LIV Golf's High-Stakes Gamble: Can Scott O'Neil Pull Off the Save?
Scott O’Neil. He eats cookies when he’s stressed. His wife, Lisa, bakes ‘em. Chocolate chip. He’d apparently downed four of ‘em at Trump National D.C. recently. You can’t blame the guy. He’s in a goddamn pinch.
O’Neil’s been running LIV Golf for about 17 months now. CEO. And yeah, he’s in a pinch. The money men, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund – the PIF – they’re bailing. Divesting. At the end of the 2026 season. That leaves O’Neil and his crew of advisors scrambling. Gotta find new investors. And quick.
He’ll tell you the league doubled its revenue from ‘24 to ‘25. Says four events and 10 out of 13 teams are gonna turn a profit this year. Ticket sales are up. Viewership’s up. All that jazz. But let’s cut the crap. This is an organization that’s burned through billions. O’Neil himself said it could be a decade before it’s profitable. And to top it all off, their golden boy, Bryson DeChambeau? He’s not signed past this season. O’Neil’s confident Bryson will stick around. But he can’t promise that to potential investors. The league’s biggest star. Maybe not part of the future. That’s a tough sell, man.
O’Neil knows time is ticking. But his focus? Singular, he says. “If any amount of that time is spent in any other fashion other than working towards this transaction, it’s a terrible use of my time.” Straight talk. No bullshit.
The Pressure Cooker: O'Neil's Background and the DeChambeau Dilemma
This guy O’Neil, he claims he thrives on pressure. Says he’s wired for this. For tackling hard problems. Twenty-five years in sports and entertainment. NBA’s Knicks and Sixers. NFL’s Eagles. NHL’s Rangers and Devils. He figures that experience will serve him well. Securing LIV’s future. It’s a hell of a task. He spoke about the pressure. The Bryson situation. What kind of investors might actually bite on a global golf league.
Let’s get to it. Bryson DeChambeau. His contract. Lots of chatter. What’s the deal? O’Neil’s pretty clear. Negotiations are ongoing. Bryson’s contract gets a lot of attention. And why wouldn’t it? He’s an “extraordinary partner.” Most popular golfer on the planet. Winning. Loves team golf. Believes in LIV’s vision. Willing to travel the world. Grow the game. O’Neil’s worked with a lot of athletes. Across sports. Says Bryson’s the most “pure to the mission of an athlete” he’s ever met. And get this – Bryson’s asked to sit down with O’Neil and LIV’s investment bank, Ducera. To raise money. Together.
So, how do you pitch to investors when you don’t even know if your biggest star is staying? That’s gotta be question number one, right? “Is Bryson part of the deal?”
O’Neil’s take? Bryson’s more pro-LIV than he is. They talked. Bryson’s gonna join him for investor meetings. That should tell you something. Bryson’s smart. Intuitive. A great brand builder. His creativity? Knows no bounds, apparently. Surrounds himself with good people. Has strong opinions on how they should move forward. So yeah, Bryson’s definitely in the plans. He’ll be pitching alongside O’Neil.
But what if they can’t reach an agreement? Can LIV survive without him? O’Neil’s response? A flat “I don’t think we’ll have to.” He’s that confident Bryson will be around. He’s spent time with him. Calls him a partner. A great thought partner. A leader. Believes in the product. Sees it every day. Bryson does what he says he’ll do. World-class level. Steps up when the lights are brightest. And when they’re not. That’s what O’Neil loves.
The Investor Hunt: Who's Buying In?
What’s the magic number? The investment figure needed to make LIV viable? O’Neil has one. He just won’t share it. Fair enough. But who are these potential investors? Who’s LIV gonna appeal to?
O’Neil sees three main groups. And these are just inbound calls so far. No outbound searching yet.
- Private Equity: The obvious choice. Most of these guys play golf. The number of private equity funds now focused on sports? Huge. Way more than a decade ago.
- Family Offices: Look at who’s buying sports teams, especially internationally. It’s family offices.
- High Net-Worth Billionaires: The ones who say, “I love golf. This would be fun.”
Each group has its pros and cons. They’ll talk to all of them. See what fits best. Could be one investor. Could be four. They don’t know yet. That’s what the market will tell them.
So, the PIF is out at the end of ‘26. Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor, has stepped down from the board. But the PIF still owns LIV, right? Yeah. Ownership structure hasn’t changed. Does that mean the PIF is still in the room for these investor talks? Do they have to sign off on everything? O’Neil wouldn’t comment. Good question, though.
Player Meetings and Shifting Narratives
There was a player meeting in Virginia recently. O’Neil was there. It was his meeting. What was on the agenda? The future of LIV. Talked about the reports. The reality. How they’re going to market. The fact that it’s always been, and always will be, a player-driven league. Through competition. Marketing. Ownership structure. And partnerships. They talked about players showing up as their best selves. On and off the course.
Did he see Graeme McDowell’s comments to Sports Illustrated? No. McDowell said LIV detaching from Saudi funding could be a good thing. “I don’t think we could have ever imagined how deep this would go. The hatred. It’s funny, but if we can shift the narrative away from Saudi Arabia and bring some U.S. money and get rid of that narrative … because that narrative is just nasty.”
O’Neil’s response? He’d have to read the whole article. Likes to see things in context. But he came into this role excited to grow it. With the investor base it had. And today? Even more excited. About the opportunity. The potential.
The good news about raising money? It’s pure. If you have a plan people love, and there’s a return, you’ll find your way. It’s competition. Just on a golf course, not an office. Their job: focus on a sound plan. Players are partners. They’ll come along for the ride. And find that back-end partner. They’re pretty confident.
The Roller Coaster Ride: Embracing the Challenge
The timeline for continuing past 2026? O’Neil’s approach is simple. If your waking hours are 100%, the only way to increase that is to sleep less. Any time not spent on this transaction? Terrible use of his time. Conversations like this, though? Where golf is played by the decision-makers? Great use of time. They’re completely aligned.
They’re moving at an incredible pace. Partners like Alix Partners and Ducera. Board members Gene Davis and John Zinman. They get the urgency. The decision-making process. They’ve been through it. O’Neil’s been through it. This is what they’re meant to do. Meant to be. That’s why they’re here. There’s pressure. He loves it. It’s what he likes.
He’s glad they’re in this situation. Glad? Elaborate. His whole life, he’s walked into challenging roles. He chooses them. They choose him. He remembers working for the Philadelphia 76ers. Spicy time in the media. “Trust the process.” His daughter got grief at school. He sat his girls down. Told them the Golden State Warriors weren’t calling daddy. “We do hard things,” he said. In life. In the family. At work.
That’s where the learning is. The action. The fun. When he took this role, he recruited his best friends. Talented people. Left good jobs. His pitch? “I’ve never seen a mountain this tall before.” Obstacles everywhere. But he was excited to scale it. “Do you want to be part of this?”
That’s who’s here. Everyone opted in. He knows uncertainty is hard to grasp. Some people spend their whole lives in one role. Take a safe path. Wonderful experiences. He’s not judgmental. He knows what he chooses. And what this team chooses. Not just the execs. The players. The caddies. Everyone. If they wanted the carousel, they’d pay their two bucks. They chose a roller coaster. Kingda Ka.
You can’t choose Kingda Ka and then whine when it flips you upside down. Scream, sure. But it better be a scream of exhilaration. That’s where they are. Colleagues, friends, professionals, players. Banding together. Locking arms. Saying, “Let’s go do this.”
That’s what he means by “glad.” Not sarcastic. Not cynical. True sense of the word. This is why they came here. To do something rewarding. Challenging. Stretching. Pushing beyond rational limits. This is as fun as it gets in this business.
His idea of fun is different from yours. [Laughs] And that’s okay. If his was like yours, he’d be doing what you do. If yours was like his, you’d be doing what he does.
The Future of Golf and LIV's Place In It
From the outside, with billions in funding disappearing, it looks like an impossible climb. Hard for people to wrap their heads around. O’Neil’s been watching other tours. Lots of transition. Transformation. Restructuring. He thinks it’s time. If we believe golf is good. Resilience. Consistency. Humility. Focusing on the flag. Hard work. All the things you learn through golf. They’re good.
Then you gotta ask: Is LIV Golf good? That’s the question he asked himself when taking the job. Is golf good? Yeah. The world’s better with more golf. He believes that.
Is the world of golf better with LIV in it? A hundred percent. No question. They’re taking the game to markets starved for what they do. Introducing team golf. Beyond Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup, college. The Olympics. Infusing nationalism. Australia, people going crazy for Cam Smith. South Africa, singing the national anthem. People crying on the first tee. There’s something special there.
So, does golf matter? Yes. Is LIV Golf matter? Yes. It’s making an impact. Okay, how do they take all that and put it into a sustainable business? One that players want to be part of? They’re far along on that. You’ll see it. Investors will like it. The future of golf is changing, and LIV is at the heart of that evolution. For more on the evolving landscape of professional golf, check out Golf Digest’s analysis of the framework agreement.
He inherited a global league with a framework. If he were starting from scratch today, what would he do differently? He can only speak to what he walked into in January 2025. It’s hard to understand. He read everything. Looked at old documents. Players who wanted to play for LIV – many would surprise you. His biggest critics? All made offers to play. Every one of them.
Media scrutiny was intense. Difficult. Couldn’t play certain courses. Restricted from working for sponsors. TV networks. Major restrictions. OWGR restrictions. He can’t imagine what that was like. What the team endured. He wasn’t here.
But a lot of what was built was special. The team concept works. Attracting young people with music, art, fashion, food. It works. Worked in every other sport. Time for change. He worked in the NBA when hand-checking was legal. NHL when the two-line pass wasn’t. Baseball’s pitch clock. Rob Manfred was courageous. Adam Silver. Gary Bettman. Good for them. He likes opportunity for change.
So, directly answering the question: A lot of what you’ll see in the next 10 days or so is exactly what they would have built from scratch. Ten days? Big announcements coming? No. Not big. But that’s when they’ll start talking to players. Where they’re heading. Getting feedback. He likes where they’re heading. He’s not answering directly. But there’s a lot he likes. New elements will be pulled in. Done differently. He loves the teams. Loves global. Loves players as partners. Player-run involvement. Building the next generation of stars. Youth fans. Social media presence. Bringing technology into the sport. A lot of stuff he absolutely loves. Stuff he inherited. Grateful for that.