A report into golf fans’ response to the arrival of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series on the professional golf scene has been published by Gather, a UK-based independent forum which was set up at the beginning of 2021 to provide a space for golf industry professionals to share experiences, offer insights and develop networking opportunities.
Gathers’ research data was gained from surveys completed by 419 golf fans across the USA and the UK, 66% of which were men and 34% women, all of whom were aware of LIV Golf.
Gather co-founder Adam Keeble said: “Gather is delighted to share its first research study into LIV Golf using data collected from golf fans in both the UK and USA. The start-up golf league has achieved international recognition since hosting its first event in June 2022, attracting some of the biggest names in the sport. The league, though, has not been without detractors, thanks in part to the involvement of the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund.
“Our report suggests that although LIV Golf may have struggled to engage certain groups of golfers to its fanbase, almost 50% of those surveyed thought that the league’s introduction was good for the sport. Six months after its inception, Gather identified correlations between fan demographics and positive attitudes towards LIV Golf. Specifically, younger males, and those with a higher level of academic education were more likely to see LIV Golf in a favourable light.”
Keeble added: “It’s still early days for LIV Golf, but our data suggests emerging trends that tell us who LIV Golf fans are, and who they are not. If LIV Golf’s target fan base is younger men, then, up to this point, missioned accomplished. The split in opinion is consistent when factoring in age and gender, with younger golf fans, specifically male Gen Z and Millennial fans, generally being more positive about LIV Golf, its format and its influence on golf’s future, than other generations. Time will tell whether this sentiment holds.”
While all of those questioned were aware of LIV Golf, only 22% understood what the name LIV Golf actually meant. LIV are the Roman numerals for 54, the number of holes which represent a player’s score if they birdied every hole of an 18-hole par-72 course, not, as the remaining 72% per cent thought, the number of holes in a LIV Golf event.
Name aside, Gather’s research revealed that a golfer’s age, gender and level of education were the main factors in deciding whether a person thought that LIV Golf was a good thing for the overall game.
Men of all ages, and specifically younger men that had been in higher education, were most likely to have positive feelings towards the new circuit, which has succeeded in attracting 15 of the world’s top 50 players to its ranks, including recent major champions such as Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Cameron Smith, Bryson De Chambeau, Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed.
Across all golf fans surveyed, just under two-thirds (64%) had a positive reaction to the Saudi-backed league, while 20% felt it had had a negative impact on the sport’s ecosystem, with 16% saying they were ambivalent.
A slightly smaller majority of those questioned – 60% – felt that they had become more interested in in golf since LIV Golf’s arrival, while the percentage of detractors remained constant at 20%. Men were far more likely to be interested in LIV Golf than women.
Just under half of those who took part in the survey (49.5%) said that having golf events sponsored by the Saudi government’s sovereign wealth fund was good for golf, while 18% thought it sent out a negative signal. The remaining 31% said they either didn’t know or didn’t care, suggesting that where the funds come from to provide sponsorship and prize money for sports events isn’t high on the agenda for many fans.
Another constant was the feeling about LIV Golf between those fans from the UK and the USA, with followers of golf on both sides of the Atlantic offering similar views dependent on their age, gender and level of education.
The final event of the LIV Golf Series 2022 season is taking place at Trump Doral in Florida this week.
To check out the full Gather Report into Golf Fans’ Attitudes Towards LIV Golf, visit www.gather.golf Here you can also sign up to regular newsletters and the Gather Global Podcast.
