The CW has reached a multiyear agreement for the TV rights to LIV Golf events, a deal that will raise the U.S. profile of the controversial Saudi-backed league.
The pact announced Thursday is the first major programming move for the CW under the ownership of Nexstar Media Group, which acquired a majority stake in the network last year.
LIV Golf — a deep-pocketed upstart rival of the PGA — is backed by the Public Investment Fund, owned by Saudi Arabia. The league has been criticized as a means for the Saudi government to distract public attention from its record of human rights violations that include torturing prisoners and people detained by police, criminalizing public protests and discrimination against women.
