{"id":397378,"date":"2026-04-17T17:55:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T17:55:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/397378\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T17:55:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T17:55:13","slug":"liv-golf-business-as-usual-but-chief-admits-rebel-tour-may-need-to-raise-money-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/397378\/","title":{"rendered":"LIV Golf \u2018business as usual\u2019 but chief admits rebel tour may need to raise money \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The LIV Golf<\/a> chief executive, Scott O\u2019Neil, has admitted the nascent golf league\u2019s finances are \u201cmanaged very tightly\u201d and said structural changes are on the way that would probably mean they needed to raise money, but he remained adamant the league would not fold.<\/p>\n

He was interviewed by LIV employees during the TV broadcast of the first round of the rebel tour\u2019s Mexico City leg, a day after reports that Saudi Arabia\u2019s Public Investment Fund was to cut its funding for the league it helped launch in 2022.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neil, who has been in the position for 16 months after succeeding Greg Norman, did not address Saudi Arabia or its funding in the interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us, we\u2019re business as usual,\u201d O\u2019Neil said. \u201cIf you want to ask me if this business is tough, I would say absolutely. If you asked me if we\u2019re managed very tightly, I would say absolutely. Can this be challenging? Absolutely, and that\u2019s what we signed up for, not just me, you, everyone here that\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neil and LIV broadcasters poked fun at the report and the speculation that ensued. At the top of the broadcast, the former player David Feherty called the reports \u201cabsolute nonsense\u201d while Arlo White said: \u201cIt must be exhausting trying to will the LIV Golf league out of existence.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the interview, O\u2019Neil seemed to confirm that LIV executives met in New York this week while playing down the idea that they were \u201csummoned\u201d. \u201cI 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,\u201d O\u2019Neil said.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neil 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. The LIV name was derived from the 54-hole format, as LIV is 54 in Roman numerals.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow we go forward is what I\u2019m really excited about,\u201d O\u2019Neil said. \u201cI talked about some structural changes. They\u2019re 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: \u2018Do you have to raise money?\u2019 Probably. This is business.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neil repeatedly touted LIV Golf\u2019s global appeal. While it has struggled to gain footing or attract TV ratings in the US, some of LIV\u2019s most popular events have been in Australia and Asia, markets traditionally underserved by the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom a business standpoint, we did almost a half a billion dollars in sponsorship last year with big brands like Rolex and HSBC, Aramco. These are global brands. I\u2019m thinking we\u2019re in a wonderful position,\u201d O\u2019Neil said. \u201cFrom 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWill 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.\u201d \u2013 Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The LIV Golf chief executive, Scott O\u2019Neil, has admitted the nascent golf league\u2019s finances are \u201cmanaged very tightly\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397379,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,187705,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-397378","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-liv-golf-invitational-series","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-top-news","12":"tag-top-stories","13":"tag-topnews","14":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}