LIV CEO claims business as usual amid reports of demise
LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil acknowledged that the fledgling golf league’s finances are “very tightly managed” and said structural changes are on the way, but he remained adamant Thursday that the league would not close.
O’Neil interviewed LIV staff during the TV broadcast of the first round of LIV Golf Mexico City, a day after the Financial Times reported that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund was on the verge of cutting its funding for the league it helped launch in 2022.
O’Neil, who has been in the role for 16 months after replacing LIV’s first CEO, Greg Norman, did not mention Saudi Arabia or its finances in the interview.
“For us, it’s business as usual,” O’Neil said. “If you ask me if this job is hard, I’d say absolutely. If you ask me if we’re managed too tightly, I’d say absolutely. Can it be challenging? Absolutely, and that’s what we signed up for, not just me, but you and everyone who was with us in Mexico City. We signed up for this adventure, and it’s the journey of a lifetime, or rather, I should say, a lifetime.”
Both O’Neil and LIV’s publicists mocked the report and the resulting speculation. At the beginning of the broadcast, David Feherty called the reports “complete nonsense” while Arlo White declared LIV the victim, saying, “It must be exhausting trying to destroy the LIV Golf league.”
As for O’Neil’s interview, he appeared to dismiss the idea that they were “summoned” for an emergency call, while confirming that LIV executives met in New York this week.
“I live in New York, so it was easy to call myself out there, but it was very difficult to reach out and capture the headlines, the clickbait, and the stories,” O’Neil said.
O’Neil has hinted multiple times that structural changes are coming to LIV Golf, but it’s unclear whether that has to do with the format, business structure, or something else. LIV has already abandoned the 54-hole tournament format in favor of a traditional 72-hole format in favor of limited Official World Golf Ranking points.
“What I’m really excited about is how we move forward,” O’Neil said. “I talked about some structural changes. They’re coming. You can ask the 50 people I met at Augusta (at the Masters). I’ve laid out the plan. We have a plan, and it might surprise some people. But I’ll tell you this, the idea of launching teams, I got two calls this morning. Do you need to raise money for this? Probably. It’s business.”
“But if we keep it going and keep revenue growing, this is going to be a really good business for a really long time.”
O’Neil has repeatedly touted LIV Golf’s global appeal. Although it has struggled to gain ground or attract TV ratings in the United States, some of LIV’s most popular events have been in Australia and Asia, traditionally underserved by the PGA Tour and DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour).
Although three-way merger talks between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV ended following former PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan’s shocking announcement in 2023, it was previously rumored that the LIV-DP World Tour would merge. LIV Golf also has a strategic alignment with the Asian Tour.
“From a business perspective, last year we did almost half a billion dollars in sponsorships with major brands like Rolex, HSBC, Aramco. These are global brands. I think we’re in a great position,” O’Neil said. “From a structural perspective, this business will continue to develop as it has in the last 12 months. The good news for us is we know how to put on a show. We know how to grow the game. …
“Difficult things are good. But will there be a change in the way we operate? Sure. I would have told you this last year and six months ago. We want to blend LIV with national openings, major national openings around the world. We think those are the most underappreciated, undermarketed, underdeveloped assets in golf, and that’s because they put us on the course to grow the game of golf.”
