In just one year, the LIV Golf League has developed an impressive following on social media.
While TV ratings do play a major role in the success of any sports league that metric is no longer the be-all end-all to measuring the impact and success any league is having on a global scale.
One of the main talking points from the PGA Tour media in their knock against the LIV Golf League is their inability as of yet to secure a TV deal with one of the major sports or cable networks in the United States.
LIV does have their deal with the CW Network in the US and they’re also broadcast in 94 additional countries around the world with a number of different TV and radio deals in place.
However, partnering with CW doesn’t have the optics nor reach of airing your product on the likes of ESPN, CBS, Fox et al.
Another key measuring tool for your products reach or success are social media stats and numbers.
During LIV’s first year of existence they have developed an impressive tally of social media followers and viewers highlighted by the over 30 million YouTube views in less than one year.
When you compare LIV’s social numbers to the other major golf leagues you can see how impressive their start has been and that the league’s interest is growing at an exponential rate.
Social media followers and totals as of May 13, 2023.
| League | Tik Tok | YouTube Subscribers | YouTube Views | |||
| LIV | 243,200 | 531,000 | 567,000 | 270,000 | 30,033,505 | 200,924 |
| PGA Tour | 2,800,000 | 4,000,000 | 1,500,000 | 1,160,000 | 1,275,932,028 | 4,442,180 |
| DP Tour | 486,000 | 765,000 | 129,500 | 378,000 | 359,640,770 | 619,257 |
| LPGA | 313,600 | 484,000 | 38,000 | 143,000 | 113,668,129 | 1,389,909 |
| Korn Ferry | 132,100 | 221,000 | 46,700 | 14,700 | 4,383,685 | 88,146 |
| XFL | 389,700 | 700,000 | 385,600 | 78,200 | 3,117,810 | 270,423 |
| WNBA | 810,800 | 1,300,000 | 1,100,000 | 226,000 | 83,566,464 | 1,307,226 |
| MLS | 3,300,000 | 2,100,000 | 1,300,000 | 828,000 | 480,243,009 | 4,599,031 |
They’ve already surpassed the DP Tour, LPGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour combined in Tik Tok subscribers and are creeping up on overtaking the DP Tour in YouTube subscribers even though the European league started their YouTube channel 13 years prior to LIV.
Comparing LIV socials to the likes of the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB who have all been in existence (in some cases) for over 75 years is an unrealistic metric for the moment but comparing them to others that are considered secondary leagues in their sport like MLS, WNBA and XFL gives you a better sense of their growth in such a short period of time.
LIV social media stats also give you a window into who is watching and what their demographics are. Based on their success on Tik Tok and YouTube, you can see LIV is developing a much younger audience than their peers in the golf world.
When the likes of Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson and Bryson DeChambeau left the PGA Tour to move to LIV, many of the players spoke about the opportunity to “grow the game” which was received with skepticism by many.
However, based on their first year social media numbers it appears they are in fact growing the game by attracting a much younger audience compared to their counterparts.
Regardless of your opinion of the new LIV Golf League, people are watching it and based on their early success on social media, the league is growing and its happening quickly.
