The Conversation
23 Jun 2022, 06:39 GMT+10
The LIV Golf Invitational Series held its first event recently at Centurion Club in St. Albans, England.
LIV is a challenger to established tours in men's golf - most notably the PGA Tour. Golfers have seemingly been lured to LIV by exorbitant paydays. LIV prize purses are lucrative. So too is the money reportedly paid to top golfers to choose LIV competitions over other tour options (approximately $125 million for Dustin Johnson and $200 million for Phil Mickelson).
As social scientists who study golf, media and politics, we are interested in LIV as a case study of the "attention economy" in sport.
The pursuit of attention helps explain LIV's efforts at carving out space in a competitive golf landscape. But LIV has also been controversial - most of all due to the financial backing LIV receives from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF).
What might be gained through an investment in the attention that LIV offers? What are the dynamics at work through such an investment? And what are the social and political implications?
The attention economy refers to the idea that attention has commercial value. For example, if attention is captured and retained, it can be sold - think of the (very costly) commercials that air during the Super Bowl each year.
Sport has special appeal in the attention economy because it generally commands a live audience. The fact that sport is good in-the-moment, unlike a sitcom that can be watched anytime, makes it excellent for capturing attention.
In one sense, LIV seems to be sidestepping these dynamics thanks to financial backing from Saudi Arabia's PIF (which extends Saudi Arabia's track record of investment in sport). This presumably relieves the pressure of matching revenue (like from broadcast contracts) to business costs (like prize purses).
But dig deeper and the fingerprints of the attention economy are there.
The Centurion Club event was shorter than a typical PGA tournament (54 holes instead of 72 - LIV refers to the Roman numeral for 54). Golfers began their rounds at different holes on the course at the same time, making for relatively compact viewing - "a broadcast-friendly four and a half hours."
LIV also touted "an audio-visual extravaganza of unprecedented depth and vibrancy." The series' CEO Greg Norman reportedly recruited David Hill, a renowned entertainment producer who previously helped overhaul Formula One broadcasts, with the hope of bringing a new generation to golf's aging fanbase.
LIV invokes a tradition of changing sport broadcasts (like hockey's infamous glow puck in the 1990s) and changing sport itself to attract consumer attention.
But perhaps the most important dynamic involves how, in the traditional golf format, star golfers command attention but have no guarantee of a tournament payout. The traditional tournament structure includes a mid-event cut line; if your score falls below it, you leave empty-handed.
Star players reportedly say their earnings should align with their status in the game. LIV's payouts to attract top golfers seemingly attempt to match financial rewards and attention. And there's no cut line: Everyone who played at the first LIV event earned at least $120,000.
Given the Saudi Arabian government's record of human rights abuses, LIV has been described as a case of sportswashing. Sportwashing is when sport - with all the good feelings it inspires - is used as a tool for diverting attention from social or environmental problems.
Sportwashing relates to the concept of soft power which means exerting influence by attracting, rather than coercing, others. Think diplomacy instead of military intervention.
Hosting or sponsoring sports events are examples of soft power plays, since the idea is to present the host country or sponsor in a positive light. Accusations of sportwashing cast a cynical eye on attempts to leverage sport for soft power purposes. In this case, the idea is that LIV is a public relations ploy for Saudi Arabia and golfers are complicit.
LIV participants have been heavily criticized. And golfers joining LIV seem to be twisting themselves into knots to explain their decision.
When asked if he was participating in sportwashing, golfer Talor Gooch said: "I don't think that's fair. Also ... I'm a golfer. I'm not that smart. I try to hit a golf ball into a small hole. Golf is hard enough." And golfer Graeme McDowell's logic was "we're not politicians" - implying only decisions made by politicians are meaningful.
Sports journalist Shireen Ahmed notes that golf itself has a history of sexism and racism, and we've previously described golf's ambiguous relationship with environmental issues - all relevant topics when reflecting on the ironies of using golf for sportwashing purposes.
The LIV series adds to the mountain of evidence that sport and politics are interconnected. It's also a case study in the attention economy and how its inseparable from the incentive systems that drive investment in sport - and the social issues that are embedded in and surround sport.
LIV's future is unclear. Will it attract sufficient interest to remain viable? Will this even matter, so long as it's backed by Saudi Arabia's PIF? Will golfers continue to leave established tours? To what extent will negative attention remain? How will fluctuations in the amount and type of attention influence those who cover, invest in and consume golf?
As it stands, for all the efforts at reimagining golf to attract consumer interest, the sportwashing discourse has brought an avalanche of negative attention to the LIV series, and rightfully so.
Authors: Brad Millington - Associate Professor, Sport Management, Brock University | Brian Wilson - Professor, School of Kinesiology, University of British Columbia
Get a daily dose of Massachusetts Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Massachusetts Sun.
More InformationMOSCOW, Russia: The UK newspaper, the Telegraph, has been blocked in Russia, following a request from the Russian prosecutor-general.The TASS ...
LAHORE, Pakistan - An Airbus 320 carrying 171 passengers narrowly avoided an accident at Allama Iqbal International Airport, Pakistan's second-largest ...
WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday vowed to "do all in my power" to protect a woman's ...
YANGON, Myanmar - According to military-run media, a junta delegation discussed nuclear technology collaboration with a Russian state-owned atomic energy ...
DHAKA, Bangladesh - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is providing more than Tk2.3 crore in emergency funding ...
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Cambodian villagers on the Mekong River have caught a stingray fish weighing 661 pounds, which is the ...
TOKYO, Japan: Amidst semiconductor shortages and COVID-19 parts supply disruptions, Toyota has reduced its July global production target by 50,000 ...
NEW YORK CITY, New York: Electric vehicle (EV) sales could reach 33 percent globally by 2028, and 54 percent by ...
BERLIN, Germany: To prevent large increases in food prices, officials from G7 countries, including Germany and the UK, will push ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is preparing to order Juul Labs to stop selling its e-cigarettes ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: As average home prices surged to a record high, reaching the $400,000 mark for the first time, and ...
MOSCOW, Russia: Russia's consumer price index has fallen by 0.12 percent for the third consecutive week.This drop in the consumer ...