Perhaps it’s too much to say that LIV Golf is enjoying a moment but, as the defiant league begins its fourth season, it appears to have found new footing as it charges into whatever the future holds.
The bitter feelings LIV Golf and its former leader Greg Norman engendered as it muscled its way into golf’s ecosystem have gradually dulled into, for many, a grudging acceptance of the game’s new-look landscape.
If and when Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund finalizes an agreement with the PGA Tour, it’s likely to be more investment oriented than immediately reuniting. In other words, if you’re hoping for LIV Golf to disappear, don’t hold your breath.
That’s not to say there won’t be any cross-pollination between the PGA Tour and LIV players should a deal be struck, but LIV isn’t likely to go away.
LIV Golf has a new 28,000-square-foot office in New York’s trendy Hudson Yards neighborhood, Norman has been replaced by Scott O’Neil, who brings with him an extensive background in sports business, and there’s a television deal with Fox Sports that can only help broaden the league’s exposure, a place where LIV has failed to develop any real traction.
O’Neil’s arrival is a significant step in LIV’s development for two reasons: What he brings as a successful longtime executive in professional sports and because it means Norman has stepped aside.
Though he went about it with a machete, Norman gave LIV instant presence within the game. Despite the hundreds of millions of dollars the PIF has been willing to throw at LIV, it was never going to be an easy sell.
LIV needed Norman. It needed someone who wasn’t afraid of what others said about him. It needed someone with a deep self-belief and a fire inside. Norman brought all of those and more.
“He is probably one of the only guys in golf who could have taken on that role,” Rory McIlroy, a frequent public critic of Norman, said recently.
At times, Norman came across as an agitator more than an ambassador. He made promises he couldn’t keep but he was selling more than a new league, he was selling a new vision and it was impossible not to believe some of that was driven by his acrimonious relationship with the PGA Tour, dating back three decades.
Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson, Cam Smith and others came for the money but Norman helped lead them there.
“With LIV Golf, we changed the game forever,” Norman said in a statement confirming his departure, though he will remain with LIV in an as yet unannounced role.
He’s not entirely wrong.
What LIV has changed is how the game is packaged, though, based on its first three years, the public isn’t buying much of what LIV is selling.
LIV, and perhaps to a lesser extent the TGL, has overestimated the interest in team golf competition. It’s interesting in a one-off setting, not as a regular menu item. Fans care which side wins the Ryder Cup. It’s doubtful the masses will ever care how many LIV events the 4Aces win.
With O’Neil’s arrival and the Fox Sports deal, LIV is growing into its next phase. O’Neil’s encouraging message resonated with employees and there is a sense within the organization that there is positive momentum as the first event of the 2025 season – in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – is just two weeks away.
In an interview with The Times of London, O’Neil (who most recently worked as CEO for England-based Merlin Entertainments) sounded like a man who believes the landscape is shifting.
“We all want the same thing and I’m really confident that clearer heads will prevail. I have a good feeling that the headwinds LIV has seen over the last two and a half years are very quickly going to turn to tailwinds,” O’Neil said.
“LIV Golf is getting bigger and bolder, and this (Fox Sports) relationship signals the next phase of growth as our league joins the company of the nation’s premier sports leagues and conferences.” – Scott O’Neil
Landing the Fox Sports deal is a big step though the details remain fuzzy. It is unclear if Fox Sports will pay a rights fee to LIV or if there is another arrangement. LIV, which was previously broadcast on the CW Network, will continue to supply the broadcast talent and equipment for the telecasts.
It’s also unclear which LIV events will air where. All three rounds of the 14 events will air on one of Fox’s network channels or its app this year, though a source said it may be 2026 before LIV gets broader exposure on the main Fox Sports channel due to previous network commitments.
“LIV Golf is getting bigger and bolder, and this relationship signals the next phase of growth as our league joins the company of the nation’s premier sports leagues and conferences,” O’Neil said in a statement announcing the multiyear deal.
Considering the dismal ratings LIV attracted on the CW Network, attracting fewer than 100,000 viewers for Jon Rahm’s victory in the LIV individual championship in September, the move to Fox should ensure a larger audience.
In the still unfolding story of LIV Golf, it feels as if a new chapter is beginning.