TV ratings, PGA Tour arms race, and how ‘change’ looks

Before you consider the enormity of the task facing LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil — 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 — you must first remember something very critical.

Scott O’Neil chosethis.

“How you live is truly a choice,” O’Neil wrote in his book, “Be Where Your Feet Are.”“What you’re going to do and who you are going to do it with, those are choices only you can make. That was my ‘aha’ moment.”

In two decades as a sports executive (mostly in basketball), O’Neil has earned an MD in organizational surgery — 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 Companieswith the early-Carmelo Anthony Knicks and finally as the CEO of the Process-era Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils. In all of those jobs, O’Neil found himself selling the business of losing — and navigating the path back to winning.

These experiences forged a worldview O’Neil 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’Neil has sought to overhaul LIV’s business, reorient its standing in the pro golf world and lay the groundwork for a pathway to profitability. These goals might soundopaque, but they’ve yielded some tangible shifts: In November, O’Neil announced LIV — an organization so attached to 54-hole tournaments it is named for the roman numeral for 54 — was extending its events to 72 holes, effective immediately.

As the calendar turns toward 2026, there are still many questions left for O’Neil’s league to answer: About LIV’s changing tune over the “rivalry” 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’Neil about all of these topics and more; our conversation below has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Scott, I’ve heard you refer to yourself a few times as a “change agent.” What did you think needed to be changed about LIV Golf when you took the job?

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 — I don’t know if we’ll ever see it in our lifetimes again, and I think it’s somewhat spectacular.

What I’m 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 — on the golfer side. When you start to see faces like Tom McKibben, Josele Ballester and David Puig and Caleb Surratt — when you start to see an emerging next generation of talent, it should give us confidence that this is going in the right direction.

But I came here to complete, not compete — and, philosophically, that’s 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’d imagine that was unthinkable four years ago. To think that those two organizations would open up pathways for us and recognize LIV? It’s wonderful.

I’d 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, “Oh yeah, some of the best players in the world are there.”

That’s the kind of stuff that we talked about achieving early on, and we’ve had a fair amount of success.

Something I’ve always been a little perplexed by is that LIV doesn’t often publicly state its goals. It is very hard to know what LIV thinks about LIV’s performance to date. I’ve 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?

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.

What are some specific metrics you use to judge whether you’re successful in that goal? What do you look for to say “we’re on the right track” or “this is where we need to keep growing”?

I have this hat I wear all the time at home that says, Never satisfied, always grateful. There aren’t many things we check the box on here, so my approach is slightly different.

It’s not that we’re not enjoying the journey of progress, because we are. It’s not that the climb isn’t exhilarating or fun. And it’s not that the incredible team we have here at LIV didn’t 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’ve seen great progress on, but we won’t be outworked, and we think there’s so much opportunity.

I’ve been in the sports business for a long time, and there are general principles across professional sports that apply to LIV. We’re seeing so much opportunity here and — how do I say this in a way that doesn’t sound like I’m waving a flag? — I’m confident. I’m confident.

What are some of the general sports principles that you’re applying to LIV?

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

Focusing on the product and the player is one thing that’s 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.

But that’s the first thing. The second thing is: This business is simple, not easy. There are little variations in each of the different sports. You’ve got to get your broadcast and media platform right. You have to have marketing partners — in our case, globally — that understand what you’re doing and want to get behind you. Your premium experience has to be second to none — when a VIP walks in, whether that’s 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’s the other thing that sometimes you get distracted on: Can we keep the fan at the center?

One of those focus areas you mentioned is media rights. LIV’s rights have expanded over the years, but the audience hasn’t necessarily followed. Why do you think LIV hasn’t managed to sign a big-money TV rights partner?

Well, let me take you back up 20,000 feet. It certainly is a startup league, but there isn’t a four-year-old sports league in history that wouldn’t take our deals.

Remember, Fox is a big four network — 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’ll be doing fine.

Also, we feel [the ratings conversation] is different. This is a global league, and so I’ve used the F1 and IndyCar analogy quite a bit. If we’re Formula One and our good friends at the PGA Tour are IndyCar — IndyCar is a great business. It’s a U.S.-centric business. But we’ll get on a plane on February 1 and go to Riyadh, and then we’ll go to Australia, and then we’ll go to Hong Kong, and then Singapore and then South Africa.

So I spend a lot of time thinking about our incredible partners at Fox and Fox Sports. But I’m also thinking of the UK and Europe and Africa and Asia and Australia. For us, the canvas is a bit different, you know, it’s a bit wider. I’m not running from that. I’m leaning into it and saying, “Okay, well, what does the Asian market look like? Who are the sponsors we should be talking to? Who are the media partners?”

So, what’s 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.

How do you feel LIV’s Official World Golf Ranking application fits into the conversation? You’ve overseen a series of competitive changes aimed at earning entry into the OWGR, and if you’re accepted, LIV events will help players qualify for the majors. Are you anticipating you’ll be receiving world ranking points soon?

I don’t want to be presumptuous, but I can say that we’re hoping to be recognized by OWGR before the start of the 2026 season.

I’m 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’s handling. Trevor speaks in the best interest of golf.

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’ve seen from Trevor since day one is a lot of that.

Last question. You wrote that you got fired from MSG when you were younger because you were more interested in being “right” than being “effective.” What’s an example of something at LIV where you chose being “effective” over “right’”

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’ve tried to take a breath, find some humility and have a balanced conversation.

Sometimes that’s very difficult. We’ll have surprise objections at the last minute of deals, for example, we’ll have the “invisible hand” come get us at times. But the “being effective” part is about surrounding yourself with the most talented people in the world who stay focused on your mission.

This is golf. I think it’s the most powerful sport in the world. I think it’s the most important sport in the world. It’s a game that teaches you the most important values in the world: Humility and resilience and consistency, hard work.

But it’s still a game. At the end of the day, it’s our jobs to put more clubs in more kids’ hands, because we think those values matter in the world.

I know that sounds like I’m staying up at 20,000 feet, but if I don’t do that, who’s going to?

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