After a tumultuous five seasons, LIV Golf filed for bankruptcy last week.
Despite attracting some of the biggest stars in the sport and testing out new rules and a high-energy live experience, the new league failed to match the TV ratings for PGA Tour events in the U.S. LIV’s fan base never approached the levels of the PGA Tour either, so this week we take a closer look at their fans to see why the league wasn’t able to gain a foothold.
One of LIV’s strengths was its ability to attract a younger fan base.
Sports Poll shows that 19% of Americans under 25 identified as LIV fans, which was just below the PGA Tour. In fact, younger Americans were bigger fans than older Americans, which is the opposite of how fandom typically works for golf. The challenge was that LIV was unable to attract enough of the groups who are traditionally the biggest golf fans – including older people (55+), high earners (households with $100,000 or more), white males, and golfers. LIV under-indexed the PGA considerably with each of these groups. Without reaching more “core” golf fans or gaining new fans from outside traditional golf-heavy demos, they weren’t able to match interest in the PGA.
Most LIV fans also identified as PGA fans.
When asked to select between the two, golf fans were far more likely to choose the PGA Tour. While the league didn’t prove to be a long-term success, it actively targeted younger fans and succeeded to a degree. For a sport that has traditionally skewed as one of the oldest in the U.S., there should be learnings from the LIV experience that may help the sport recruit new fans in the future.
For more details on golf fans or insights on other emerging leagues, reach out to us.
Sports Poll by SSRS™ is conducted continuously throughout the year and includes a nationally representative sample of more than 24,000 Americans each year.
