LIV CEO claims ‘business as usual’ amid reports of demise

LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil admitted the nascent golf league’s finances are “managed very tightly” and said structural changes are on the way, but he remained adamant on Thursday (Apr 16) that the league will not fold.

O’Neil was interviewed by LIV employees on 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 position for 16 months after succeeding LIV’s initial CEO Greg Norman, did not address Saudi Arabia or its funding in the interview.

“For us, we are business as usual,” O’Neil said. “If you want to ask me if this business is tough, I would say absolutely. If you asked me if we are managed very tightly, I would say absolutely. Can this be challenging? Absolutely, and that’s what we signed up for, not just me, you, everyone here that’s with us down in Mexico City. We signed up for this adventure, and it is the ride of a lifetime, or should I say, round of a lifetime.”

Both O’Neil and LIV broadcasters have poked fun at the report and the speculation that ensued. At the top of the broadcast, David Feherty called the reports “absolute nonsense” while Arlo White made LIV out as victims by adding, “It must be exhausting trying to will the LIV Golf league out of existence.”

As for O’Neil’s interview, he seemed to confirm that LIV executives met in New York this week while refuting the idea that they were “summoned” on an emergency all-call.

“I live in New York, so it was easy to summon myself there, but it was a lot of reaching and grabbing for headlines and clickbait and stories,” O’Neil said.

O’Neil hinted more than once at structural changes coming to LIV Golf, though it is unclear if that pertained to format, business structure or something else. LIV has already shed its 54-hole tournament format, moving to a traditional 72 holes in order to receive limited Official World Golf Ranking points.

“How we go forward is what I’m really excited about,” O’Neil said. “I talked about some structural changes. They are coming. You can ask just about the 50 people I met in Augusta (at the Masters). I rolled out the plan. We have one, and it is going to – it might surprise some people. But I will tell you, this notion of bringing teams to market, I had two calls this morning. This notion of do you have to raise money? Probably. This is business.

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“But if we keep the trajectory going the way we are and the revenue growth going, this is going to be a really good business for a really long time.”

More than once, O’Neil touted LIV Golf’s global appeal. While it has struggled to gain footing or attract TV ratings in the United States, some of LIV’s most popular events have come in Australia and Asia, markets traditionally underserved by the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour).

Although talks for a three-way merger between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV petered out after the shock 2023 announcement from ex-PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, a LIV-DP World Tour merger has been rumoured before. LIV Golf also has a strategic alignment with the Asian Tour.

“From a business standpoint, we did almost half a billion dollars in sponsorship last year with big brands such as Rolex and HSBC, and Aramco. These are global brands. I’m thinking we are in a wonderful position,” O’Neil said. “From a structural standpoint, this business will continue to evolve as it has over 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.

“We have the hard stuff good. But will there be a change in how we operate? Of course. I would have told you that last year and six months ago. We are looking to blend a version of LIV and the national opens, the great national opens around the world. We think they are the most underappreciated, undermarketed, underdeveloped assets in golf, and the reason is it gets us on the ground to grow the game of golf.” REUTERS