Despite paying millions of dollars to lure big-name players away from the established PGA Tour, the Saudi Arabian-funded LIV Golf Series remains without a UK broadcaster.
The event is about to enter its second year without a broadcaster and has so far been restricted to distributing coverage online through Facebook and YouTube.
It has now emerged that following pre-Christmas discussions with Sky Sports, BT Sport and DAZN completed without a contract, the backers are now considering other options. The Daily Mail reported Thursday that one of the options would be to offer the tour direct to broadcasters, free-of-charge.
Such a move is not without precedent. In 2005, the UK horseracing sector effectively paid Channel 4 to maintain its coverage of horse racing in order to ensure those within the betting community without access to digital TV could follow the races.
Sly has close links to the PGA Tour, so is unlikely to be a contender, while BT Sport, now in a JV with Warner Bros. Discovery, and DAZN are said to have baulked at the price.
DAZN has already purchased the rights to show the tour in other markets including Germany, Italy, Spain and Japan.
There is no suggestion that any money will change hands to get LIV onto UK screens.
