Three years into his role as commissioner and CEO of the LIV Golf League, Greg Norman does not talk like someone whose time is short.
The World Golf Hall of Famer remains bullish on LIV Golf’s future, despite obstacles that he says exist while a deal between his employer, the Public Investment Fund of Saudia Arabia, and the PGA Tour remains in limbo.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Norman spoke of the strides made and the challenges LIV Golf still faces while insisting that he’s been part of discussions five years into the future and that those won’t be impacted by any potential deal.
But also during his discussion with SI, Norman acknowledged that his contract with LIV Golf has less than a year to go.
Asked about a recent report from Sports Business Journal that said, according to sources, that the PIF was looking to replace Norman as CEO, the two-time major champion said:
“I’ll answer it this way: My contract is through August of 2025. My commitment to LIV has been unquestioned and my commitment into the future is also unquestioned. Time will tell. Will there be a change in my role? My position and my role is to deliver 2025 and get our schedule done and all the things we need to do.”
Norman, 69, was announced in October 2021 as the CEO of LIV Golf Investments with plans for him to also be commissioner of a new tour that would launch the following year.
At the time, no contract details were disclosed and Norman has previously not said that the deal apparently ran for four years. He began his duties in the summer of 2021 before his role was made public.
What followed has been a disruptive time in the game that has seen LIV Golf sign several big-name players including major champions Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Cam Smith, Jon Rahm and others to lucrative guaranteed contracts with the opportunity to play for $25 million purses each week as part of a team format.
A year after launching and amid a good bit of rancor, the PGA Tour and PIF surprisingly announced a “framework agreement” to see the two sides come together. While the Tour has added private investment from the Strategic Sports Group earlier this year and LIV signed a couple of prominent players in Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton going into 2024, the status quo basically remains.
Norman believes a deal would help LIV but also said a resolution either way is imperative. He maintained—as he has said numerous times previously—that he is not part of any discussions and is unaware of where the talks stand.
“I can only speak on LIV’s behalf and we’re moving forward irrespective (of a deal). Would it makes things easier? Yes, it would,” he says. “Whether it’s a year or now.
“But knowing as an outsider looking in, since Day 1 three years ago, is the fact that this was such a simple fix. I will go to my grave wondering about those first 18 months (with LIV) and why. Knowing where we are today. Knowing the acceptance of what LIV Golf is today. Why did it have to be that way?
“You sit back and see all the people in the industry who created this angst. I just wish I could go back in time and revisit the start. And knowing what they know would they have done things differently. I bet they would have.”
Those are questions that are impossible to answer.
When LIV Golf signed players and launched with its first tournament in June 2022, the PGA Tour and commissioner Jay Monahan stuck to their rules which require releases for conflicting events and do not allow releases for domestic tournaments.
PGA Tour players who went to LIV Golf were in violation of those rules and were either suspended or resigned. The Tour still views LIV Golf events as “unauthorized” and has precluded even non-members who compete in LIV events from returning for PGA Tour-sanctioned events for a a year.
Norman also referenced the fact that Tour representatives never acknowledged overtures from LIV Golf, including Norman, to discuss anything associated with the new venture. The negotiations with the PIF took place in secret and without LIV Golf’s personnel.
“I’m just talking about LIV; we’ve been true to ourselves and our business model,” Norman says. “I’ve tried to take the high road. We knew what we had and what we are doing is right. Time and patience is our greatest ally … 36 tournaments (in three years) is nothing. The PGA Tour has been around for 56. And we’ve done it in three years. That’s why I’m an optimist looking into the future and where we will be in 10 years.”
Norman lauded LIV’s ability to withstand considerable negativity and says the organization has bought in fully to the idea that the team aspect is the way forward.
LIV Golf’s business model is based on those teams being sold as “franchises” to prospective owners who would put their own money into running those teams, with LIV Golf then operating the league.
The 13 teams have captains that have 25% equity ownership in their teams (although two of the LIV team captains are not believed to have that deal) with LIV Golf retaining the other 75% until they are sold.
“What has surprised me is the overall acceptance and desire and willingness of our team captains and our other team members who want the team concept,” Norman says. “We want to grow our teams. All of a sudden, I would go back to the 26th tournament, which would have been about May of this year, and the light bulb went off in the captains’ heads. They saw the opportunity that lay ahead of them with growing their franchise and finally realized it.”
So far, however, none of the teams have been sold to a prospective owner and there are various degrees of acceptance of the concept. Although LIV’s final event of the year, the Team Championship, is fully a team event, the other 13 events use a stroke-play individual format and use those scores to come up with a team score.
The individual purse for each event is $20 million, with a separate $5 million purse for the team competition, with only the top three teams each week getting paid. The entire 54-man individual field receives prize money
Norman also acknowledged disappointments.
“Where we’re falling short is due to the headwinds in not getting a network (TV) deal,” Norman says. “That creates uncertainty in the marketplace. (A lot of companies say) let’s see what happens. That rolls into sponsorship. We have an enormous number of big corporations who are talking to us and would be very keen to come on.
“Again, the question is what is going to happen with the deal? Whether it happens or it doesn’t is going to set the marketplace at ease. When we know what’ll do and the marketplace will know how to navigate the situation. But the headwinds continue from a scheduling and venue perspective as well.”
In LIV’s first year in 2022, the events were available via streaming on YouTube and via its website. LIV in 2023 signed what is believed to be a two-year deal with the CW Network for weekend-only broadcasts that were tape-delayed when the league was overseas.
But the events were available live via a CW app as well as LIV’s own app which has introduced numerous bells and whistles to allow for viewing every shot and every player.
LIV has not said if the CW will be extended or if another carrier will be involved in 2025.
“I’m extremely proud of everything I’ve done, represented LIV and also stood up for LIV,’’ Norman says. “It hasn’t been easy, right? You can’t run through a brick wall without getting bloody. I knew when I took the job I knew what it would be to some degree.
“(But) I didn’t expect the hostility, the hatred, the disdain, whatever was thrown at us. I’ve said to take the high road and be true to yourself. We have conversations going out five years, so you don’t think about hitting that brick wall. It hurts. But when you get through it you can see where we are going.”
The Sports Business Journal report about Norman’s future cited several people the PIF had interviewed over the last few months and also suggested that Norman could remain with the organization in some capacity, even as commissioner, if a new CEO is hired.