LIV Golf has 46 days between the end of a tournament in Spain and the next one in England, and it could be the most important stretch of the season for CEO Scott O'Neil.
The league is reeling from the decision by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund to stop paying for it at the end of year, having already spent some $6 billion since its June 2022 launch.
O'Neil is pushing “LIV 2.0” and seeking some $300 million from outside investors to keep the league going in 2027 and beyond. He appeared Tuesday on CNBC and said he has received a positive response from the initial push.
“I've had five meetings, formal meetings, so far,” O'Neil said. “I've got 18 more meetings this week and about the same next week. What's been really interesting is how do you slice this? Is there one partner that comes in, maybe a big private equity firm, at the full $300 (million), or do you have 10 or 12 investors at $50 and $25 million units?”
But O'Neil said there was one element as critical as the money itself.
“What we don't have is a lot of time,” he said. “So we're very urgently out there talking to those who are interested. We like the pool, but we have to get this done through the summer.”
The long break — created when a new event in New Orleans was postponed — has generated speculation whether LIV would be funded through the year. O'Neil was asked if he could guarantee the last four events would be played.
“What I can guarantee is a heck of a return if you come invest in this business,” he said.
The PGA Tour has not offered any insight into a potential return of any LIV player, perhaps the most attractive being Jon Rahm, because they are still under contract.
O'Neil made it clear that private funding would be for a league that operates much differently than it does now, referring to a “financially disciplined business model.”
“We're cutting the expense side dramatically, and the revenue momentum that we’ve had ... we're already up $100 million over last year, so we have really good business momentum. This is about getting the costs under control, reimagining what the business could, should and will look like, and then engaging our players as partners, like true equity partners in this business.”
He predicted it would take three years to reach profitability.
