LIV Golf to hire former 76ers executive Scott O’Neil as CEO, replacing Greg Norman: Source
LIV Golf has identified its new leader and is expected to hand the reins to longtime sports and entertainment director Scott O’Neil.
O’Neil will replace Greg Norman, LIV’s original CEO and architect of the breakaway league that has reshaped the professional golf landscape over the past three years, according to a source briefed on the matter who was granted anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss speaking publicly.
In October, Sports Business Journal reported the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund’s intentions to remove Norman from the CEO role and move him to a new position. That same month, Norman told Sports Illustrated that his contract with LIV would expire in August 2025.
On Wednesday morning, This is reported by Sports Business Journal The emergence of O’Neil as the likely choice as new CEO. A person briefed on the matter confirmed O’Neil’s choice The Athletics on Wednesday. A spokesperson for LIV Golf declined to comment on the matter.
O’Neil has served as CEO of Merlin Entertainments since 2022, overseeing one of the world’s largest operators of theme parks and resorts, including Legoland properties. Merlin announced Wednesday morning that O’Neil would leave for “a new opportunity” and step down as CEO at the end of 2024.
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With O’Neil expected to be announced as CEO of LIV, it is unclear how much power the 69-year-old Norman will retain. The two-time Open Championship winner remains a member of LIV’s board of directors.
O’Neil is best known for his time as CEO of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, the parent company of the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils. Over an eight-year period, he oversaw multiple construction projects and expansion opportunities and guided the holding company merger between Sixers and Devils owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer. He oversaw “the process,” the much-discussed, often celebrated and sometimes maligned rebuild of the Sixers that resulted in a franchise turnaround but ultimately limited playoff success.
“I remember what it was like when we first came in here, and to think we grew this company, valued at over $2 billion, six times in eight years, that’s what I do. Hyper growth, super growth,” O’Neil told the Associated Press when he left in 2021.
By taking over LIV, O’Neil will guide the league through a cloudy future defined by protracted negotiations between the PGA Tour and the PIF. The two parties, who first came together in June 2023 to create a new entity with combined assets (including LIV), have yet to finalize a structure. Negotiations have gone past the original deadline of late last year.
It is still expected that PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan will eventually finalize an agreement that will require approval from DOJ antitrust officials. Where LIV will fit into this remains to be seen.
The competition has evolved into an increasingly global schedule that, while the brand is growing internationally, is creating complications in securing a long-term TV company in the United States. With ten of the fourteen events currently scheduled for 2025, only three are in the US and none before June.
O’Neil, an alumnus of Villanova and Harvard Business School, also held front office positions with the New York Knicks, New Jersey Nets, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Rangers.
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(Top photo: Bradley Collyer/PA Images via Getty Images)
