LIV Golf has secured a broadcast deal with The CW ahead of the circuit’s second season.
It will be the first sports deal of its kind for The CW, a partnership that LIV Golf analyst David Feherty let slip at one of his comedy shows in Florida last week, The Palm Beach Post reported on Tuesday.
The multi-year agreement with the nation’s fifth-largest broadcast network is expected to be announced in the coming days, Front Office Sports has learned.
LIV will continue producing the events as it did in its first season, streamed on YouTube and on DAZN. Beyond the broadcast deal with CW, Saudi-backed LIV Golf continues to work on a separate streaming deal.
In September, FOS reported that Fox Sports had discussions with LIV Golf officials over a potential broadcast deal. David Hill, the renowned sports producer who was the driving force behind Fox’s rise in sports, has been consulting with LIV Golf over the last several months.
As part of its antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour, lawyers working on behalf of LIV Golf alleged the PGA Tour worked to prevent a broadcast deal from coming together sooner. The August amended complaint alleged that the PGA Tour used its media rights policy that prevented its players from playing or appearing in any “golf program that takes place “anywhere in the world.”
LIV Golf also alleged the PGA Tour applied pressure to existing television partners.
“The Tour has compromised LIV Golf’s ability to secure a television broadcast contract, a critical component of any sustainable elite golf tour,” LIV Golf alleged in the lawsuit.
Financial details were not disclosed, although it’s expected to be a revenue-sharing setup often entered into with broadcast partners with newer sports leagues.
The CW and CW Plus have 37 affiliates nationwide, with stations in five of the top 10 TV markets, according to the Nexstar website. The CW reaches an estimated 100 million U.S. households.
