Report: Saudi Arabia\u2019s PIF has funded only a third of what LIV Golf needs to get through rest of year<\/a><\/p>\nWith PIF no longer in the picture from next year, LIV\u2019s leadership team is now actively pursuing outside investment from private equity firms, family offices and professional sports team owners. But rather than finding one deep-pocketed backer to write a massive cheque, O\u2019Neil revealed LIV\u2019s preference is to build a global ownership group that reflects the international nature of its players and events.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy hope is that as we continue this journey and that we can find investors on the five continents where we play,\u201d\u00a0O\u2019Neil told Australian Golf Digest. \u201cI think having one in Asia, Europe, Africa, North America and, of course, Australia would mirror the look, impact and diversity of our players.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a strategy O\u2019Neil hopes will strike a chord with Australian companies and ultra-high-net worth individuals. With the all-Aussie team Ripper GC emerging as one of LIV\u2019s biggest success stories, and drawing 100,000-plus crowds in Adelaide every year, O\u2019Neil doubled down on his dream of capital investment from \u2018Down Under\u2019. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have 57 players from 21 countries. I mean, think about how special that is,\u201d he says. \u201cIn a perfect world, our future investors will come from different parts of the world \u2013\u00a0particularly Australia \u2013 and that\u2019s precisely who we\u2019re talking to right now. And what I have found really interesting over this first week is the interest from private equity has been great, family office has been terrific, and then a lot of team owners are talking to us too \u2013 professional sports team owners. What they\u2019ve said is, \u2018Look, I don\u2019t think we\u2019re going to invest $300 million. That\u2019s a big number. But would you take $25 million or $50 million?’\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s that exact proposition that now has LIV executives excited. By broadening its investor base rather than relying on a solitary financial backer, Scott says LIV Golf can create a more resilient and globally-aligned ownership model, one that distributes risk, unlocks regional opportunities and ensures key markets have a direct hand in the league\u2019s future.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn US dollars, we\u2019re raising $300 million, but could you imagine if we could have different investors from different markets around the world?\u201d\u00a0O\u2019Neil said.<\/p>\n
Part of the challenge in his search for funds has been the constant negative headlines and uncertainty since PIF\u2019s decision to pull the plug. Yet despite the scrutiny, O\u2019Neil insists the opportunity ahead far outweighs any challenges.<\/p>\n
\u201cI say it to my staff all the time: when you get in the rollercoaster line, you can\u2019t expect a carousel. And when that rollercoaster twists and turns and flips you upside down a few times, you\u2019re best to put your arms up and ride it with a smile. Well, our arms are up and we\u2019re smiling.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked what the biggest remaining misconception about LIV Golf is, O\u2019Neil pointed to the league\u2019s culture as evidence of what he believes outsiders often miss. \u201cI see the loneliest sport in the world becoming a family,\u201d\u00a0he said. \u201cI\u2019ll tell you who has very few misconceptions: anybody who\u2019s been to LIV Golf. Anyone who\u2019s seen it, anyone who\u2019s walked through the gates at one of our tournaments, there are very few misconceptions (from any of these people).\u201d<\/p>\n
The search for investors may only be two weeks old, but with nearly 20 meetings already scheduled and interest building across multiple continents, LIV\u2019s leadership appears confident it can secure the backing needed for its next phase. And if O\u2019Neil gets his wish, an Australian investor could soon find themselves alongside Cam Smith, Marc Leishman, Lucas Herbert and Elvis Smylie in helping shape the future of one of golf\u2019s most disruptive ventures. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LIV Golf chief executive officer Scott O\u2019Neil has lifted the lid on the league\u2019s next chapter, revealing an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":491310,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,27621,63,755,7929,14239,126132,187,94912,14640,121136,85],"class_list":["post-752201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-au","tag-aussies","tag-australia","tag-golf","tag-investors","tag-liv-golf","tag-liv-golf-adelaide","tag-money","tag-pif","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-scott-oneil","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=752201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752201\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/491310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=752201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=752201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=752201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}