LIV Golf 2024

Yes… great players… and the format and presentation they are figuring it out

To me the inevitable future is for them to merge and make a super calendar of all the best events from both + majors…. Tie it all together in a packaged way that can sell easier into sponsors and is easier for fans to follow a “season” rather that just the individual major wins, etc….. I’ve never liked the current “FedEx cup” format…. A true world season with teams built in would be fun.

All the lower tier events and Korn ferry stuff just fade away…. All the money is top focused on the big players and events that get the ratings

 

Anybody watch season 2 of “Full Swing” yet ? LIV Golf was brought up quite a bit - Rory has a quote in there saying he thinks he should be financially compensated for not going - since all of the other guys made life changing money that did. I thought that was pretty lame - came off as a whiny child.

MDS

 

Rory is an idiot... straight up.... he needs to just play golf and shut up.

He got used by Monahan and the rest of the Tour execs to be their mouthpiece for over a year... and now that he's "changed his view" and basically did a 180 with all that he's said after he's clearly looked like an idiot... the LIV guys are just laughing at him.

Also, the "Full Swing" show is partnered with the PGA Tour... so of course it will be edited as much as possible to make them look as good as possible in this LIV situation.

This will be a much better show to watch:
https://www.golfdigest.com/story/owen-wilson-to-play-washed-up-golf-pro-in-new-apple-tv-plus-series

 

Open at Pinehurst #2. I've played it many times, prior to big reno and after. If TV ratings are in the terlet again, golf is doomed. Already has one foot in the grave. I went to see every Open since the 80's at Pinehurst, usually for 3 days as it's just over an hour away. Not going this year.

 

Agree with much of this

I think the team concept could be cool if developed properly…… Ryder cup is great, and College golf is all team based and great as well

Tigers upcoming TGL simulator tv show is at least basing the teams around cities….. so there is a better starting point for the concept of a “fanbase” outside of the stupid Crushers, High Flyers, etc.

LIV has some teams that are naturally all Australians, all the UK guys, all the Spaniards, etc. If they leaned into nationalities it would make much more sense to everyone immediately.

 

Other LIV ideas to engage fans: 2 foot wide cups. Bag limited to three clubs. Players wearing shorts have to shave their legs. Caddies replaced by camels. One hole each nine has to be played by participant wearing those groovy outfits the Saudis wear.

 

Any sport is entertainment… at the end of the day.

Their revenue to pay the players comes from an audience.

I don’t think LIV needs to make golf Mickey Mouse to get an audience. They will just keep buying all the top players as they know they are in a position now that the Tour is tilted. They bought time with their new “investors” to be able to tell players they’ll get money for staying… but that’s not sustainable against what the Saudis are doing.

The only leverage they’re clinging too is the World Ranking points… but there are already cracks in that dam as the majors and Ryder cup want the best players for their own audience.

Where things get worse longer term if they don’t merge is that the Tour events will start losing sponsors and LIV will start to gain some. Plus more big names eventually saying screw-it and taking the pay day. Death spiral.

 

The revenue from LIV did not come from any audience. Think oil.

 

Saudi oil is their funding

That’s not “revenue from LIV”

Their golf tournaments making revenue independently are insignificant to their larger goals. This is why the Tour trying to compete with them have no chance.

But the guys running the Tour were pricks, and deserve to get crushed. The good news is the real winners are the players getting paid more…. Not the Saudi’s.

 

There are things I don't like about LIV - I don't care for the music blaring, the 'WWE' wrestling-type of atmosphere,
not sure I like the 'team' concept, and the bigger issue - IMO they've fallen into an 'NBA' type of player that gets paid
so damned much guaranteed money they don't HAVE to take how they golf seriously because they are 'getting paid' regardless.

The one thing I DO like is the 3-day format - not because of me or the fans, but for the players. It gives them an extra day at
home. The typical PGA golfer travels and plays a practice round on a Wednesday, plays thur fri sat sun, head home Monday,
probably practices with their personal coach or trainer on Tuesday, and Wednesday it starts all over again.
The PGA really does need LESS tournaments.

Question: does the PGA STILL require all the players to pay their own way, pay for their own lodging, rental cars, etc?

 

Yeah, you're right.

 

This makes sense to me...

They don't need to "merge"... they just need an agreement for players to crossover as wanted + sort out the world rankings.... and for them to all make money off a rivalry.

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One Tour plays tournaments. The other exhibitions.

 

How so?

I see winners getting XXX dollars, second place XX dollars, third gets X dollars, so how is that an 'exhibition'?

It's NO different in Motorsports, Tennis, any other sport, really.

 

Golf is golf. They are all playing to win.

Pro athletes are all trying to make as much money as possible.

The idea that the Rocket Mortgage Classic is a tougher tournament to win than a LIV event is just silly….

You can not like the Saudi’s for over-spending to try and steal the Tour’s talent… but the golfers are still the same golfers out there trying to win and make as much money as possible.

“Legacy” for them is all about the Major’s anyway.

 

How many guys in any week play poorly and miss the cut in LIV events? The shotgun start ignores the course design. When the pressure is on at the end of the event, some guys finish on the hndcp 16 and 18 holes, others finish on 1 and 3? I'm no big fan of the PGA or USGA leadership but even less enamored of the money and power behind LIV. I'm done.

 

Miss the cut or not having a cut - doesn't really matter.

You don't like the shotgun starts - that's fair - you care about which hole they finish on, I don't,
you have to play well on all holes to win.
I'm not crazy about 'teams', but do you know what I'd really like to see? Best Ball threesomes....

 

John Rahm just won $ 4 million for winning some obscure LIV event in the UK. I think that's substantially more than U.S. Open and Master's winner purse. A guy named Swafford finished 53rd and dead last, 24 shots behind Rahm and took home $ 50k for his 3 days of work.

 

"some obscure event" .... says who? compared to what? I just don't understand why people think this way... it's just another golf tournament. The product it the players. The only events that really carry their own weight are the Majors.

Here is a good summary of where things are at now:

- It’s unsustainable for the PGA tour to continue down the current path (even with the fresh capital from Strategic Sports Group) unless they make a deal. PGA Tour multiyear TV contracts were already antiquated based on how fans watch golf and how the PGA Tour gets television revenue-based viewership (which is down overall). Tour is “stuck” in old contracts.

- The PGA Tour had “dropped the ball” on international golf and hadn’t really done anything to grow the game overseas. Places like Hong Kong and Singapore pay big money for LIV tournaments because they know which players are coming; something the PGA Tour can’t do”.

- Monahan and some of the leadership “wish they had to do over” with how they handled PIF and LIV; acknowledging that wasn’t a great move. For the PGA tour, the players are our product and the value of the enterprise.” In fact, the CEO of a very large sponsor called him when Monahan first went down the Saudi blood money route and said “what the hell is he doing? That’s ridiculous.” The CEO told him how the financial system works and told him he “thought it was crazy that he was doing it”.

- “LIV has been great for the players that went to LIV because they get guaranteed money.” - “LIV has actually helped all the players, on the PGA Tour as well, because it forced changes and they are making more money.” (before they couldn't have their own YouTube channels, etc)

- LIV being mostly international with 5 or so events in the U.S. makes the most sense and that’s where the negotiations are going to go.

- LIV vs PGA Tour events (TGL teams) is a good one and would draw viewers if they were “fully sanctioned” events by both tours. - negotiations are moving towards each of the tours remaining independent with players able to crossover if their schedules allow.

- another problem in the negotiations towards an agreement is the notion that “it's unfair for some players because some get signed with guaranteed money and others do not.” That’s how players on the PGA Tour are looking at it.

- they're going to work something out, but disparate egos are in the way on the PGA Tour and players side.

- PIF has “not really wanted to control the PGA Tour, but have wanted to invest in a tour, while still being able to do LIV Golf” in a cooperative way.

 

But do the PGA players still have to pay their own way, pay for their travel, lodging, everything, to play?
I think that's the only major sport that does that.

IMO I think if a person qualifies for X number of events their rough expenses should be paid for
ALL events they enter. Basic travel/room/food stipend. (qualify for, say 20% of the events entered)
(You still need a way to weed out the not-so-great golfers)

Yes, it is considerably more people (125?) than, say an NFL team, which has 53 players, up to 20 coaches,
and probably 20 more in 'staff'' that go to every event, but I'd think they could find a way to afford,
say a $2,000 'appearance fee' for all eligible golfers. (250k total)

But we also need to be careful what we wish for - I can see a day when the Majors are only on
streaming (Prime, Peacock, Netflix) or cable (ESPN) - like the NFL is doing this coming season with a bunch of games...

Found this:

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/what-i-take-home-from-a--100-000-check

 

Is that a problem?

I know we are not used to this, but I don't see it as a problem.
Especially if my name is Swafford...