TV ratings, the PGA Tour arms race and what ‘change’ looks like

Before you consider the daunting task facing LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil, before you debate TV ratings and PR battles and the merits of a sport in chronic competitive turmoil and with $5 billion in Saudi funding, you must first remember something very important.

Scott O’Neill selected this.

“The way you live your life is truly a choice,” O’Neill writes in his book, “Keeping Your Feet on the Ground“. “What you do and who you do it with, those are choices that only you can make. That was my ‘aha’ moment.”

O’Neal, who earned his M.D. in tissue surgery, spent two decades as an athletic director, primarily in basketball – first as an emerging marketing and sales executive for the New Jersey Nets and Philadelphia Eagles in the early to mid-’90s, and then as president of the Madison Square Garden Company Working with the early Knicks Carmelo Anthony and eventually becoming the Knicks CEO process-Times Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils. In the midst of all this work, O’Neal found himself selling failing businesses and getting back on the road to winning.

Those experiences shaped the worldview O’Neal relies on today, as CEO of a golf league still in its infancy. Since replacing Greg Norman as LIV CEO in January 2025, O’Neal has sought to overhaul LIV’s business, realign its position in the professional golf world and lay the groundwork for a path to profitability. These goals may sound While opaque, they’ve already produced some tangible shifts: In November, O’Neal announced that LIV — an organization so devoted to its 54-hole tournament that it’s named after the Roman numeral 54 — would expand its event to 72 holes, effective immediately.

As the calendar turns to 2026, O’Neal’s league still has many questions to answer: LIV’s changing attitude in its “competition” with the PGA Tour, its long battle for financial survival and, perhaps most pressingly, how the league will be judged itself. I discussed all of these topics and more with O’Neill earlier this week; our conversation below has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Scott, I’ve heard you refer to yourself as a “change agent” several times. what did you do Think LIV Golf needs to change When did you accept the job?

Yes, I would say that any four-year-old business in a very mature industry needs to be nimble, proactive, and persistent. Need to embark on an evolutionary journey if you will. The establishment and breakthrough that this team has gone through in the game of golf – I don’t know if we’ll ever see it again in our lifetime, but I think it’s kind of spectacular.

I’m here to build that foundation and grow the business. There are many paths that can lead us forward. One is obviously on the golf side – on the golfer side. When you start to see faces like Tom McKibben, Josel Ballester, David Puig and Caleb Surratt, when you start to see the next generation of talent emerging, we should believe that this is all going in the right direction.

but i came here to completelyno compete ——Philosophically, this is a big shift and change. How we work with institutions that are becoming [our] A very good professional friend? The USGA and the R&A are our agronomy partners; I think this would have been unthinkable four years ago. Think these two organizations will open the way for us and recognize LIV? marvelous.

I would say it’s another thing to be on broadcast television. Go to one of the big four networks and air on Fox; add some household names like HSBC, Salesforce and Qualcomm as marketing partners; have local figures like Ping and Callaway throw up their hands and say, “Oh yeah, some of the best players in the world are there.”

That’s what we talked about achieving very early on, and we’ve had considerable success with it.

It’s always been a bit confusing to me that LIV doesn’t often publicly state its goals. It’s hard to know what LIV thinks of LIV’s performance so far. I noticed you’ve changed a bit. Earlier this year, you announced $500 million in new sponsorships and have been more transparent about larger goals such as OWGR. But before I go into detail, I want to ask you a simple question: What would it be like if your experience at LIV was successful?

I would say we are the dominant golf league globally and we are recognized outside of the United States and I think that will be successful.

What specific metrics do you use to determine whether you are successful in achieving this goal? What are you hoping to say, “We’re on the right track” or “This is where we need to keep growing”?

I have a hat that I wear all the time at home that says: Never satisfied, always grateful. We don’t have much to check off here, so my approach is slightly different.

That’s not to say we don’t enjoy the journey of progress, because we do. That’s not to say climbing isn’t exciting or fun. It’s not like our incredible team at LIV didn’t sign up. But this group of people are humble and hungry, a combination that sets us on quite an adventurous journey. I mentioned some things where we’ve seen tremendous progress, but we’re not going to be outdone and we think there’s a lot of opportunity.

I have worked in the sports industry for a long time and there are some general principles in professional sports that apply to LIV. We see so much opportunity here – how do I say it in a way that doesn’t sound like I’m waving a flag? ——I am confident. I have confidence.

What general movement principles do you apply to LIV?

LIV is different from other tour groups. First of all, this is a league, not a tournament. But one thing I noticed is that we had extraordinary talent and we asked them to commit, and they delivered. Bryson [DeChambeau] Always at the forefront of social media, 55-year-old Phil Mickelson is no different. Our players shook hands, took selfies, signed autographs without cameras – that was a big deal. They will attend additional media sessions. They were broadcasting. They are my business partners. You know, these guys are trying to get sponsorship deals.

Focusing on product and athletes is a common thing in all sports. Sometimes everyone gets distracted by something everything else. But we have the right product, and we have the commitment of the most important players in the world.

But that’s the first thing. The second thing is: this business is simple, but not easy. Each different sport has small differences. You must set up your broadcast and media platforms correctly. You must have marketing partners (in our case globally) who understand what you are doing and are willing to support you. Your premium experience has to be second to none – when VIPs walk in, whether it’s the Pro-Am or some of our premium products, I believe it tops F1. Then you have to consider the fan. Can you concentrate and focus on the fan? Our fans are next-generation fans, and that’s another thing that sometimes distracts you: Can we keep the fan centered?

One of the areas of focus you mentioned is media rights. Over the years, LIV’s rights have expanded, but audiences haven’t necessarily followed. Why do you think LIV failed to sign a big-money television rights partner?

Well, let me take you back to 20,000 feet. This is certainly a start-up league, but there’s no sports league in history that’s four years old that wouldn’t accept a deal from us.

Remember, Fox is a big four network and has a positive side in the ratings. We’re up 120% year over year, and while that requires a lot more growth, if we can get a couple of 100% increases over the next few years, I think we’ll do pretty well.

In addition, we feel [the ratings conversation] is different. This is a global league, so I often use the analogy between F1 and IndyCar. If we are Formula 1 and our good friends on the PGA Tour are IndyCar, then IndyCar is a great business. This is an American-centric business. But we will fly to Riyadh on February 1st, then to Australia, then to Hong Kong, then to Singapore, and then to South Africa.

So I spend a lot of time thinking about the incredible partners we have at Fox and Fox Sports. But I’m also thinking about the UK, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. For us, the canvas is a little bit different, you know, it’s a little wider. I’m not going to run away from this. I tend to say, “Okay, what does the Asian market look like? Who should we talk to? Who are the media partners?”

So, what’s my point? return to Never satisfied, always grateful: Am I grateful for where we are now? Absolutely. A four-year-old league like this has never been done before in the sports world. But do I want more? certainly.

How do you think LIV’s Official World Golf Ranking app fits into the conversation? You’ve overseen a series of competitive changes aimed at qualifying for OWGR, the LIV event that will help players qualify for the majors if you’re accepted. Do you foresee yourself gaining world ranking points anytime soon?

I don’t want to be presumptuous, but I can say that we hope to have OWGR approval before the start of the 2026 season.

I’m very touched and grateful [OWGR president] Trevor Immelman. I think he has probably the toughest job in the world, and given what he deals with, I might recommend that he run for the Nobel Peace Prize. Trevor’s words are in the best interest of golf.

I spend a lot of time talking to people who talk about open pathways. I have a lot of time to serve those who are thinking about the future of golf, what is in the best interests of golf, and how to grow the game. That’s a lot of what I saw from Trevor from day one.

last question. You write that you were fired from MSG when you were younger because you cared more about being “right” than “effective.” At LIV, what is an example of a time when you chose “valid” instead of “correct”?

Gosh, I could give you 100 examples. I think when we came out of the gate we were considered a bit anti-establishment. Since I’ve been here, there have been moments where we’ve tried to take a breath, stay humble, and have a balanced conversation.

Sometimes it’s very difficult. At the last minute of a deal we can encounter surprising objections, for example, there are sometimes “invisible hands” coming to grab us. But the “productive” part is surrounding yourself with the most talented people in the world who are 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. This game teaches you the most important values ​​in the world: humility, tenacity, persistence, and hard work.

But it’s still a game. At the end of the day, our job is to put more clubs in the hands of more kids because we believe these values ​​are important in the world.

I know it sounds like I’m going to stay up all night at 20,000 feet, but if I don’t, who will?