'Content is crucial in elevating fan engagement worldwide' - Rick Shiels

Becoming the first content creator to be officially signed as a strategic partner with LIV Golf was a proud moment for me and has been made all the more memorable after travelling to and filming at the first four events of the 2025 season.

Playing fantastic courses in Riyadh, Adelaide, Hong Kong and Singapore with some of the greatest players on the planet has generated so many ‘pinch me’ moments. None more so than when filming with the Majesticks GC in HK, co-captained by Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson and Lee Westwood, and the group behind was Phil Mickelson’s HyFlyers GC, who we’d filmed with earlier in the week.

Phil shouts, ‘Go on Rick, let’s see what you can hit!’ and boy that was a surreal moment!

One of my favourite golfing memories was watching The Open at Royal Troon in 2016, the battle between Mickelson and Stenson and I’m stood there on a tee-box literally between those two players. An incredible, unforgettable moment.

We’ve filmed incredible content with Jon Rahm, Sergio Garcia, Joaquin Niemann, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and the access is obviously incredible, and they have generated insights and moments that only content creators working at the heart of the action can produce and then package in ways which will bring more and more fans to the game.

I’m a fan of these guys, and we’re bringing a fan’s perspective to the table. What’s interesting is that they completely understand the significance of creating fun, engaging, and diverse content, as well as producing exciting content that you wouldn’t see if you only watched the televised coverage. This is crucial in elevating fan engagement worldwide.

What surprised me is how keen the players are to get involved in the content, they want to get on the videos and understand the value of getting involved. A lot of them, I’ve realised over the last few weeks, are fans of the channel.

The content we have been producing has been fantastic, and I would particularly pick out the day we filmed with Anthony Kim.

That video is not about the golf we played together, but listening to him speak about the challenging journey he has been on was very touching and shows you the kind of storytelling we are looking to produce. The feedback to that episode was overwhelmingly positive and thoughtful and it obviously touched a lot of hearts.

So next we go to Miami and Mexico and our shooting plans are coming together nicely. As this relationship develops and all the players become more familiar with the channel, our role in promoting the League will become more familiar, and the more engagement we will see. We’ve enjoyed around 42 million views since the partnership was announced in January and I’m hoping the unique approach we take to the content and storytelling we are producing will continue to show the League in a fantastic light.