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      Jamie Carragher slams ‘CLOWN’ Rio Ferdinand and even takes dig at Steven Gerrard as he savages BT Sport punditry

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      CBS SPORTS pundit Jamie Carragher brutally savaged his BT Sport rivals last night.That’s by branding Rio Ferdinand a “clown” while also aiming a dig at ex-Liverpool teammate Steven Gerrard.
      Jamie Carragher savaged BT Sport duo Rio Ferdinand and Steven Gerrard last nightCredit: Twitter
      Carragher stunned CBS pals like Thierry Henry following Inter Milan’s 2-0 win over ACCredit: Twitter
      Carragher was adamant Inter Milan should not have had a penalty for a challenge on Lautaro MartinezCredit: Getty
      The trio were all on punditry duty for their respective outlets in yesterday’s Champions League semi-final between AC and Inter Milan.
      Two early goals from the Nerazzurri saw them secure a 2-0 advantage in the first leg.
      It could and should have been more as they ended up having 16 shots at goal in a dominant performance.
      But Inter felt they were wrongly denied a penalty in the first half when Lautaro Martinez went down following contact from Simon Kjaer.
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      The referee initially blew for a spot-kick and even proceeded to book the Dane.
      But VAR advised him to check a replay, and after consulting the pitch-side monitor he reversed his decision.
      Footage suggested there had been some contact on Martinez, albeit he had made the most of it.
      BT Sport duo Ferdinand and Gerrard were livid at the ref’s decision to overturn the penalty.
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      Simon Kjaer was initially penalised for the slight contact before VAR overturned the decisionCredit: Getty
      Carragher said ex-Liverpool teammate Gerrard used to go down easily for penaltiesCredit: Getty
      Carragher called Ferdinand a ‘clown’ for thinking Inter should have won a penaltyCredit: Getty
      But Carragher was adamant that, especially after watching the replay, it was the right call.
      And he left fellow CBS pundits Thierry Henry and Micah Richards stunned with his comments.
      Carragher said: “I think anyone out there who is watching the replay and seeing what VAR do and still believe that is a penalty, they must be a clown.”
      When shown a tweet revealing Gerrard’s thoughts, Carragher continued: “He was an attacking player, wasn’t he?
      “He was liable a little bit himself under a little bit of contact — always contact, never a dive. I understand where he is coming from.
      “It’s just when players in my position who are defenders, English defenders who are commentating on the game…
      “I understand attackers thinking it was a penalty if you (Henry) did, and Steve was an attacker. Maybe he felt there was a little bit of contact.
      Rio Ferdinand! I’m happy to call him a clownJamie Carragher
      “But as a defender we have to stick together, don’t we, and I just felt people were getting a little bit carried away.”
      Pal Richards then chirped: “Name names!”
      To which Carragher replied: “Rio Ferdinand! I’m happy to call him a clown.”
      But Ferdinand doubled down as he tweeted: “Still think it’s a penalty…”
      Ferdinand and Carragher famously clashed on Twitter in October after the latter was snubbed pitch-side by ex-Man Utd striker Cristiano Ronaldo.
      Responding to Ferdinand joking he was upset, Carragher said: “No I’m delighted it went viral. 
      “Rio I know how it works, he’s your mate and you/Evra and the rest are on the group Whatsap and he asks you to come out and defend him.
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      “Don’t be his fan boy you’re Rio Ferdinand FFS!”
      This saw Ferdinand reply: “What Whatsapp group? Leave off lad… I want this same energy with Roy Keane when you’re next in the studio ffs. Stop getting bullied.” More

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      Micah Richards’ Real Madrid vs Man City notes brutally revealed by Carragher… and they consist of just FOUR words

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      JAMIE CARRAGHER brutally revealed the extent of Micah Richards’ homework ahead of Manchester City’s clash in Real Madrid – and it contained just FOUR words.Kevin De Bruyne’s stunner earned the Cityzens a brilliant 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final.
      Micah Richards’ pre-match notes were brutally exposed by Jamie CarragherCredit: https://twitter.com/CBSSportsGolazo
      Carragher couldn’t help but laugh at Richards’ notesCredit: Twitter @CBSSportsGolazo
      The Liverpool legend revealed that he only had four words written downCredit: Twitter @CBSSportsGolazo

      And much-loved ex-City defender Richards was tasked with providing analysis for American channel CBS Sports along with Liverpool legend Carra and Thierry Henry in the studio.
      Before the game he was pressed to make a prediction on the scoreline and how it would pan out.
      And it’s fair to say Richards didn’t have much to go on.
      Richards said: “Don’t ask me about the game because I don’t know what it’s going to be.
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      “I’ve done all my analysis and tried to pick the bones out of it…”
      At that point Carragher jumped in and said: “Can I just interrupt for one second. Give us your pad…
      “You know when he said that he’s done all of his analysis, can you just zoom in please.”
      At that point he held aloft the pad he had snatched from in front of Richards and held it up for the camera.
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      Carragher continued: “It just says ‘Man City’ and ‘Real Madrid.’”
      The camera then zoomed in to show a blank page which had just the two team names written down and nothing else.
      As Richards, 34, burst into laughter, Carragher said: “There’s the analysis. There it is.”
      The red-faced Richards then replied as Carragher and Thierry Henry chuckled: “Usually it’s hours and hours but today there is no prediction from me.”
      The incident marked an unfortunate few days for Richards after he spilt coffee over himself, with Gary Neville then sharing the footage of the embarrassment mishap while working for Sky Sports. More

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      Thierry Henry and Micah Richards hide faces in embarrassment as Jamie Carragher auditions for new role on CBS Sports

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      THIERRY HENRY and Micah Richards hid their faces in embarrassment as Jamie Carragher auditioned for a new role.The Liverpool legend was alongside his fellow pundits for CBS Sports covering the Champions League quarter-final action.
      Jamie Carragher had viewers in stitches as he turned his hand to presentingCredit: CBS Golazo

      However, after a bit of bantering, the 45-year-old and host Kate Abdo swapped places as the show returned from an ad break.
      That meant that Carragher sat in the main chair, with Abdo squeezing between Henry and Richards, and led the show after an ad break.
      Carragher started with: “Welcome back to London town. Like Chelsea, Lady Abdo has been a bit just… A bit… disjointed tonight,” as both he and his colleagues burst out laughing at his mistake.
      “We are giving her a segment off. Jules wasn’t available at such short notice so ladies and gentlemen, and Micah, Kate is now in the, err, in the hotseat,” he continued.
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      “You want me to keep reading… Welcome to the Carra Show. Delicious passes, a smorgasbord of splendid goals and invariably compelling semi-final stories.
      “Lads, time for a good little natter and remember, you can feel it but don’t become it.”
      “That was smooth,” declared Richards as Henry agreed that it was “very good” – despite the pair both cringing at first and covering their faces in embarrassment.
      Carragher then turned the tables again on Abdo by asking for her semi-final predictions, which she produced an impressive response to herself.
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      But Richards soon stopped her in her tracks by saying: “You’re doing too good now, turn it down a notch!”
      After then going to reporter Mike Grella live in the studio, the anchor then challenged those in the studio on their Italian.
      But they failed miserably, with Grella even declaring that Carragher had called the Milan derby wrongly the “derby where somebody is sick”.
      With more laughing in the studio, Carragher, who now appeared to be getting the swing of it, almost expertly cut out to the break and after the clip was shared, fans loved it on Twitter.
      One wrote: “Best current football content on Twitter please keep flooding.”
      “These guys are good, funny, and engaging,” tweeted another.
      A fellow fan said: “Just great content!”
      Meanwhile, Carragher and Richards burst out laughing when Fikayo Tomori had earlier described Thierry Henry in glowing terms.
      The CBS Sports pundits chatted to the ace, who grew up in Kent. And he had the panel in stitches with his comment after Milan’s triumph over Napoli this week.
      Carragher said: “A little birdie tells me the guy who asked the question before me [Henry] is one of your biggest idols. What are your thoughts of him as a pundit as well as a player?”
      Tomori replied: “As a player of course there’s not much to be said.
      “Growing up, Thierry I hope you don’t mind me embarrassing you like this, but yeah I was a big fan and he was my idol. Obviously as I was getting older, I moved further back down the pitch.”
      Then he cracked the former defenders in the studio up as he added: “As a pundit, he’s really funny.”
      Carragher immediately jumped in, shouting: “Funny? Funny? That’s me and Micah not Thierry, he’s the analyst.”
      But Tomori explained: “We were watching the video of him doing the guess who and he guessed himself twice instead of Oli [Giroud]. So yeah he’s really funny.”
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      And that prompted more hilarious reactions from the ex-players and host Kate Abdo.
      But Abdo did have to apologise to Tomori after blunder pair Carragher and Richards both mispronounced his name as Fuh-kaw-ree instead of Fuh-kay-ow. More

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      Trevor Immelman, From Champion to the TV Booth

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      He won the Masters in 2008 and is now the lead golf analyst for CBS.Trevor Immelman didn’t appear to be on his game when he arrived at Augusta National Golf Club in April 2008. He’d just missed the cut at a tournament in Houston and in eight starts that year on the PGA Tour, had recorded only one top 20.No matter. He won the Masters Tournament by three strokes over Tiger Woods for his second tour victory. His first came at the Cialis Western Open in 2006.Immelman of South Africa, who has had many injuries, is no longer an active player. He has replaced Nick Faldo to become the lead analyst for CBS which will cover the Masters that begins on Thursday.Immelman, 43, reflected recently on his win in 2008 and role in the booth.The following conversation has been edited and condensed.When you think of that week, what comes to mind?In a lot of ways, it still feels like it was just yesterday. That obviously was an incredible week for my family and I, life changing really.Where did the magic suddenly come from?I won a huge tournament in South Africa at the end of 2007, and all of a sudden I started having some breathing issues. I had a tumor on my diaphragm. I had to have surgery. Thankfully, the tumor was benign. It took three months before I could start swinging again. I made an extremely slow start in ’08, but at the Houston Open, I only missed the cut by one shot and something clicked for me there. I went to Augusta feeling a little better about things.What did it feel like on Sunday to walk down the fairway at 18?It was the first time all week that I came out of this bubble or the zone or whatever you want to call it, and I started to recognize friends and family members and hear all the cheers. I’d watched all my heroes make that walk and win that tournament, and now for that to actually be happening to me was so mega-, mega-surreal.From left, Brian Anderson, Trevor Immelman and Charles Barkley on set at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Fla., last year.Mike Ehrmann/Getty ImagesWho did you hear from afterward that might have surprised you?Yogi Berra, how about that? I had played with him at the Pro-Am at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, so him and I had kept in touch. He gave me a ring, which was awesome.Was it tough to give up being a player?When I played and competed in a bunch of Masters and on tours all over the world, I gave it absolutely everything I could. To the point where I broke my body to pieces. So I can put my head on the pillow at night and be comfortable that I got as much out of my talent that I could. It also isn’t painful because I really enjoy this new chapter.So it was really your body breaking down, not your game?They go hand in hand. I blew out my wrist a couple of years after I won the Masters. I had to get a few surgeries on it and was just never quite the same.As of the second week of March, who are the favorites for Augusta?It’s quite open. It’s not like when I used to play, when it was 90 percent chance Tiger Woods was going to win and the rest of the field had a 10 percent chance. We’ve got 10 guys I believe are coming in there as favorites.Is there an international player we haven’t heard of who is a star on the horizon?His name is S.H. Kim. He’s 24. I got to spend some time with him this year. He is a stud. Has enough power to work the ball both ways, solid short game, and I would be extremely surprised if he doesn’t make the [2024] Presidents Cup team [the international competition held every two years].What is the toughest part of being lead analyst?Being able to take a side and have an opinion when the moment is right. There will be times when something polarizing happens and, as lead analyst, you need to be able to comment on what you think is right. You can’t always ride the fence. More

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      Sports presenter Kate Abdo left speechless over nipple joke live on CBS Sports leaving pundits in hysterics

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      KATE ABDO was left speechless after a crude nipple joke from Jamie Carragher while live on air. While presenting CBS Sports coverage for the Champions League, the hilarious quartet of Kate, Carragher, Thierry Henry and Micah Richards were back together.
      Kate Abdo was left speechless by a Valentine’s Day prankCredit: Twitter/@CBSSportsGolazo
      And she was left speechless after a Jamie Carragher jokeCredit: Twitter/@CBSSportsGolazo

      And for Tuesday’s Champions League coverage, Carragher and Co orchestrated a Valentine’s Day themed prank.
      A member of the crew surprised Kate by dressing as Cupid and delivering a bag of goodies.
      Kate was left shocked by the appearance, and through her laughter could only bring herself to say: “His nipple is out.”
      Liverpool legend Carragher then quipped in with a crude joke, saying: “It’s better his is out than yours.”
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      Henry then joined in the nipple based banter, joking: “I nearly lost my eyesight.”
      Cupid then left the screen, with fans online praising the crew for the fun antics.
      One commented: “Always a good time with the UCL crew!”
      A second said: “Glad the crew is back!👋.”
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      A third wrote: “This show is soo funny man i’ve never seen them acc talk about the games they’re just there for VIBES”
      However, one fan highlighted Carragher’s comment, saying: “‘Better his out than yours’ 😱😳😅.” More

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      Tiger Woods at the Genesis Invitational: How to Watch

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      Woods, who is expected to play alongside Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas on Thursday and Friday, will be competing in a traditional event for the first time since July.Tiger Woods will return to competition on Thursday for the first time since July in another test for a body that has repeatedly been rebuilt but is, at least in Woods’s judgment, still hard-wired to contend.Woods, 47, will enter the Genesis Invitational, at the Riviera Country Club west of downtown Los Angeles, not having played a traditional golf event since the British Open last summer at St. Andrews in Scotland, where he missed the cut. Earlier in 2022, he withdrew from the P.G.A. Championship after three rounds and finished 47th at the Masters Tournament.But Woods, who is expected to play alongside Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas on Thursday and Friday, insists that he is prepared for the Genesis, which he hosts but has never won, nearly two years after the Los Angeles-area car wreck that nearly cost him a leg. More recently, he has confronted a bout of plantar fasciitis, but he has suggested that the car crash’s consequences still loom far larger.“It’s more my ankle, whether I can recover from day to day,” Woods said on Tuesday. “The leg is better than it was last year, but it’s my ankle.”He would like to win the Genesis, of course, where he made his PGA Tour debut in 1992, when he was a 16-year-old amateur. (It was then known as the Los Angeles Open.) Much of this week’s appearance, though, seems to be about fine-tuning his plan to prepare for the Masters, a major tournament that will begin on April 6 at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia.“I’m not going to be playing a full schedule so I’ve got to be able to pick and choose my events and how many events I’m going to play,” Woods said. “I alluded to last year it’s going to be probably the majors and maybe a couple more. Would I like to play more? Yes. Will it allow me to? I don’t know. I have to be realistic about that.”The Genesis field is a sturdy one, in part because it is one of the PGA Tour’s new “designated events,” leaving many of the tour’s top players unable to skip it.Besides McIlroy and Thomas, participants will include Scottie Scheffler, who reclaimed the world No. 1 ranking from McIlroy over the weekend after his victory at the Phoenix Open; and Jon Rahm, a former world No. 1 who has already won two tournaments this year. Max Homa, who won the Genesis in 2021, will be seeking his third victory since September.But last year’s Genesis victor, Joaquin Niemann, will be absent: He has since defected to LIV Golf, the circuit financed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.How to Watch the Genesis InvitationalThe first two rounds will be broadcast on Golf Channel on Thursday and Friday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern time. Woods is scheduled to tee off at 3:04 p.m. on Thursday and 10:24 a.m. on Friday.For the final two rounds, on Saturday and Sunday, the Golf Channel will broadcast from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and then CBS will have coverage from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and then 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Sunday.ESPN+ will stream coverage of all four rounds.Woods’s scheduled appearance at the Genesis Invitational seemed to be about fine-tuning his plan to prepare for the Masters Tournament.Cliff Hawkins/Getty ImagesTee times for top groups on ThursdayAll times are Eastern.10:24 a.m. — Jon Rahm, Patrick Cantlay, Viktor Hovland (No. 10)10:35 a.m. — Tony Finau, Billy Horschel, Adam Scott (No. 10)10:46 a.m. — Max Homa, Tom Kim, Xander Schauffele (No. 10)10:57 a.m. — Will Zalatoris, Cameron Champ, J.B. Holmes (No. 10)3:04 p.m. — Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Tiger Woods (No. 1)3:15 p.m. — Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth, Collin Morikawa (No. 1)3:26 p.m. — Justin Rose, Hideki Matsuyama, Shane Lowry (No. 1)3:37 p.m. — Sam Burns, K.H. Lee, Cameron Young (No. 1)Tee times for top groups on Friday10:24 a.m. — Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Tiger Woods (No. 10)10:35 a.m. — Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth, Collin Morikawa (No. 10)10:46 a.m. — Justin Rose, Hideki Matsuyama, Shane Lowry (No. 10)10:57 a.m. — Sam Burns, K.H. Lee, Cameron Young (No. 10)3:04 p.m. — Jon Rahm, Patrick Cantlay, Viktor Hovland (No. 1)3:15 p.m. — Tony Finau, Billy Horschel, Adam Scott (No. 1)3:26 p.m. — Max Homa, Tom Kim, Xander Schauffele (No. 1)3:37 p.m. — Will Zalatoris, Cameron Champ, J.B. Holmes (No. 1) More

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      LIV Golf Series Reaches TV Deal With The CW

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      After its debut season was relegated to internet platforms, the circuit that includes Phil Mickelson and Cameron Smith will be on the CW network in 2023.LIV Golf, at last, has a television deal.The new circuit, bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and the catalyst for a year of turmoil in men’s professional golf, said Thursday that its 54-hole, no-cut tournaments would air on the CW network and its app beginning next month.Although the arrangement is a milestone for LIV Golf, whose tournaments last year were relegated to internet streams even as it showcased stars like Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson and Cameron Smith, the deal also underscores the circuit’s short-term limitations and the challenges any alternative league faces in gaining entry into the American sports market.America’s top broadcasters were unlikely candidates for LIV Golf. CBS and NBC appeared unwilling to consider airing its events because of their close ties to the PGA Tour, and Disney-owned ABC was seen as a seemingly improbable landing spot because ESPN, which Disney also controls, streams many tour events. Another potential suitor, Fox, has stepped back from golf coverage in recent years.LIV Golf and CW officials did not immediately disclose the financial terms of the agreement, but a person familiar with the arrangement, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the contract’s details were confidential, said LIV had not purchased airtime from the network. Instead, the person said, the terms offered both sides mutual financial benefits.“Our new partnership between the CW and LIV Golf will deliver a whole new audience and add to the growing worldwide excitement for the league,” Dennis Miller, the network’s president, said in a statement. “With CW’s broadcasts and streams, more fans across the country and around the globe can partake in the LIV Golf energy and view its innovative competition that has reimagined the sport for players, fans and the game of golf.”The agreement is a reprieve for LIV, which has spent recent months staring down its skeptics who have criticized the new tour’s absence of a television deal, its limited attendance at tournaments and the PGA Tour’s retention of many of the world’s top players. LIV Golf is hoping that its second season, which will begin with a tournament in Mexico in late February, will lead to fan and financial breakthroughs, especially as it more fully embraces a model that emphasizes franchises..css-1v2n82w{max-width:600px;width:calc(100% – 40px);margin-top:20px;margin-bottom:25px;height:auto;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;font-family:nyt-franklin;color:var(–color-content-secondary,#363636);}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-1v2n82w{margin-left:20px;margin-right:20px;}}@media only screen and (min-width:1024px){.css-1v2n82w{width:600px;}}.css-161d8zr{width:40px;margin-bottom:18px;text-align:left;margin-left:0;color:var(–color-content-primary,#121212);border:1px solid var(–color-content-primary,#121212);}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-161d8zr{width:30px;margin-bottom:15px;}}.css-tjtq43{line-height:25px;}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-tjtq43{line-height:24px;}}.css-x1k33h{font-family:nyt-cheltenham;font-size:19px;font-weight:700;line-height:25px;}.css-1hvpcve{font-size:17px;font-weight:300;line-height:25px;}.css-1hvpcve em{font-style:italic;}.css-1hvpcve strong{font-weight:bold;}.css-1hvpcve a{font-weight:500;color:var(–color-content-secondary,#363636);}.css-1c013uz{margin-top:18px;margin-bottom:22px;}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-1c013uz{font-size:14px;margin-top:15px;margin-bottom:20px;}}.css-1c013uz a{color:var(–color-signal-editorial,#326891);-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;font-weight:500;font-size:16px;}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-1c013uz a{font-size:13px;}}.css-1c013uz a:hover{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}What we consider before using anonymous sources. Do the sources know the information? What’s their motivation for telling us? Have they proved reliable in the past? Can we corroborate the information? Even with these questions satisfied, The Times uses anonymous sources as a last resort. The reporter and at least one editor know the identity of the source.Learn more about our process.In December, when The New York Times disclosed a confidential McKinsey & Company analysis from 2021 that suggested that a Saudi-backed, franchise-filled golf league would face a tricky path to profitability and relevancy, a spokesman for the circuit said LIV was “confident that over the next few seasons, the remaining pieces of our business model will come to fruition as planned.”The McKinsey analysis considered a television deal a vital ingredient for a league’s success and suggested that the concept that became LIV could earn as much as $410 million from broadcast rights in 2028, if it settled into what it called a “coexistence” with the PGA Tour. But if the league remained mired in “start-up” status, the consultants wrote, it could expect no more than $90 million a year for its broadcast rights in 2028.In its antitrust case against the PGA Tour, which is not scheduled to go to trial before next January, LIV Golf has used its struggles to secure a television deal as evidence of what it sees as the long-dominant tour’s monopolistic behavior.The tour, which has television deals that will pay it billions of dollars in the coming years, has denied wrongdoing. But in a filing in August, LIV Golf’s lawyers asserted that the tour had “compromised” the new league’s prospects to reach a rights agreement and said that the tour had “threatened sponsors and broadcasters that they must sever their relationships with players who join LIV Golf, or be cut off from having any opportunities with the PGA Tour.”LIV also said that CBS officials had said “they cannot touch LIV Golf even for consideration” because of the network’s ties to the PGA Tour. (Paramount Global, which controls CBS, holds a minority stake in the CW. The tour also has a contract with Warner Bros. Discovery, another minority stakeholder in the CW.)LIV’s pursuit of a television deal proved more turbulent — or at least more public — than the last time its chief executive, Greg Norman, tried to build a rival to the PGA Tour. In 1994, when Norman rolled out plans for a new tour, he had buy-in from Fox, which had extended a 10-year commitment. The uprising ended quickly anyway.Despite the headwinds this time, Norman had projected confidence for months that LIV would secure some kind of contract. In November, he called a television deal “a priority” and predicted that one would be locked down “very, very soon.” More

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      Why You Can’t Watch LIV Golf on American Television

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      The human rights record of its funder, Saudi Arabia, may be the least of the new tour’s challenges when it comes to getting on American television.For the Saudi-backed upstart LIV Golf tour, the strategy for luring top golfers like Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson away from the prestige and stability of the PGA Tour was simple: Offer cash, and lots of it.The arrival of the new tour and the defection of PGA Tour stars were major disruptions in what has been a stable and even staid sport. But when the first LIV event was finally held outside London last weekend after months of anticipation, it was not shown on television in the United States. And it’s unlikely that any American network will be broadcasting LIV events anytime soon.The reason boils down to this: The networks are happy airing the PGA Tour.“We are positioned as the home of golf in this country,” said Pete Bevacqua, the chairman of the NBC Sports, which shows by far the most golf in the United States. “We are not only satisfied where we are, but unbelievably pleased where we are.”Some golfers couldn’t resist the pull of the new tour, whose events are shorter than the PGA Tour’s (three days instead of four) and offer huge payouts, with individual winners receiving $4 million and the members of winning teams sharing $3 million, far more than most PGA Tour events. Even last-place finishers get $120,000; PGA Tour players who don’t make the cut after two rounds get nothing.Charl Schwartzel of South Africa won $4 million for winning the inaugural LIV Golf tournament. He pocketed another $750,000 because his team won the team competition.Alastair Grant/Associated PressBut the LIV tour got nowhere with those who might have aired its events in the United States. Representatives for LIV Golf spoke with most American broadcasters, but did not have substantive discussions about a media rights agreement with any of them, according to people familiar with those discussions. LIV broached the idea of buying time to show the London tournament on Fox — an inversion of the normal business relationship, where the media company pays the sports organization to show its event — but discussions did not go far.In the end, the London tournament was not on American broadcast TV or popular sports streaming platforms such as Peacock and ESPN+. Instead, golf fans could watch it on the streaming service DAZN, YouTube, Facebook or LIV Golf’s website, without commercials.Limited viewership numbers suggest not many of them did. The final round of the London event attracted an average of 68,761 viewers on YouTube and fewer than 5,000 on Facebook, according to Apex Marketing, a sports and entertainment analytics firm. On the same weekend, 812,000 viewers watched the final round of the PGA Tour’s Canadian Open on Golf Channel, and 2.78 million watched when coverage switched over to CBS.The absence of a media rights agreement would normally threaten the survival of a new sports league. But LIV Golf is not a commercial entity with a profit imperative. It is bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and part of a larger effort by the kingdom to improve its image around the world. Players who have joined the LIV tour have been accused of helping to “sportswash” Saudi Arabia’s record of human rights abuses, including the killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.LIV did not respond to a request for comment.But NBC and other broadcast networks have a long list of reasons other than reputational damage to steer clear of the new venture.LIV’s main barrier to entry in the United States is that most major media companies are deeply invested in the success of its competitor, the PGA Tour. NBC, CBS and ESPN are collectively in the first year of a nine-year, $6 billion-plus agreement to show the PGA Tour in the United States, while Warner Bros. Discovery (which owns TNT and TBS) is paying the PGA Tour $2 billion to show the tour worldwide.The media companies are not contractually restricted from showing LIV, according to the people familiar with the deals, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private agreements. But they believe that doing so would draw attention away from the tour on which they are spending billions.Fox, which has a history of risk-taking in sports (it is currently investing in spring football), might seem like a good candidate to team up with LIV, but Fox does not televise any golf, and that is by design. The network had the rights to broadcast the U.S. Open through 2026, but paid money to give up those rights to NBC.Even if networks wanted to take a chance on LIV Golf, the logistical challenges would be significant. Golf monopolizes entire weekends throughout the year and is more expensive to produce than arena- and stadium-based sports. (Golf presents a particularly difficult hurdle for Fox, which rarely puts sports on its streaming service, Tubi, meaning it is difficult to show golf when schedules collide.)Phil Mickelson at the LIV Golf tournament near London. The winner of 45 PGA Tour events, he was suspended by the PGA Tour after announcing he would play on the LIV tour.Paul Childs/ReutersLIV Golf also did not have any stars on board until recently, and it is not clear whether it will attract enough top golfers to make its events attractive to fans. Questions about the tour’s backing have been uncomfortable for those who have joined.“I would ask any player who has left or any player who would ever consider leaving, ‘Have you ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA Tour?’” Jay Monahan, the commissioner of the PGA Tour, said in a televised interview Sunday.Players who have signed contracts with LIV have been booted from the PGA Tour, though that could soon become the subject of litigation. Players have also been dropped by sponsors, either because of the association with Saudi Arabia or because companies don’t want to support golfers competing on a tour few are watching.A Quick Guide to the LIV Golf SeriesCard 1 of 6A new series. More