Upstart sports streamer Caffeine TV has "abruptly closed, citing lagging profits just months after securing" LIV Golf’s digital broadcasting rights, according to James Colgan of GOLF. The announcement marks the “latest jarring development in an unfriendly media rights environment for LIV.” The league’s events, aired on the CW in a revenue-sharing agreement, have suffered "low TV audiences since the league signed a two-year pact" with the net in 2023, and the streaming world has “not been much friendlier.” LIV Golf had “very little to do with Caffeine TV’s financial situation,” which was tied “primarily to the startup’s struggles to properly chart its profits with investors.” However, few people knew about the streamer when LIV Golf announced the deal in February, and those who “did knew of it primarily as a home for niche sports like the World Surfing League.” Caffeine’s closure leaves LIV Golf "without a paid streaming rights partner" in the U.S. with six events remaining this year. LIV Golf does have other streaming options -- it "brought its streaming rights direct-to-consumer in 2022 and 2023 with a subscription-based product on YouTube ... and has continued to use those services after inking the Caffeine TV deal" (GOLF, 6/26).
