LIV Golf announces TV partnership with The CW network

By: Doug Ferguson, The Associated Press Posted: Last Modified:

Advertisement

Advertise with us

Saudi-funded LIV Golf has a television partner five weeks before the start of its second season, announcing Thursday it has an agreement with The CW to air tournaments on the weekend and stream the first rounds on The CW's app.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/01/2023 (1353 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Saudi-funded LIV Golf has a television partner five weeks before the start of its second season, announcing Thursday it has an agreement with The CW to air tournaments on the weekend and stream the first rounds on The CW’s app.

A U.S. television deal was seen as critical for the rival league, which last year was available only through streaming on its website and on YouTube.

The next season of LIV Golf League, with an emphasis on the 12 four-man teams it hopes to create as franchises, starts Feb. 24-26 on the Gulf coast of Mexico at Mayakoba, which hosted a fall PGA Tour event.

FILE - LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman, left, walks off the course after the final round of the LIV Golf Team Championship at Trump National Doral Golf Club, Sunday, Oct. 30, 2022, in Doral, Fla. Saudi-funded LIV Golf has a television partner five weeks before the start of its second season, announcing Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023, it has an agreement with The CW to air tournaments on the weekend and stream the first rounds on The CW's app.(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)
FILE - LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman, left, walks off the course after the final round of the LIV Golf Team Championship at Trump National Doral Golf Club, Sunday, Oct. 30, 2022, in Doral, Fla. Saudi-funded LIV Golf has a television partner five weeks before the start of its second season, announcing Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023, it has an agreement with The CW to air tournaments on the weekend and stream the first rounds on The CW's app.(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)

“This is a momentous day for LIV Golf as this partnership is about more than just media rights,” LIV CEO and Commissioner Greg Norman said in a statement. “The CW will provide accessibility for our fans and maximum exposure for our athletes and partners as their reach includes more than 120 million households across the United States.”

LIV Golf did not disclose details of the partnership, but several media outlets have reported that The CW will not pay for media rights to LIV Golf in the traditional sense, nor would it buy time on the network. Instead, the proposed agreement would be to share advertising revenue.

LIV also said it would be producing the coverage with its own team.

The CW is the fifth-largest U.S. network and of those five has the second-youngest audience based on media age, trailing only Fox.

The network dates to 2006 and was named after its founding co-owners (CBS and Warner Bros.). Nexstar Media Group acquired 75% of the network in October, with Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery maintaining minority ownership.

NBC (and Golf Channel) and CBS have a nine-year rights deal with the PGA Tour, while ESPN won the right for its digital rights under the new contract, along with having weekday coverage of the Masters and PGA Championship.

Of the leading four networks, Fox does not have golf. It had the USGA contract — Norman was its first lead analyst — until an arrangement to sell that to NBC.

The CW is best known for syndicated programming, and hasn’t had sports programming.

“For The CW, our partnership with LIV Golf marks a significant milestone in our goal to re-engineer the network with quality, diversified programming for our viewers, advertisers and CW affiliates,” The CW President Dennis Miller said. “This also marks the first time in The CW’s 17-year history that the network is the exclusive broadcast home for live mainstream sports.”

Norman touted a “full broadcast deal” for a league that only began in June and now enters the debut season of its emphasis on team competition.

Money, however, does not appear to be an issue with LIV Golf, which has spent some $1 billion in signing major champions such as Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Sergio Garcia.

LIV Golf is the lead plaintiff in an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour. According to arguments in a hearing last week in California, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia owns 93% of LIV Golf.

LIV Golf has 48 players that comprise the 12 teams. The competition is over 54 holes with a shotgun start and $25 million prize funds at each stop, with $5 million devoted to team results.

The league plans a 14-event schedule this year, though only eight stops have been announced. Still be to be determined is how many additional PGA Tour or European tour players join the lead. LIV also awaits an answer from the Official World Golf Ranking whether it will be included with other tours around the world.

___

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Related Articles

Reed fares better than McIlroy after delayed start in Dubai
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland tees off on the 12th hole during the first round of the Dubai Desert Classic, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
Rahm struggles to opening 1-over 73 at Torrey Pines
Sam Ryder hits his tee shot on the 18th hole of the North Course at Torrey Pines during the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Recreational golf continues to grow in Canada and United States in 2022
Sprinklers water the fairways at Lakeview Golf Course in Mississauga, Ont., on Wednesday, May 12, 2021. Recreational golf continued to reach new heights of popularity across Canada in 2022.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
Ex-NBA guard J.R. Smith aims to make golf more accessible
FILE - North Carolina A&T's J.R. Smith chips from the 17th fairway during the first round of the Phoenix Invitational golf tournament in Burlington, N.C., Oct. 11, 2021. Smith, a former NBA player, hopes his journey to become a college golfer helps others feel comfortable taking up the sport regardless of their background. Smith is part of a new video podcast launching Wednesday designed to make the sport more accessible to young and diverse audiences. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome, File)
1st round of Dubai Desert Classic to be closed to public
FILE - Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland tees off at the 18th hole during DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Nov. 19, 2022. McIlroy was one of the most vocal critics of the LIV Golf breakaway league last year. It left him feeling mentally drained so he decided to put his clubs away for a few weeks around Christmas. Now he’s back and appears to be as fiery as ever as he prepares to play the Dubai Desert Classic. (AP Photo/Martin Dokoupil, File)
McIlroy snubs Reed, in no mood for reconciliation in Dubai
FILE - Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland tees off at the 18th hole during DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Nov. 19, 2022. McIlroy was one of the most vocal critics of the LIV Golf breakaway league last year. It left him feeling mentally drained so he decided to put his clubs away for a few weeks around Christmas. Now he’s back and appears to be as fiery as ever as he prepares to play the Dubai Desert Classic. (AP Photo/Martin Dokoupil, File)

Advertisement Advertise With Us

Advertisement Advertise With Us

Report Error Submit a Tip

Advertisement

Learn more about Winnipeg Free Press Advertising solutions

More Stories

You’re a solid, loyal sister, so worry not

Maureen Scurfield 5 minute read Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: I ran into my sister’s husband at the bar recently. He was drinking with a bunch of people from his work. I noticed he was sitting close to a young woman, with his arm around her.

I just nodded without a smile as I slowly passed them. I kept on going, but he knew I saw them together. A few minutes later he came over — obviously drunk — and said, “You’re a good girl! You won’t say anything to your sister, will you?” Ha! I looked at him and said, “Of course I’m going to say something!”

My loyalty will always be to my sister. I phoned my sis in my car and blabbed. She tried to laugh it off, but she’s gone silent since — not answering my calls or messages. So apparently now I’m the troublemaker? That’d be just her style! What should I do?

— Worried About Us, North Kildonan

Jack Dobson/The Globe and Mail CBC producer Perry Rosemond in Toronto

Creative powerhouse Perry Rosemond never lost Winnipeg roots

Ben Waldman 7 minute read Preview

Creative powerhouse Perry Rosemond never lost Winnipeg roots

Ben Waldman 7 minute read 6:00 AM CDT

He created King of Kensington, directed the troops in the Royal Canadian Air Farce, and his creative eye was behind the lens for television shows starring Johnny Cash, Tom Jones, Mr. Dress-Up and the Friendly Giant.

He also wrote and developed the Canadian version of Sesame Street during his time as the head of school and preschool programming for CBC in Toronto, and directed a televised special in 2002 for Winnipeg sketch comedy troupe Royal Liechtenstein Theatre Company.

But before his name featured in the credits of some of the most iconic and influential pieces of the Cancon canon, Perry Rosemond was an only child living in a crammed, multi-generational home in Winnipeg’s North End, racing each day to beat the morning bell next door at William Whyte School.

In memoirs that have yet to be published, the late television producer recalled his childhood. “(T)here were 14 of us in the house at 193 Andrews St., and it wasn’t that big of a house,” he writes.

Read
6:00 AM CDT
No more notes

Manitoba marks end of sending simple workplace problems to doctor’s office

Tory McNally 7 minute read Preview

Manitoba marks end of sending simple workplace problems to doctor’s office

Tory McNally 7 minute read 2:01 AM CDT

There are some changes in the workplace that make you think: “Well, it’s about time.”

This is one of them.

Starting Oct. 1, Manitoba changed the rules around sick notes. I think it is going to be a wonderful change — not just for doctors and patients, but for employers, employees and the way we think about accountability at work.

The change comes from Bill 11, the Employment Standards Code Amendment Act (Sick Notes for Employee Absences), which received royal assent on June 1 and came into force Thursday. Under the new rules, employers generally cannot require a sick note for an illness or injury unless the employee is away for more than one week or has been absent because of illness or injury for more than 10 scheduled workdays in the calendar year.

Read
2:01 AM CDT
Kent Monkman stands next to his new permanent sculpture, dubbed “The Colony,” as shown in this handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout-Michael Seleski (Mandatory Credit)

Manitoban Kent Monkman debuts beaver sculpture in Toronto’s ambitious new waterfront park

Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

Manitoban Kent Monkman debuts beaver sculpture in Toronto’s ambitious new waterfront park

Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Updated: 9:17 AM CDT

TORONTO - Kent Monkman’s first-ever public art installation is dam good.

The celebrated Cree artist’s new permanent sculpture, dubbed “The Colony,” debuts Wednesday in Toronto’s east end.

The 15-foot-high bronze structure features beavers dancing, feasting and celebrating, evoking Indigenous ceremonies.

It highlights the vital role of beavers in the natural, Indigenous and colonial histories of Turtle Island, says a release.

Read
Updated: 9:17 AM CDT
INSTAGRAM Prediction contracts let you ‘invest’ in whether Justin Trudeau and Katy Perry will get married.

Broadening prediction-market gambling a bad idea

Editorial 4 minute read Preview

Broadening prediction-market gambling a bad idea

Editorial 4 minute read 2:01 AM CDT

Let’s make a prediction: sooner or later, when Canadian governments find a way to take their own cut of the action, prediction-contract gambling on everything from sports to entertainment to political decisions is going to come to Canada.

And that’s a horrible, dangerous, pernicious idea.

Unless you have particular access to information — either inside information or strategic information based on skills or education — you’re not likely to make money at it. In fact, structurally, you’re likely to lose. In prediction markets, you basically pay an amount, plus fees from the company involved, to bet on whether something will or will not happen within a certain time frame. The amount you pay for your contract depends on how other people are also betting.

As Wealthsimple describes it, “You buy whichever side you think is right. Prices move with demand, so if the market leans towards one outcome, the more that side costs. If a lot of people are backing the TSX to finish above 38,000, yes gets more expensive and no gets cheaper.”

Read
2:01 AM CDT
Magnific Active management — security selection — is often very beneficial in international markets compared with a passive approach involving owning entire markets that include many lower-quality companies, says one expert.

International flavour: Canadian investors may want to make like Ottawa, diversify beyond U.S.

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Preview

International flavour: Canadian investors may want to make like Ottawa, diversify beyond U.S.

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read 2:01 AM CDT

Canada is learning the hard way about the dangers of putting too many eggs in its U.S. economic basket.

Much has been made about the need to diversify our economy away from the United States.

Diversification is understandably beneficial. The more varied streams of revenue a nation has, the less affected the economy will be when one of those sources is interrupted.

The same can be said about investment portfolios.

Read
2:01 AM CDT