What people at LIV Golf have been saying about their TV ratings during their first year on FOX

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It has been an interesting year for LIV Golf, with their individual champion failing to win a single event this season while talks of a merger with the PGA Tour appear to have been shelved for the time-being.

LIV Golf definitely appears to be finding its place in the ecosystem of the sport. The league is approaching the end of its fourth season with just the Team Championship to come this week.

Brooks Koepka admitted LIV was behind where it should be at the start of the year. And it seems fair to say that the league remains a work in progress.

They did deliver some exciting finishes to their events. While some are baffled that Joaquin Niemann did not win the individual championship, LIV do deserve some credit for delivering a title race which went down to the final event once again.

How LIV Golf feel about their television ratings on FOX

Unfortunately, it seems that their product is yet to really capture the imagination, in the United States at least. The final round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship was watched by more than 10 times the number of people who tuned in to watch Sunday at LIV Golf Chicago.

LIV announced a multi-year deal with FOX Sports in January. It appeared to be a coup for the league to agree a partnership with such a reputable brand. However, it has not exactly led to a sharp increase in viewership.

But it seems that those at LIV are not overly concerned by the numbers this year. Speaking on 5 Clubs, Front Office Sports journalist David Rumsey suggested that LIV made the deal with one eye on the future.

“The TV ratings have not been anything to write huge press releases about or huge articles. They’re okay. When they’re on cable channels, like FS1 or FS2, they’re not great. They’re below 100,000. When they’re on big FOX, they get a couple hundred thousand, still vastly below what the PGA Tour gets. But, I think if you talk to people at LIV, they weren’t expecting to take down the PGA Tour when they go head to head or even when they’re on big FOX,” he said.

“They created this deal just a few weeks before this LIV Golf season started, the 2025 season started. So they knew they weren’t getting a ton of premium spots on big FOX. There was even one round of a LIV tournament this year where they were on FOX Business Network. So they knew it was going to take some time. It’s just when you look at the ins and outs of TV programming, they’re planning stuff for spring, fall 2026 already.

“So the LIV folks I know, when I’ve talked to them, they’re more confident that they’re going to get some better slots and better time frames next year on FOX, and we’ll see if that translates to better TV ratings. They are rolling out their schedule a little earlier this year than they did last year. But it remains to be seen whether LIV really gains that traction in the US and on US TV.”

The international winners on LIV Golf in 2025

There is no question that LIV have done a much better job of targeting different markets to the PGA Tour. They have added an event in South Africa to their 2026 schedule.

So the ratings in the United States are clearly not everything. And what will probably help them establish more of a fanbase outside of the States is the number of international winners they have had this year.

Obviously, Joaquin Niemann won five of their 13 events. But it turns out that just three Americans won individually this season, with Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed and Talor Gooch winning at Korea, Dallas and Valderrama respectively.

Dean Burmester and Sebastian Munoz both won playoffs involving Jon Rahm in the last few weeks.

That bodes well as they look to increase their audience around the world. But clearly, they will still be desperate to see much better numbers in the United States during the 2026 season.