Among the few certainties golf fans have been able to count on over the last two years are these:
1. There’s no end in sight for the PGA Tour-PIF negotiations.
And 2. Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee has not grown any fondness for LIV Golf.
The latest example of these two truths came with last week’s announcement that LIV and Fox had come to an agreement to broadcast LIV events on TV.
LIV announces TV deal with Fox: 7 things to know
The multiyear deal, first reported by the Sports Business Journal, represents a major win for LIV. It also represents a loss for anyone hoping a PGA Tour-PIF deal would see the shuttering of the upstart league.
Whether or not a final agreement is anywhere close to finished, LIV doesn’t appear to be going anywhere.
Chamblee, of course, took note of the significant update in the years-long battle between LIV and the PGA Tour, and then took to X to express his strong opinions on the matter.
“Looking forward to the specific financials,” Chamblee wrote about the LIV-FOX deal on X, continuing, “did Fox pay a rights fee or was this another time buy.”
Chamblee was referencing how normal TV deals with sports leagues work. Typically the TV network pays a large fee to the league for the rights to broadcast its events.
However, LIV’s previous TV deal with the CW did not involve a rights fee. Instead, the two organizations brokered the deal as a revenue-sharing arrangement.
While no financial specifics of the new LIV-Fox deal are officially known, it’s believed the deal will see Fox paying LIV a rights fee.
An X user responded to Chamblee criticizing him for never having a positive opinion of LIV. Chamblee fired back, “Why would anyone who is not being paid to obscure their objectivity ‘cover’ LIV in a positive manner. The money comes from the sewer and the product stinks worse than the source.”
The 2025 LIV Golf season officially gets underway February 7-12 in Saudi Arabia.
