What’s next for LIV Golf?
Jon Rahm sounds as curious as anyone.
“I don’t think he would ask anybody to buy into anything without giving us a business plan first,” Rahm said Tuesday. “Until we have that, I don’t think we can really answer the rest, right? It would just be speculation at that point.”
Rahm, the league’s best and highest-paid player, was speaking in a pre-tournament press conference ahead of LIV Golf Virginia, which begins on Thursday amid swirling questions about the league’s future. Last week the Saudi Public Investment Fund announced that it would cease funding the league at the end of 2026; now it’s a question of what happens in 2027.
The “he” Rahm referenced is Scott O’Neil, LIV Golf’s CEO, who appeared Tuesday for the first time since the PIF announcement. He first answered questions from LIV’s Chief Communications Officer Ilana Finley, and then from a group of reporters. And while we, like Rahm, will have to wait for specifics about that plan, O’Neil revealed plenty in the 45-minute session. Let’s run through what we learned — and what we didn’t.
1. If LIV Golf plays on, it’ll be fundamentally changed
This was the reality as soon as the PIF withdrew funding; there’s no way that new investors would sign on for LIV’s current financial reality, which reportedly includes a nine-figure monthly burn rate.
But it was interesting hearing Finley, the CCO, use phrases like “resetting the business plan” and “engaging players in a new model” while O’Neil said it’s been clear for over a year that LIV’s model would need “significant and substantive changes” — openly acknowledging that the league’s business plan is basically starting over.
O’Neil laid out the plan — or the plan to make a plan — as follows:
“The priorities are really clear. First and foremost, we need to get the players settled, on board and focusing on golf. That’s first and foremost,” he said.
“Secondly, we have to create a plan that’s a business plan, a business that works from a business standpoint, from a profit and loss standpoint, like every other business in the world, and we are well on our way to that.
“Thirdly and maybe more importantly — and I’ve been blessed with this my entire life — is you surround yourself with smart, talented, experienced people.”
2. LIV is leaning on new advisors to help with restructuring
LIV added two new board members, Gene Davis and Jon Zimman, investment bankers who are well versed in businesses in flux; Davis’ recent “turnaround management” experience includes high-profile work with Spirit Airlines.
“Gene has been through 350 of these, how about that?” O’Neil said, praising the duo’s “urgency” and “pace.”
LIV has also brought in financial advisory firm Alix Partners, which specializes in turnaround and restructuring. O’Neil called them “extraordinary advisors” looking to extend the league’s runway.
LIV continues to lean on law firm Gibson Dunn, as it has in various chapters of high-profile litigation since its inception.
And LIV has brought aboard Ducera Partners, with whom O’Neil has history, as an investment banking advisor as it attempts to transform its business model.
“We’re locked in on going to market with a plan. This is transaction, transaction, transaction. That’s what I wake up thinking about. That’s what I go to sleep thinking about. That’s what I think about when I’m eating. That’s what I think about when I’m on the golf course,” O’Neil said.
3. O’Neil sees himself as a wartime CEO
O’Neil acknowledged LIV’s precarious position but said he relishes this type of chaos, what he called “opportunity for transformation.”
“I understand uncertainty is difficult for some people, and I understand that not knowing what tomorrow brings can be a challenge,” he said. “This is 100 percent what I love to do, this moment. Everybody is meant for a certain thing in their life. I believe this is what I am meant for. I love this moment.”
4. PIF’s pullback has O’Neil in a tricky spot
O’Neil has a tricky line to walk with PIF’s sudden funding withdrawal. Project shock and he looks unprepared. Say he saw it coming and he looks to have hid something from his players. After all, O’Neil told LIV golfers that league funding was secured for another five years. On Tuesday, he hedged by suggesting it would be “naive to be surprised” by their sudden announcement.
“Was I surprised? I don’t know, it’s hard to even think about that moment. So I’d rather not comment on how I actually felt, my emotion. I can tell you that it was very clear 18 months ago that this was going to be an ongoing concern, that we were going to have to make significant and substantive changes in terms of the way we do business,” he said. He continued:
“So it would be naive to be surprised, and it would be irresponsible to be thinking anything else other than how far we have to go to make sure that we can continue to grow this game around the world.”
5. He sees LIV Golf as having a “mission”
The biggest fundamental question LIV now faces is its why. Why does it exist as an alternative to the PGA Tour and DP World Tour? What is its identity? Team golf is one differentiator, but O’Neil also repeatedly brought up the idea that it is a mission-based organization.
“I’ve been around professional athletes for the last 30 years of my life, and I’ve never been around a group of more remarkable men who believe in the mission to grow the game of golf around the world, who are willing to get on a plane and travel and make it happen, who stand for hours in the blazing heat after a brutal round and spending time with you guys. I’m talking your biggest stars — your Jon Rahms, your Bryson DeChambeaus — signing autographs for hours. This group is committed,” he said. He also added that the “angst” and “discord” from LIV’s uncertainty has been washed away, in part, “because our mission is so clear, and that’s to grow the game of golf around the world. Part of that is us going door to door.”
6. He sees LIV’s value in its franchises
O’Neil rattled off several reminders of the rise of American sports valuations — the Utah Jazz from $13 million to $1.8 billion, the Philadelphia Eagles to over $8 billion, the growth of the NWSL and WNBA — to introduce the idea that LIV’s teams could be worth a lot of money, too.
“If you ask me where the value of this business is, it’s in the teams. If you’re looking for direction, we believe that teams will have extraordinary value,” he said. “We believe that once we set the business in the right direction with the right trajectory, with the right revenue base and cost base, which we’re well on our way to doing, that these teams will have extraordinary value. And that’s where, if you’re an investor and you’re listening to this or reading this, that’s where you’re going to get your value.”
As for how the sale of a specific team would work?
“We are going to create a business plan. We’re going to lock arms with the players. We will go to market and raise money on the top, on a league level, and then we will go and get investors in teams, in that order.”
7. Player pay remains a massive unknown
O’Neil was asked if PIF was committed to paying out any player contracts that extend beyond the 2026 season. “I don’t even know how to think about answering [that],” O’Neil said.
He underscored the partnership between league leaders and players — “There’s no daylight between what I’ll know and what Bryson or Jon or Phil or Bubba or Cam or DJ will know,” he said — but because future funding is an unknown, player pay is, too.
Rahm actually took this question more head on in his presser:
“I do believe that for the business plan to change, whatever they’re coming up with, there will need to be some concessions on our part, yeah,” he said.
8. Bryson DeChambeau’s situation is “special”
LIV’s most important player, Bryson DeChambeau, is only signed through the end of 2026. His commitment to the league going forward — or lack thereof — would have a massive impact on potential investors.
“Well, that’s an interesting question. I’m not sure. We’ll sort through and work through,” O’Neil said of going to market with or without DeChambeau under contract. “I appreciate the question. It’s just — Bryson’s special. He’s different and special. You want to talk about a business partner, we’re literally talking about the future of LIV Golf, I’m talking with him about how does he see, not just the golf, but the business? He’s smart, he’s driven, he’s committed, and he’s a heck of a partner.”
9. O’Neil took some shots at the PGA Tour
LIV’s CEO praised team golf as a reason to believe in the league’s future, citing the impact of the Ryder Cup and “the impact the Presidents Cup used to have when it had all the best players in the world playing in it.” The Presidents Cup is owned by the PGA Tour and therefore has barred LIV golfers from eligibility for either the U.S. side (like DeChambeau) or the International team (like Joaquin Niemann, among others).
He returned to that point later, calling out the Tour for barring LIV golfers from playing PGA Tour events in off weeks.
“We have never, since our inception, ever restricted our players — that’s from bans, from fines, not us. Nope, go play where you want to play. We believe in free golf, free agency of golf. We believe that players should play when they want and where they want so long as they sign up for these 14, and we’ll be sticking to that.
It is worth noting that LIV golfers are restricted from playing PGA Tour events during LIV weeks, nor can PGA Tour players gain entry to one-off LIV events.
10. O’Neil believes there is interest from investors
While some experts have been dismissive of LIV’s viability, O’Neil projected confidence. He cited crowds at successful events like LIV’s stop in Adelaide, Australia and its debut in South Africa, which each drew 100,000-plus spectators across the week. He cited the “nationalist movement” as teams have formed like the all-Aussie Rippers, all-South African Southern Guards or Korean Golf Club.
He called out the increase in corporate partnerships with big-time brands like Rolex, HSBC, Salesforce and Qualcomm. He added that he was encouraged by LIV’s acknowledgement by the major championships. And he said players themselves have offered up leads on potential investors.
“I had about a dozen inbound calls this weekend, inbound from potential investors, that’s good news,” he said. “So it was a split between private equity, family office, and then your traditional like high-net-worth — you probably know who they are, the guys who invest in sports and sports teams. So that’s been really positive.”
LIV Golf continues on. The question that remains is where it’s going.
