This week’s LIV Golf Adelaide is predicted to have “more than 100,000 people” attending over the three days as the Australian leg is “already LIV Golf’s flagship event,” according to Adam Pengilly of the Adelaide ADVERTISER. While the upstart league “still struggles for relevance in the United States,” tournament organizers have “no other way to fit more people into its Australian event other than to go up.” They have “built more elevated corporate areas and public grandstands to cater for demand.” Corporate Australia is “also on board” and brands such as Accor, Asahi, BYD and Ladbrokes have joined as official partners. Sources said that the event will “earn three times as much in sponsorship revenue this year.” Yet it “remains doubtful how close LIV goes to breaking even on the tournament” given its “extraordinary prize money purses,” in which players will compete for close to $40M in Adelaide. South Australia’s four-year deal will end in 2026. But South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas is “watching with interest, and so too are other states around Australia.” He said, “We remain committed to it and we would love to extend it beyond the current contract. Time will tell whether we can land that deal” (Adelaide ADVERTISER, 2/11).
DOWN UNDER: GOLFAUSTRALIA.com’s Matt Cleary writes while the tournament on the ground is “deserving of its gongs, for event operators and project managers of such capacity, it feels passing odd that the television product remains, as the kids would say, a bit meh.” Cleary: “The cheer-leading of the commentary team and the relentlessly upbeat declarations by the on-the-ground talent is that … everything is awesome.” LIV Golf is “tricky to broadcast for a couple of reasons.” The shotgun starts “mean everything’s happening everywhere all at once.” LIV has two tournaments running simultaneously -- the teams event and the individual. There are “multiple stories to be told and you can’t tell them properly all at once” (GOLFAUSTRALIA.com, 2/12).
