LIV Golf Tour inks TV deal with CW

Editor’s note: Full disclosure — Nexstar acquired The Hill in August 2021.

The CW Network and LIV Golf have struck a deal for the league’s first-ever U.S. broadcast television and streaming agreement.

The multiyear agreement will begin with the 2023 LIV Golf League season, and the CW Network will air 14 global LIV Golf League live events this year.

“Our new partnership between The CW and LIV Golf will deliver a whole new audience and add to the growing worldwide excitement for the league,” Dennis Miller, president of the CW Network, said in a statement. “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.”

LIV Golf will continue to produce coverage of its events with an in-house team and will maintain its format and style from the 2022 invitational season, the network said.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Since launching last year, the league has come under heavy scrutiny for its ties to Saudi Arabia and its rivalry with the PGA Tour after top golfers like Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau left the PGA Tour for LIV Golf.

Greg Norman, the chairman and CEO of LIV Golf, last fall faced pushback from some Republican House members over the backing the league has received from Saudi Arabia as he pitched his league and concerns about competitiveness issues to members of Congress.

Former President Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, N.J., hosted a LIV Golf tournament in July. 

The CW is 75 percent owned by Nexstar Media Group Inc., which is also the parent company of The Hill and 199 local television stations.

This story was updated at 1:02 p.m. Jan. 21.