Source : ABC NEWS
The future of LIV Golf remains in doubt after an interview with chief executive Scott O’Neil, in which he admitted the league was “funded through the season” but work was required beyond that “to keep us going”.
More fuel was added to the fire when the British broadcaster who conducted the interview deleted the clip from social media.
The video was re-uploaded hours later, but with the contentious funding quotes edited out.
Speculation has been running rampant since Wednesday that LIV’s main source of funding — Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund — was on the verge of drying up.
O’Neil said in a memo to staff that the 2026 season would proceed without interruption and at “full throttle”.
Scott O’Neil sent an email earlier in the week inisting the league would continue at “full throttle”. (Getty Images: Thananuwat Srirasant)
Questions remained whether that would last beyond the end of the year, and O’Neil added to the intrigue in an interview with UK-based TNT Sports.
“The reality is that you’re funded through the season, and then you work like crazy as a business to create a business and a business plan to keep us going,” O’Neil said.
“But that’s not different from any other private equity-funded business in the history of mankind.”
The interview later was removed from TNT Sports’ social media account and replaced with a different version.
In a previous interview with LIV’s broadcast team, O’Neil was bullish about the future.
“Given the momentum of this business, we’re really excited about where we are and the position where we are,” O’Neil said.
Cam Smith is one of a number of LIV stars facing uncertain futures. (Getty Images: Kate McShane)
He said he met with 50 people at the Masters and rolled out a plan that “might surprise people”.
LIV Golf has said some of its metrics such as ticket sales and team sponsorships have increased, and O’Neil is projecting 10 of the 13 teams and four of the 14 events will be profitable.
But there is a substantial cost involved with prize funds ($US30 million for each tournament) and operations. The newsletter Money in Sport reported in February that LIV Golf already had spent $US5.3 billion and was projected to surpass $US6 billion by the end of the year.
“This notion of bringing teams to market, I had two calls this morning,” O’Neil said on the LIV broadcast.
“This notion of, ‘Do you have to raise money?’ Probably this is business. But if we keep the trajectory going the way we are and the revenue growth going, this is going to be a really good business for a really long time.”
ABC/AP
