Saudi Backed LIV Golf Reportedly Nearing Deal to Buy Airtime on Fox Sports

 
LIV Golf

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LIV Golf has reportedly been in contact with Fox Sports 1 to buy airtime on their channel.

The controversial golf league had been using YouTube to broadcast their golf tournaments. Most, if not all, sport leagues get paid by the broadcast network that broadcast their leagues, but a new report claimed that LIV Golf will be paying for the Fox Sports airtime. LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman claimed the Saudi backed golf league had many options on broadcast partners.

“We’re talking to four different networks, and live conversations where offers are being put on the table,” Norman told ESPN. “They can see what we’re delivering.”

Sports Business Journal reported in August that Jared Kushner, son in law of former president Donald Trump, got involved with LIV Golf and tried to help secure a television deal for the league. It has been reported Kushner’s private equity firm received $2 billion from the Saudi Public Invest Fund.

Pushback against the league heated up when golfer Phil Mickelson acknowledged the many human rights issues the Saudi government had.

“They’re scary motherfuckers to get involved with,” Mickelson told reporter Alan Shipnuck, who wrote a biography on the golfer. “They killed [Washington Post reporter and U.S. resident Jamal] Khashoggi and have a horrible human rights record.”

Mickelson took the money from LIV and was a golfer in their inaugural event. An event held at former President Donald Trump’s golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey faced protests from some families of 9/11 victims.

LIV Golf has been accused of sports-washing and it only became a league to rival the PGA Tour because some golfers felt they were not being treated fairly by the PGA.

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Luke Kane is a former Sports Reporter for Mediaite. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeKane