"It Was Noisy but the Box Office Was a Flop"

PGA-LIV Golf Showdown's Disappointing Ratings
Crypto.com Showdown Paid Viewers at 625,000
Analysis Suggests Declining Interest in Golf

The showdown between the marquee stars of the PGA Tour and LIV Golf failed to attract much attention.

PGA Tour's leading stars Scottie Scheffler (left) and Rory McIlroy

Sports Business Journal reported on the 25th (local time) that the pay-per-view audience for the one-day event "Crypto.com Showdown," featuring two players from the two organizations, was only 625,000. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (USA) and No. 3 Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) faced off against Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka (both USA) on the 17th at Shadow Creek Golf Club in Las Vegas, USA.

One-day events featuring top-tier players have been held annually since 2018, but the only time the viewership was lower than this year's event was in February when McIlroy competed in a mixed skins game with Max Homa, Lexi Thompson, and Rose Zhang (all USA). The mixed skins game in February had 511,000 viewers.

One-day events have typically drawn millions of viewers to their TV screens. The 2020 event, where Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson invited NFL stars Peyton Manning and Tom Brady (both USA), attracted as many as 5.8 million viewers. Despite featuring four of the best active players this time, the viewership was below expectations. This has led to analyses suggesting that overall interest in golf has declined. The first event of the fall series, the Procore Championship, which started after the PGA Tour FedEx Cup Playoffs, drew only 69,000 viewers.