LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil at CNBC’s CONVERGE LIVE event in Singapore on March 13, 2025.
CNBC
LIV Golf, the professional men’s golf tour backed by Saudi Arabia, wants the game to become more like Formula 1 racing with well-heeled fans and a wide range of ancillary entertainment.
“The golf is who we are, but it’s really about the festival around golf that makes us different,” LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil said during a fireside chat at CONVERGE LIVE. “You can bring your family, you can bring a date, you can bring friends,” he added.
At a recent event in Miami, LIV held a music festival, an art festival and a food festival to ensure there was something for everyone, he said. The company’s inaugural event in Singapore, which begins Friday, will feature a DJ.
O’Neil said F1 is the only truly global sports league, and likened walking along the driving range before an event begins to the hospitality experience around an F1 pit.
LIV, which organized its first competition in 2022, competes with the long-established PGA Tour as the main organizer of professional golf events.
According to O’Neil, 30% of attendees at LIV tournaments had never been to a golf event before, and the average age is 15 years younger than competing events. “So in terms of reaching a new audience, introducing more people to the game, I think we’re a pretty interesting study, alright.”
