The confirmed viewing figures for TGL’s opening night are now in and here’s how it compares to LIV Golf

With the first night of the TGL now over and done with, a lot of the attention has turned to just how successful it was and it looks like the viewing figures are positive news for Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods and their partners.

With The Bay GC hammering New York GC, the opening night was not quite as tight as many predicted but it still made for entertaining viewing in the main.

Golf fans admitted to being surprised at the experience and even losing player Rickie Fowler admitted he saw huge potential in the format for the future.

Of course, any success for TGL will come down to viewing figures and with opening night done and dusted, it’s good news.

TGL viewing figures confirmed after night one

As everyone knows, money makes the world go around in golf and when it comes to TGL, it was essential that they got off to a good start and got eyes on the product.

According to the official numbers it seems things were even more impressive than imagined for TGL, with analytics brand Zoomph reporting over 3.2m unique viewers across the entire broadcast.

How TGL opening night compares to LIV Golf’s viewing figures

One of the major issues thrown at LIV Golf compared to the PGA Tour is the lack of actual viewers it attracts.

As yet, there is no TV deal in place for LIV, meaning it relies on viewers tuning in via streams on its own app or the free content on YouTube.

LIV Golf’s opening event in January 2023 garnered results higher than the higher-ups expected. In figures reported by Bunkered at the time, it showed a handsome return in viewership.

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Further, according to the Sports Business Journal, LIV’s numbers are on the up but in terms of viewers tuning in for the final rounds of tournaments, they fall well below TGL’s opening night.

For example, Jon Rahm’s debut final round in Mexico in 2024 saw 432,000 viewers tune in via the CW App, albeit it’s worth noting that the whole weekend – including the free coverage on YouTube – brought in over 3.5m viewers in total across the three days.

Still, that 432,000 figure was a season high for LIV on one round and TGL will be encouraged that they got more than double that on opening night for their new product.

It’s also worth noting that when put up directly against The Irish Open and Solheim Cup, LIV did struggle, which suggests golf fans aren’t fully invested when other offerings are on the table.