LIV Golf on Wednesday officially introduced veteran sports executive Scott O’Neil as its chief executive officer, replacing golf legend Greg Norman on the tour’s masthead. O’Neil takes the role as the long-expected joint venture between the Saudi Arabian-backed golf outfit, the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour has yet to come to fruition.
In November, LIV was reportedly in advanced discussions with O’Neil, who worked as the CEO of Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment, which owns the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils, from 2013 until 2021.
For O’Neil, the advantages of joining LIV outweigh the concerns often relayed about sports properties under the Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia’s $700 billion sovereign wealth fund that has been roundly criticized for claims of sportswashing.

“PIF is the most important investor in the world,” O’Neil said in a phone interview. “I believe will be the most important investor in sports in the next 20 years.”
The future of the tour he is now shepherding remains unclear, at least publicly. After the stunning June 2023 announcement that the PIF-backed challenger to the PGA had planned a joint venture with the established tour, little traction has been made on the “framework agreement.” The sides offered Dec. 31, 2023 as a “firm target” to complete the deal, but the self-imposed deadline has been pushed back at least twice in the last year.
However, O’Neil said that discussions around the agreement have “progressed nicely,” and is under review from the U.S. Department of Justice. He also believes that Donald Trump’s return to the White House could prove beneficial for LIV as the President-elect has long been a supporter of the tour.
“This predates me, but I’ve heard the stories it was very difficult for us to secure courses for our events in the early days,” O’Neil said. “President-elect Trump was the one that said, ‘Come play on my courses.’ I will tell you as a foundational principle of LIV, loyalty will matter and people that that have stood by us when, when times were harder, that absolutely matters.”
LIV Golf is not only bringing along a new chief executive this week as the tour will sign a new broadcast rights agreement with FOX in the coming days, replacing The CW as the broadcast partner in the U.S., according to a person familiar with the matter. In addition to the over-the-air network, Fox has multiple linear cable channels—FS1, FS2 and Fox News, among others—to give LIV greater reach compared to The CW. Fox could also utilize its FAST platform Tubi, which was used heavily for the most recent men’s and women’s World Cup tournaments. Fox declined to comment.

O’Neil brings a wealth of experience in managing sports operations. Initially hired as the Sixers CEO by owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer in 2013, O’Neil had oversight of the basketball franchise for only a month when the ownership duo purchased the Devils. Prior to HBSE, O’Neil had a four-year tenure as president of Madison Square Garden and spent a decade with the NBA’s team marketing and business operations office.
After HBSE, O’Neil moved over to Merlin Entertainments where he served as CEO for two years before resigning in late November in anticipation of taking the LIV job. The world’s second-largest theme park operator after Disney, Merlin owns and operates more than 140 global attractions, including Legoland, Madame Tussauds, Sea Life and the London Eye.
“Whats been done to build this league in short order is nothing short of… kind of almost impossible,” O’Neil said. “I’m building on a really good foundation.”
“I would like to continue to drive forward the innovation in this sport that has been the same for 150 years. Having had my roots in the NBA since the 1990s, I’ve had a front seat to the innovation of that league, and that’s what we aim to continue in the journey of golf.”