LIV Golf has agreed to extensions through the end of the 2025 season with five members of its broadcast team, and added two more roles, as the league begins play on Friday in Mexico. Play-by-play man Arlo White, analysts Jerry Foltz and David Feherty, and on-course reporters Dom Boulet and Su-Ann Heng all have signed deals through the end of 2025.New to the broadcast will be Christian Crosby, who will host LIV’s new pre- and post-game show, “Club 54.” The pregame show will air on The CW, as well as on LIV Golf+ and the league’s YouTube channel. LIV is also adding Rachel Drummond, a former Sky Sports commentator, to report for the pre- and post-game shows as well as on the driving range before and after rounds.Drummond fills the spot vacated by Troy Mullins, who was with LIV for its first two seasons but could not come to a contract extension in the offseason.Production wise, LIV Golf Lead Dir Steve Beim left the organization during the offseason for undisclosed reasons. Beim, a veteran in sports production who previously worked on the U.S. Open for Fox and Turner’s “The Match,” had joined LIV prior to its launch in 2022. LIV plans to fill Beim’s responsibilities internally.LIV notably only reported its own ratings, measured by iSpot, for a few events last season before opting not to for the remainder of the year.However, The CW this season is going to be rated by both iSpot and Nielsen, so that data will be more readily available.But don’t expect weekly press releases from LIV on its viewership totals.“We don’t see it as a story week to week on what our numbers are, so I’m not sure how often we do that,” LIV Chief Media Officer Will Staeger said. “If it’s a significant bump, if there’s a particular event that really shows we’re gaining traction, I think we will issue a release or a story. But I think we’re optimistic that there will be increased viewership in the 2024 season.”Whatever figures do show up via Nielsen likely will offer a clearer picture of LIV this season. Nextstar, parent company of The CW, late last year purchased the remaining 12.5% stake in the network that CBS had owned, meaning more markets will now carry LIV telecasts.However, there are still some big markets where a larger Nextstar affiliate – including WGN in Chicago – will be carrying LIV instead of The CW.Without revealing specific figures, Staeger said LIV’s digital platforms saw 48% growth from the start of last season through its completion.
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