LIV Golf

[HeftyHacker]

If they'd charged a tenner, they'd have been accussed of cheap tickets to influence the favour of the fans over the source of the funding.. aka - Sportswashing.

£70 just outside London, seems like a decent price to me - I'm guessing you could even get the train up there from London Central?

You can go to the Scottish Open for £25 if you want to save a few quid, but by the time you've paid for fuel and accomodation, it's gonna be way more than £70

I used London as an example of a large market for punters. I'm actually in Lancashire so roughly equidistant for the Scottish Open and this event. For me, currently it would be a no brainer given the strength of the field that generally turns up for the Scottish Open and the price difference... plus i also much prefer Edinburgh to London.

I think no matter what this tour does it would be accused of sportswashing so they may as well accept that and offer the cheap tickets to generate a bit of buzz at the event itself.

 

[Foxholer]

Has anyone heard whether women can play in this? If they can't get the PGA Tour players and they're already onto the amateurs then would it not be a good fit to go after some of the leading women?

Unfortunately, the Ladies game simply doesn't have the crowd-pulling clout that Men's golf does! Same applies/No different to Women's Football and Women's Rugby currently.
Any move to allow/attract the top Ladies, at this stage, would be seen as an admission of weakness of the concept/proposal and a 'victory for the PGA' imo, so is highly unlikely to happen imo.
As for the cost of tickets, it's probably about twice the price I would consider appropriate - certainly at this stage of the Tour.

 

[howbow88]

The £70 is laughable. One way to put pressure on the PGA Tour and European Tour, and also tv companies to start showing these events, would be if the golfing public started getting behind it. If over the next few years Saudi Golf became a travelling circus, getting huge gate numbers, then that would help them. Most golf people I know wouldn't be interested in going to this event, but could have their arm twisted if the cost represented great value.

Spin it however you want - £70 a ticket is not good value.

 

[Mel Smooth]

Unfortunately, the Ladies game simply doesn't have the crowd-pulling clout that Men's golf does! Same applies/No different to Women's Football and Women's Rugby currently.
Any move to allow/attract the top Ladies, at this stage, would be seen as an admission of weakness and a 'victory for the PGA' imo, so is highly unlikely to happen imo.
As for the cost of tickets, it's probably about twice the price I would consider appropriate - certainly at this stage of the Tour.

I can't believe in 2022, attitudes like this still exist!!

Really?

 

[Foxholer]

I can't believe in 2022, attitudes like this still exist!!

Really?

Who's - and what - attitudes are you calling out?
I'm not talking about attitudes to Ladies golf btw. I'm talking about a change of tack in the nature of the event, that would be seen, or at least deemed, an admission of failure by opponents. Nothing to do with attitudes to Ladies golf per se.
FWIW, I've been to more top level Ladies tournaments than I have Mens ones.

 

[Mel Smooth]

Who's - and what - attitudes are you calling out?
I'm not talking about attitudes to Ladies golf btw. I'm talking about a change of tack in the nature of the event, that would be seen, or at least deemed, an admission of failure by opponents. Nothing to do with attitudes to Ladies golf per se.
FWIW, I've been to more top level Ladies tournaments than I have Mens ones.

I'm calling out anybody that thinks a move to attract top ladies would be seen as a position of weakness. The LIV series has stated quite clearly it wants to grow the game - having women involved with the males would definitely take the game in a direction it has struggled with for far too long.

 

[Foxholer]

I'm calling out anybody that thinks a move to attract top ladies would be seen as a position of weakness. The LIV series has stated quite clearly it wants to grow the game - having women involved with the males would definitely take the game in a direction it has struggled with for far too long.

Perhaps. But it's the fact of a change of tack that would be seen/pushed as weakness, not what the change of tack was. Same would apply to a change of pricing of ticket to a more appropriate (imo) value.

 

[Mel Smooth]

Perhaps. But it's the fact of a change of tack that would be seen/pushed as weakness, not what the change of tack was. Same would apply to a change of pricing of ticket to a more appropriate (imo) value.

Well personally I'd love to see a mixed event - there's no reason why it couldn't happen, and it would definitely add some extra dimensions and interest. If people see that as "weakness", then I'd question their attitudes.

 

[BubbaP]

https://www.golfmonthly.com/news/li...ces-free-kids-tickets-and-on-site-experiences

 

[Mel Smooth]

https://www.golfmonthly.com/news/li...ces-free-kids-tickets-and-on-site-experiences

This is welcome news, I wouldn't be able to attend the London event myself, but was looking around yesterday to see if there was any info on prices for kids. Looks like they are putting on quite a lot of attractions for them.

 

[Slab]

If the PGA are ‘nervous’ about this then the ET must be cacking it. Theirs must be the more at risk tour to any new venture and (despite being a fan) the ET seems just as diluted/poor relation this year

As usual the R2D is headed by players who’ll barely play more than a couple of ET events all year and yesterday Rory get voted player of the month for April (public vote)
April !! he didn’t even play in an ET event.
Not his fault of course but why was he (& Lowry (2nd) even on the list to vote for? Their only ‘contribution’ to the ET in April was to play in the US Masters which is co-sanctioned in name only (& Rory only had one round in the 60’s) That’s it. And the pair scooped well over 50% of the vote between them
I can only think his (terrific) hole out on the 18th on Sunday was enough to gazump anything done by the guys playing a proper ET schedule. The ET players must all be hoping to break through on the PGA or that the LIV takes off, if that’s all the recognition they can expect from the ET

(I really hope the ET can turn things around but they don’t help themselves with nonsense like this)

 

[howbow88]

The LIV series has stated quite clearly it wants to grow the game

Hahahaha, do you seriously believe that rubbish?

You can defend the concept, defend where the money is coming from, defend the crazy ticket price, fine. But you cannot seriously believe that the Saudis just want to 'grow the game'

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Interesting https://www.skysports.com/golf/news...mans-liv-andrew-coltart-saga-will-drag-on-yet

 

[Golfnut1957]

Well personally I'd love to see a mixed event - there's no reason why it couldn't happen, and it would definitely add some extra dimensions and interest. If people see that as "weakness", then I'd question their attitudes.

You can question people's attitudes all you want, but it is a fact that people are less interested in women's sport than they are in men's sport, a fact backed up by both attendance and viewing figures. I would never knock the quality or the standard of the product but then I couldn't as I never watch any of it, I have no interest in it at all bar the occasional LPGA event when there is nothing else on.

 

[Deleted member 25172]

Hahahaha, do you seriously believe that rubbish?

You can defend the concept, defend where the money is coming from, defend the crazy ticket price, fine. But you cannot seriously believe that the Saudis just want to 'grow the game'

You’re such a cynic! Why would you not believe these fine altruistic Saudis? ?

 

[larmen]

You can question people's attitudes all you want, but it is a fact that people are less interested in women's sport than they are in men's sport, a fact backed up by both attendance and viewing figures. I would never knock the quality or the standard of the product but then I couldn't as I never watch any of it, I have no interest in it at all bar the occasional LPGA event when there is nothing else on.

There is something tennis must have been doing right/different compared to all other sports. Maybe whatever they did needs to be replicated.

 

[Golfnut1957]

There is something tennis must have been doing right/different compared to all other sports. Maybe whatever they did needs to be replicated.

Shoot me for my message, but I don't think it's that odd. Traditional women's sports such as tennis, gymnastics, golf etc, have always been relatively well-supported. I don't watch any tennis, but I understand that many people prefer ladies tennis to men's, for its subtleties.
I think the problem arises when people start to look for equality with established men's sports and introduce competing leagues such a football and rugby. It might for all I know be a quality product, but my sports viewing time is finite, and I'm going to spend it watching the North London derby. There's a pecking order and women's football is quite some way down it, although it probably comes above any Scottish football

 

[Mel Smooth]

Hahahaha, do you seriously believe that rubbish?

You can defend the concept, defend where the money is coming from, defend the crazy ticket price, fine. But you cannot seriously believe that the Saudis just want to 'grow the game'

The concept of the LIV series is new, and it will offer a different experience to how people view golf, making it easier and more exciting to watch.
Can you explain to me how that doesn’t potentially grow the game?

 

[Foxholer]

There is something tennis must have been doing right/different compared to all other sports. Maybe whatever they did needs to be replicated.

Women's Tennis has always been a 'different game' to the Men's one, but the 'battle' is just as compelling. Men v Women (Singles) at the top level just simply wouldn't work.

 

[Swango1980]

There is something tennis must have been doing right/different compared to all other sports. Maybe whatever they did needs to be replicated.

I think the big difference with tennis is that both Men and Women play simultaneously within the same overall tournament. So, someone tunes in to watch Wimbledon, US Open, etc. they could just as easily be watching a mens match or womens match when they tune in. You could argue the same with athletics. When we tune in to watch the Olympics, there will be both male and female events. In tennis, it is also probably harder for the viewer to distinguish between the physical advantages men have over women. Maybe they do in serving, but powerful serves and aces probably are not overly appealing for viewers anyway.

However, with other sports men and women do not play together. Perhaps if, for example, Masters weekend had both the mens event and womens event (along with all other big tournaments), then the ladies game would get more exposure. However, probably unlikely due to the length of time it takes to play golf (and the fact the tournament is only 4 days), and no one would want them to played completely in parallel as they'd be competing for viewing time. Could maybe do it for football easier. The World Cup could feature both the mens and womens game during the month. No doubt the mens game would still be more popular (certainly to begin with), but I'm sure more would also tune in to watch some of the ladies games, and it could grow from there.