The deal is done. All 14 events in the 2023 LIV Golf season will air on The CW. The tour and the network have agreed to a multi-year deal which finally puts the upstart LIV Golf on television in the United States.

LIV Golf makes its CW debut next month. The network will carry LIV’s competition at the Mayakoba Resort’s El Camaleón course in Mexico from February 24th-26th.

“This is a momentous day for LIV Golf as this partnership is about more than just media rights. The CW’s nationwide reach as America’s fifth broadcast network will provide accessibility for our fans and maximum exposure for our athletes and partners,” CEO & Commissioner of LIV Golf Greg Norman said in a press release. “The CW recognizes the enormous interest in and potential of our league and with their support, more fans will experience the energy and innovative competition that LIV Golf is using to reinvigorate the sport.”

The arrangement is unique. Saturday and Sunday competitions will be available both on The CW and The CW app. Friday events will only be available to stream through the app.

Finding a television partner has yielded some very public struggles for LIV Golf. The tour went without a media partner in the United States for its first season. All events were available for free exclusively online. Norman told ESPN Chicago that all four major networks spoke with LIV Golf, but those talks did not result in a deal. Apple and Amazon also reportedly passed with Apple saying the league and its backing from Saudi Arabia were “too toxic”.

Dennis Miller, president of The CW, sees the tour as a smaller piece in a larger strategy to remake the network.

“For The CW, our partnership with LIV Golf marks a significant milestone in our goal to re-engineer the network with quality, diversified programming for our viewers, advertisers, and CW affiliates. This also marks the first time in The CW’s 17-year history that the network is the exclusive broadcast home for live mainstream sports,” he said.

LIV Golf is not the only sport that The CW has been connected to in recent months. The network has also explored launching a college football bowl game in Cincinnati.

ESPN’s Pardon The Interruption has reason to celebrate. The show’s highest-rated broadcast in five years aired earlier this week.

On Monday, January 16th, 1.1 million viewers tuned into Pardon The Interruption. It is the largest audience for the show since January 9th, 2018.

The program was helped by being a lead-in to the network’s coverage of the NFC Super Wild Card game that featured the Dallas Cowboys facing Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That game broadcast saw the most-watched NFL game from a Disney-owned network since Super Bowl XL in 2006. 30.6 million viewers tuned into the Cowboys victory.

The show — hosted by Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser — airs at 5:30 PM ET and has been a staple program in ESPN’s afternoon lineup since launching in 2001.

Past reunions of Mike and the Mad Dog have been put on hold in the past, but ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith has now gone on the record promising he’ll bring Mike Francesa and Chris “Mad Dog” Russo together on First Take.

While appearing on The Howard Stern Show Wednesday to promote his book Straight Shooter, Smith was asked about the New York radio icons, and how his relationship has grown with Russo after Mad Dog joined First Take as a regular contributor.

“My respect for both of them is profound,” Smith said. “They are pioneers in this business. And when I brought Mad Dog on my show First Take, the bosses didn’t think they could get him. I picked up the phone and in like two seconds he was like, ‘I’m in. I’m there for you.’ I love the guy. This guy and Mike Francesa started sports talk radio. They made sports talk radio what it is. And guess what else I’m gonna do, Howard? I’m gonna bring them both in soon for an appearance on First Take.”

In December, Francesa admitted a report from Andrew Marchand of The New York Post linking an on-screen reunion with his longtime partner “had a lot of truth to it“.

“They did ask me to do it,” Francesa said on his podcast at the time. “It was — as far as I knew — a one time thing. That was my understanding at the time. We haven’t discussed it since last April, maybe May.”

The former WFAN personality added his discussions with First Take were not centered around joining the show on a permanent basis, but strictly as a one-time reunion with his former partner. Francesa declined the opportunity to surprise Russo, saying “I was a little leery of surprising anyone. I felt better if they knew about it.”