{"id":336964,"date":"2025-12-10T14:33:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T14:33:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/336964\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T14:33:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T14:33:13","slug":"tv-ratings-pga-tour-arms-race-and-how-change-looks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/336964\/","title":{"rendered":"TV ratings, PGA Tour arms race, and how ‘change’ looks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before you consider the enormity of the task facing LIV Golf CEO Scott O\u2019Neil<\/a> \u2014 before you debate the merits of TV ratings and PR battles and a sport in a prolonged state of competitive upheaval and $5 billion in Saudi funding \u2014 you must first remember something very critical.<\/p>\n

Scott O\u2019Neil chose this.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow you live is truly a choice,\u201d O\u2019Neil wrote in his book, \u201cBe Where Your Feet Are.\u201d \u201cWhat you\u2019re going to do and who you are going to do it with, those are choices only you can make. That was my \u2018aha\u2019 moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

In two decades as a sports executive (mostly in basketball), O\u2019Neil has earned an MD in organizational surgery \u2014 first as a rising marketing and sales executive with the New Jersey Nets and Philadelphia Eagles of the early-to-mid-90s, then as president of Madison Square Garden Companies with the early-Carmelo Anthony Knicks and finally as the CEO of the Process-era<\/a> Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils. In all of those jobs, O\u2019Neil found himself selling the business of losing \u2014 and navigating the path back to winning.<\/p>\n

These experiences forged a worldview O\u2019Neil leans on today, as the chief executive of a golf league still in its infancy. Since replacing Greg Norman as LIV CEO in January 2025, O\u2019Neil has sought to overhaul LIV\u2019s business, reorient its standing in the pro golf world and lay the groundwork for a pathway to profitability. These goals might sound opaque, but they\u2019ve yielded some tangible shifts: In November, O\u2019Neil announced LIV \u2014 an organization so attached to 54-hole tournaments it is named for the roman numeral for 54 \u2014 was extending its events to 72 holes<\/a>, effective immediately.<\/p>\n

As the calendar turns toward 2026, there are still many questions left for O\u2019Neil\u2019s league to answer: About LIV\u2019s changing tune over the \u201crivalry\u201d with the PGA Tour, its long struggle for financial viability and, perhaps most pressingly, how the league judges itself. Earlier this week, I spoke to O\u2019Neil about all of these topics and more; our conversation below has been lightly edited for length and clarity.<\/p>\n

Scott, I\u2019ve heard you refer to yourself a few times as a \u201cchange agent.\u201d What did you think needed to be changed about LIV Golf when you took the job?<\/p>\n

Yeah, I would say any four-year-old business in a very mature industry needs to be nimble, hard-charging, relentless. Needs to be on the journey of evolution, if you will. What the group went through here to build and break through in golf \u2014 I don\u2019t know if we\u2019ll ever see it in our lifetimes again, and I think it\u2019s somewhat spectacular. <\/p>\n

What I\u2019m coming here to do is to take that foundation and build the business. There are a whole host of paths that may lead us on. One is clearly on the golf side \u2014 on the golfer side. When you start to see faces like Tom McKibben, Josele Ballester and David Puig and Caleb Surratt \u2014 when you start to see an emerging next generation of talent, it should give us confidence that this is going in the right direction. <\/p>\n

But I came here to complete, not compete \u2014 and, philosophically, that\u2019s quite a shift and a change. How do we partner with the institutions that are becoming [our] very good friends at the majors? The USGA and the R&A are our agronomy partners; I\u2019d imagine that was unthinkable four years ago. To think that those two organizations would open up pathways for us and recognize LIV? It\u2019s wonderful.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d say getting on broadcast television was another one. Getting on one of the big four networks and launching on Fox; adding a handful of household names as marketing partners like HSBC and Salesforce and Qualcomm; and having endemics like Ping and Callaway raise their hand and say, \u201cOh yeah, some of the best players in the world are there.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the kind of stuff that we talked about achieving early on, and we\u2019ve had a fair amount of success.<\/p>\n

Something I\u2019ve always been a little perplexed by is that LIV doesn\u2019t often publicly state its goals. It is very hard to know what LIV thinks about LIV\u2019s performance to date. I\u2019ve noticed you changed that a bit. You announced $500 million in new sponsorships earlier this year, and have been a little bit more transparent about bigger goals, like the OWGR. But before I get into the details, I wanted to ask you a simple question: If your time at LIV is a success, what will it look like?<\/p>\n

I would say that we are the dominant global golf league and are recognized as such outside the U.S. I think that would be successful.<\/p>\n

What are some specific metrics you use to judge whether you\u2019re successful in that goal? What do you look for to say \u201cwe\u2019re on the right track\u201d or \u201cthis is where we need to keep growing\u201d?<\/p>\n

I have this hat I wear all the time at home that says, Never satisfied, always grateful. There aren\u2019t many things we check the box on here, so my approach is slightly different.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not that we\u2019re not enjoying the journey of progress, because we are. It\u2019s not that the climb isn\u2019t exhilarating or fun. And it\u2019s not that the incredible team we have here at LIV didn\u2019t sign up for this. But this group is humble and hungry, and that combination sets us up for quite an adventurous run. I mentioned some of the things we\u2019ve seen great progress on, but we won\u2019t be outworked, and we think there\u2019s so much opportunity. <\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been in the sports business for a long time, and there are general principles across professional sports that apply to LIV. We\u2019re seeing so much opportunity here and \u2014 how do I say this in a way that doesn\u2019t sound like I\u2019m waving a flag? \u2014 I\u2019m confident. I\u2019m confident.<\/p>\n

What are some of the general sports principles that you\u2019re applying to LIV?<\/p>\n

LIV is different from other tours. First of all, it\u2019s a league, not a tour. But one thing I\u2019ve noticed is that we have extraordinary talent who we\u2019ve asked to make a commitment, and they have. Bryson [DeChambeau] has led the way on social media, but so has Phil Mickelson, who\u2019s 55 years old. Our players are shaking hands, taking selfies, signing autographs when the cameras aren\u2019t on them \u2014 that matters. They\u2019re showing up for extra media sessions. They\u2019re engaging in a broadcast. They\u2019re my business partners. You know, these guys are out hustling for sponsorship deals.<\/p>\n

Focusing on the product and the player is one thing that\u2019s universal across sports. Sometimes everybody gets distracted by the everything else. But we have the product right, and we have a commitment from the players that matter most in the world. <\/p>\n

But that\u2019s the first thing. The second thing is: This business is simple, not easy. There are little variations in each of the different sports. You\u2019ve got to get your broadcast and media platform right. You have to have marketing partners \u2014 in our case, globally \u2014 that understand what you\u2019re doing and want to get behind you. Your premium experience has to be second to none \u2014 when a VIP walks in, whether that\u2019s to a pro-am to some of our premium products, I believe it exceeds F1. And then you have to think about the fan. Can you concentrate your effort and focus on the fan? Our fan is the next-gen fan, and that\u2019s the other thing that sometimes you get distracted on: Can we keep the fan at the center?<\/p>\n

One of those focus areas you mentioned is media rights. LIV\u2019s rights have expanded over the years, but the audience hasn\u2019t necessarily followed. Why do you think LIV hasn\u2019t managed to sign a big-money TV rights partner?<\/p>\n

Well, let me take you back up 20,000 feet. It certainly is a startup league, but there isn\u2019t a four-year-old sports league in history that wouldn\u2019t take our deals. <\/p>\n

Remember, Fox is a big four network \u2014 and there are also positives in terms of ratings. We were up 120 percent year over year, and while that needs a lot more growth, if we manage a couple of 100 percent increases over the next several years, I think we\u2019ll be doing fine. <\/p>\n

Also, we feel [the ratings conversation] is different. This is a global league, and so I\u2019ve used the F1 and IndyCar analogy quite a bit. If we\u2019re Formula One and our good friends at the PGA Tour are IndyCar \u2014 IndyCar is a great business. It\u2019s a U.S.-centric business. But we\u2019ll get on a plane on February 1 and go to Riyadh, and then we\u2019ll go to Australia, and then we\u2019ll go to Hong Kong, and then Singapore and then South Africa. <\/p>\n

So I spend a lot of time thinking about our incredible partners at Fox and Fox Sports. But I\u2019m also thinking of the UK and Europe and Africa and Asia and Australia. For us, the canvas is a bit different, you know, it\u2019s a bit wider. I\u2019m not running from that. I\u2019m leaning into it and saying, \u201cOkay, well, what does the Asian market look like? Who are the sponsors we should be talking to? Who are the media partners?\u201d<\/p>\n

So, what\u2019s my perspective? Going back to never satisfied, always grateful: Am I grateful for where we are? Absolutely. A four-year-old league like this has never been done before in sports. But do I want more? Of course. <\/p>\n

How do you feel LIV\u2019s Official World Golf Ranking application fits into the conversation? You\u2019ve overseen a series of competitive changes aimed at earning entry into the OWGR, and if you\u2019re accepted, LIV events will help players qualify for the majors. Are you anticipating you\u2019ll be receiving world ranking points soon?<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t want to be presumptuous, but I can say that we\u2019re hoping to be recognized by OWGR before the start of the 2026 season. <\/p>\n

I\u2019m very impressed and grateful for [OWGR president] Trevor Immelman. I think he may have the toughest job in the world, and I may have suggested that he be up for a Nobel Peace Prize given what he\u2019s handling. Trevor speaks in the best interest of golf. <\/p>\n

I have a lot of time for those who talk about open pathways. I have a lot of time for those who think about the future of golf, in the best interest of golf, growing the game of golf. And all I\u2019ve seen from Trevor since day one is a lot of that.<\/p>\n

Last question. You wrote that you got fired from MSG when you were younger because you were more interested in being \u201cright\u201d than being \u201ceffective.\u201d What\u2019s an example of something at LIV where you chose being \u201ceffective\u201d over \u201cright’\u201d<\/p>\n

Oh man, I could give you 100 examples. I think when we came out of the gates, we were perceived as a bit anti-establishment. There have been some moments since I got here where we\u2019ve tried to take a breath, find some humility and have a balanced conversation. <\/p>\n

Sometimes that\u2019s very difficult. We\u2019ll have surprise objections at the last minute of deals, for example, we\u2019ll have the \u201cinvisible hand\u201d come get us at times. But the \u201cbeing effective\u201d part is about surrounding yourself with the most talented people in the world who stay focused on your mission.<\/p>\n

This is golf. I think it\u2019s the most powerful sport in the world. I think it\u2019s the most important sport in the world. It\u2019s a game that teaches you the most important values in the world: Humility and resilience and consistency, hard work. <\/p>\n

But it\u2019s still a game. At the end of the day, it\u2019s our jobs to put more clubs in more kids\u2019 hands, because we think those values matter in the world. <\/p>\n

I know that sounds like I\u2019m staying up at 20,000 feet, but if I don\u2019t do that, who\u2019s going to?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Before you consider the enormity of the task facing LIV Golf CEO Scott O\u2019Neil \u2014 before you debate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":336965,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":["post-336964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=336964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336964\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/336965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=336964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=336964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=336964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}