When you think of The CW, you probably don’t think of Sports, but soon that may just be the case. According to Bob Harig of Sports Illustrated, LIV Golf is close to announcing a deal with Nexstar’s The CW Network.
This deal would bring 14 league events to The CW network. For The CW would be the first time it would have a national sports deal.
Currently, LIV Golf has only been available in the US on YouTube and the LIV Golf Website. According to Sports Illustrated, the viewership numbers were low. This deal could be what LIV Golf needs to help it grow to compete with the PGA.
The CW deal with LIV is reportedly a revenue-sharing deal. Meaning LIV Golf may not get a big payday to sign the contract but would get a cut of any profits made on The CW. This would be a better deal than the reported FS1 and FS2 deal that would have seen the LIV Golf group pay Fox Sports to air its programming.
Sports has increasingly been one of the few bright spots in TV advertising. The live nature of sports means most viewers are not using DVRs to skip over ads allowing for higher advertising deals compared to reruns or even many new shows that may air on The CW.