LIV Golf League charges a fee to watch on YouTube.

Viewers in some parts of the world who choose YouTube will have to pay $3 per day to watch the live broadcast of the tournament at the Saudi-funded golf course, starting this week at LIV Golf DC.

LIV Golf DC took place at Trump National Golf Club in Washington, D.C., from May 26 to 28. On opening day, LIV Golf Investments announced that it would charge YouTube viewers in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and South Korea, while remaining free for viewers in the U.S., Italy, Japan, at least five Nordic countries, and several other regions, including Vietnam.

This move suggests that the managing company is beginning to explore revenue streams on the world's leading video platform, as LIV Golf League has yet to establish a stable network of media partners for commercial exploitation.

Superstar Brooks Koepka high-fives the audience at the first round of LIV Golf DC. Despite having many stars, the LIV Golf League has yet to stabilize the commercial viability of its affiliated tournaments. Photo: LIV Golf — Superstar Brooks Koepka high-fives the audience at the first round of LIV Golf DC. Despite having many stars, the LIV Golf League has yet to stabilize the commercial viability of its affiliated tournaments. Photo: *LIV Golf*

As of noon on May 28th, LIV Golf League had 273,000 followers on YouTube.

This tournament system launched in June 2022, developed primarily with funding from the Saudi public investment fund, with an estimated budget of two billion USD by the end of 2023.

The entire launch season generated no revenue, as all eight prizes were offered for free on the official website, Facebook, and YouTube.

In 2023, with 14 tournaments, the LIV Golf League secured a partnership with CW Networks, announced in January, to launch its own app, LIV Golf Plus, primarily targeting the North American market. At that time, CW was expected to play the main role in generating revenue, while YouTube would be a supporting channel.

However, according to Golf Digest , CW, the partner network, did not pay LIV Golf royalties as is customary for sports broadcasters. Instead, the American network only provided live coverage of the main rounds and received a share of advertising revenue from broadcasting the tournament, while LIV Golf bore all the costs of content production. CW currently has over 200 member or partner channels across the United States.

Despite the setback, LIV Golf accepted the situation, and five months have passed since then. Including the Washington tournament, the LIV Golf League has completed half of its tournament schedule. However, just before reaching this milestone, they encountered a serious problem on May 14th. At that time, the CW network in key areas abruptly cut off the finale of the Tulsa, Oklahoma tournament, just minutes before the third playoff hole, which featured two big stars – Dustin Johnson and Cameron Smith, with Johnson emerging victorious. Immediately after cutting off the LIV Golf broadcast, the CW network aired non-sports entertainment programs. At that point, LIV Golf's viewership on CW dropped significantly, to the point where both sides stopped publishing media coverage figures.

When LIV Golf announced it would be charging per YouTube view starting this week, The CW was already aware of the situation. On Golf.com , the network affirmed that LIV Golf's change does not violate the contract, that the two parties remain on good terms, and that they are committed to preventing a recurrence of abrupt broadcast cuts.

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