LIV Golf and the South Australian state government have announced an agreement to keep Adelaide as the exclusive home of the controversial tour in Australia until 2031.
The deal extends Adelaide’s hosting rights for LIV's sole Australian tournament, having staged the event since 2023.
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As part of the agreement, the state government and Adelaide City Council will redevelop the North Adelaide Golf Course into a world-class facility designed by retired Australian golfer and former LIV Golf chief executive Greg Norman.
The redevelopment will include a new 18-hole Championship Course, a modernized driving range, and practice facilities.
Norman said: “Adelaide is the realization of what LIV Golf can be around the world. I’m honored to design a world-class course that will benefit current and future generations here in Australia. Long LIV Golf.”
South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas added: “LIV Golf has brought significant global attention to South Australia.
“This is about much more than just bringing the world’s best golfers to Adelaide – it’s about telling the story of South Australia to a global audience.”
LIV Golf said the tournament in Adelaide has so far contributed $136 million to the South Australian economy across its first two years.
Last year’s event saw more than 94,000 fans attend The Grange Golf Club, with more than 40% from outside South Australia. Last weekend’s edition is expected to surpass those numbers.
The deal comes after it was revealed last week that the tour’s losses have continued to mount, despite the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) sovereign wealth vehicle piling close to $4 billion in investment into the tour.,
LIV Golf’s UK arm published its financial accounts for the 2023 calendar year last week, revealing an overall loss of $395.94 million – $152.2 million more than the $243.7 million loss it made a year prior.
Meanwhile, free-to-air broadcaster Television New Zealand (TVNZ) has picked up rights in the country to LIV Golf for 2025.
The deal, which was struck ahead of LIV Golf’s tournament in Adelaide last weekend, will see all tournaments during the 2025 season shown via the broadcaster’s TVNZ+ streaming service.
Melodie Robinson, TVNZ’s head of sports, events, and partnerships, said: “LIV Golf is another perfect global sport to add to our sports line-up, complementing our comprehensive free sports menu on TVNZ+ in 2025.”
The deal adds to TVNZ’s sports programming, after taking over most of Spark Sport’s broadcast rights in July 2023 after the streaming service shut down, including all home New Zealand international cricket until the end of 2025-26.
It has also held the rights to the country’s top-tier netball competition, the ANZ Premiership, as well as Japan’s Rugby League One.
LIV, meanwhile, announced a partnership with commercial broadcaster ITV, earlier this month.
The lucrative golf tour also recently secured a major US media rights deal with the Fox media giant for the 2025 campaign that began on February 6 with LIV Golf Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.
However, that event drew dreadful ratings, averaging only 40,200 viewers for its final round, (despite the gimmick of it being played at night, under floodlights), as it was staged at 10am Eastern Time in the US. The Saturday 10am round broadcast on Fox Sports 1 averaged 54,000, meanwhile.
