lead, but the gap is shrinking in every way except the traditional Nielsens.