Since the inception of LIV Golf, the golfing fraternity has been divided into two halves. One of the halves supported the brand-new Saudi-backed league, and the other half stayed loyal to the well-established PGA Tour. Interestingly, former US President Donald Trump had been one of the top supporters of the breakaway series. However, fans’ preferences for golf tours do not align with their political affiliations.
In a recent survey by The Harris Poll and Sportico, 51 percent of fans of the Saudi-backed league in the United States of America were politically inclined toward with left and had liberal ideology. That suggests that more than half of the “close followers” are not favorable towards Donald Trump.
However, the numbers were really surprising for the PGA Tour fans. Around 56 percent of the fans identified themselves as “more conservative” and 44 percent were inclined to “more liberal” ideology.
The survey was taken by taking 4,116 American adults over the age of 18 into account. As per The Harris Poll and Sportico survey, the country had 55 percent “more conservative” people.
However, the political affiliation of LIV Golf fans did not match with the numbers that suggested the Saudi-backed league’s political perceptions. As per the same survey, 59 percent of Americans feel the league is “more conservative”.
Will the merger deal between LIV Golf and PGA Tour affect the political affiliation of their fans?
The arrival of the LIV Golf League has caused a lot of stir-up in the American political system as well. The breakaway series had been constantly attacked by democratic politicians due to its finances coming from Saudi’s Public Investment Funds. They often called it yet another of the tactics used for “sportswashing” to cover up the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi and civil rights abuse in Saudi Arabia.
Before the announcement of the merger deal between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and the PIF (financers of LIV Golf), most of the fans and golf experts had similar views to the American democratic politicians. However, the Tour’s Commissioner Jay Monahan strongly backing the deal has put all the earlier allegations behind.
If the planned merger deal gets finalized and all things go well, it is quite certain that people get used to watching both tour events. Although this might take some time, it is quite evident that people would adapt to the change. However, fans changing their political preferences would not be much affected.
To prove that fact, let’s take a look at another stat provided by The Harris Poll and Sportico survey. 55 percent of fans of women’s college basketball are “more conservative”. Meanwhile, 63 percent of Americans feel the league itself is “more liberal” in nature. Interestingly, the league belongs to America and does not have any major foreign investments.
