Was the Showdown a step closer to the merger? It is still not certain. But one thing is certain, which is the constant comparison between the two leagues. Be it the player’s achievement or the viewership. Though LIV Golf is a fresh entity, there has been a major difference in the number of players and viewership.

However, the Saudi-backed league has been leading the way in terms of freedom offered to the players and the hefty contracts that are being offered. With years of talks between the two for the merger, the fans assumed the common event featuring both league players to be an adroit move toward the merger.

In reality, the merger still seems far away from being done even after ‘The Showdown’. But there is one thing that has been a significant benefit for the LIV Golf despite Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka losing the event. The LIV Golf social media handle showcased a drastic change before and after the event. But all that is going great in favor of the PIF league as this will help in building legitimacy, inviting sponsors, and embracing the overall journey of golfers across the leagues.

Sharing on the same line, the event and after-effects were discussed at Drop Zone, podcast. During the podcast, it shared, “LIV was a winner.” While further adding to how LIV portrayed after the loss with the tweet, the panel spoke about the way LIV Golf reflected on the loss, “Hey look, we want to find peace in golf world.”

Further talking about the other metrics, the discussion revealed that the viewership also played a crucial role for LIV Golf. The Showdown has 600K viewers, but for the panel, “600K is bad.” While digging down on the stats as requested by Claire Rogers, a panelist. The views were 1/3rd of the average PGA Tour weekend viewership, while most interestingly, it was 2 times more than the weekend viewership of LIV Golf.

Considering the viewership on weekdays, the numbers are a great jump. Even the panel could not disagree with the fact. Hence, this has proved how LIV Golf is the winner despite the team losing at the event. But to sustain, LIV Golf will have to take several steps to make the league more popular and get sponsorship to get to the breakeven point with each event.

What are the extra steps taken by LIV Golf to sustain the market?

The competitor PGA Tour has signed deals with broadcasting partners including NBC, Warner Bros., CBS, ESPN, and Discovery for $5 billion. Along with this, the tour has sponsorship deals with various brands, including AT&T, Mastercard, and FedEx. On the other hand, LIV Golf’s revenue has always been a question for fans and critics.

However, as compared to 2023 when the league could not manage to exceed the $100 million revenue mark as per Golf.com, this year has been a significant move toward sustainability and revenue generation. Now the league has various partners, be it for the event, trophy, international currency exposure, entertainment, or for the teams. Some of the biggest names of the partners are JCB, Integrity 9 Sports & Entertainment, Asprey, Arena, and others.

In comparison to the PGA Tour, LIV Golf is still far behind. But with the significant changes and steps towards increasing revenue, the coming years could be the best for LIV Golf. What are your thoughts on the revenue growth of LIV Golf? Can the Saudi league beat the PGA Tour in terms of revenue ever? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.