The controversial Saudi-backed LIV Golf league is set to replace Greg Norman (one of the competition’s main architects) as chief executive and commissioner with Scott O’Neill.
The appointment of O'Neill, an executive with experience in US basketball’s NBA and North American ice hockey's NHL, could be announced next week.
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Norman’s contract with LIV runs through August 2025, and it is understood he expects to be replaced at that point – O’Neill coming in at the start of next year would allow for a transition period.
O’Neill worked as chief executive of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers franchise between 2013 and 2021, eventually overseeing the New Jersey Devils NHL team too as chief executive of the overall Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment group.
Currently the CEO at the Merlin Entertainments amusement park and resort operator (since November 2022), O’Neill has informed his employer – Merlin announced earlier this week – that he will be stepping down at the end of 2024.
O’Neill has also previously spent time as the president of the iconic Madison Square Garden Sports and entertainment venue in New York City.
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By GlobalDataNorman, meanwhile, was very much the public face of LIV Golf – which got underway in June 2022 and is owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund – during its early days. He was unveiled as the CEO of LIV Golf Investments in October 2021, having begun his duties in the weeks and months leading up to that announcement.
He was heavily involved in the recruitment of a number of high-profile players from the top-tier PGA Tour, with LIV offering stars massive financial incentives to sign contracts with that league instead – although they were then banned from most PGA Tour events.
Guaranteed contracts are, in some cases, worth more than $100 million.
Norman, a 69-year-old former golfing Hall of Famer, has been a controversial figure during his time at the helm of LIV, having regularly made public derogatory comments about rival tours.
These reports also come with LIV Golf having hired Lawrence Burian (also formerly of MSG) as its chief operating officer in late 2023.
More recently, meanwhile, the tour unveiled John Ruzich as its chief legal officer and Denise Taylor as its head of product and technology, earlier this month.
In September, the LIV Golf League completed its 14-tournament 2024 season. The league’s official 2025 campaign tees off in February in global markets across Asia, Australia, and the Middle East.
So far, 10 events – spread across Saudi Arabia, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, the US, Spain, and the UK – are on the schedule.
A framework agreement with the PGA and European golf's DP World Tour was announced in June 2023, but no definitive working agreement between those parties has been put in place since.
