DORAL, Fla. – As LIV Golf concludes its first season with a team event outside of Miami, executives outlined several goals for 2023 during a briefing with reporters at Trump Doral.
The goals included exposure through network television deals, both domestic and international; bringing on corporate sponsorships; and developing its team model. Executives hope the team model will eventually lead to franchises being sold, producing a significant revenue stream and a way of getting a return on an investment that is expected to push near $2 billion by the end of 2023.
“Our goals are to transition to the league, have 12 teams established and get them off the ground, and clearly build on the on-course and fan experience we are seeing and the engagement we are seeing,” said Atul Khosla, president and COO of LIV Golf.
“And yes, we have to start commercializing the product. Got to get on TV. Need to find corporate partners. Those are milestones we need to hit going into next year.”
Khosla said LIV Golf is in discussions with other players to help finalize its lineup for 2023, with a goal of having all positions filled by the end of the year. The number is a moving target, based on the number of players LIV Golf has already contracted, coupled with exempt spots given to players who finished among the top 24 in its season-long points list in 2022.
A best guess is there are as many as eight to 10 spots LIV Golf can fill in the coming months.
There will be 60 players, with four players and one reserve player for each team. Officials are working out details as to whether a reserve could replace an injured player during the team competition.
Also to be completed is a 2023 schedule, due Khosla said by the end of November. LIV Golf is expected to play five times outside of the United States, including Australia, Mexico, Singapore, England and Spain. Its season will run from February through September with 14 events and a plan not to go up against the major championships, Players Championship or legacy events such as the Genesis Invitational, Arnold Palmer Invitational or Memorial Tournament. None of the tournaments are expected to be played against the three-tournament FedEx Cup playoffs in August, contingent upon what a network partner would require.
LIV’s eight-tournament invitational series is concluding with its $50 million team championship at Doral on Sunday, where the winning team will be paid $16 million to be split among the four team members.
The money is coming from the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, which invests in numerous entities around the world. LIV Golf officials maintain they do not have unlimited funds, and that eventually they need to show some return on investment.
But by all indications, such a return is not necessary in the short term.
“Our investors have a long history,” said one LIV Golf official. “The outlook is very long term. We are trying to get our production up and running. We have not put a line in the sand for any point in time.”
How LIV Golf begins to make a return on its investment goes beyond television rights and sponsorships.
It is with the team concept—one that is foreign to golf—that LIV views as crucial to its success.
The names Hy Flyers and Crushers and Fireballs and Stingers have meant little to fans trying to follow LIV Golf—and have been maligned in some circles—but those teams have value, LIV Golf believes, and in time can fetch a high premium.
Phil Mickelson and other LIV Golf team captains have a 25% equity stake in their teams.
Lynne Sladky/AP
While not all of the team captains are set for 2023, players such as Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson have been given 25% equity stakes in their respective teams, with LIV Golf retaining 75% ownership.
If, for example, Johnson’s 4 Aces team were sold to an investor for $10 million, Johnson would receive $2.5 million while LIV Golf would get $7.5 million. Of course, LIV Golf anticipates getting far more than $10 million per franchise, and is willing to wait as the business grows, television comes on board, and sponsorships begin to emerge.
Starting in 2023, the teams, in theory, would exist on their own, getting a baseline from LIV Golf that helps them operate, with prize money from the team portion—$5 million per event paid to the top three teams with every team guaranteed $1 million at the season-ending event.
Teams would be free to sell sponsorships, team merchandise and apparel deals while being responsible for travel and support help such as physical trainers, coaches and marketing costs.
But the key to all of it remains exposure. And to that end, a television commitment. That has proven elusive, so far. Khosla said LIV events are airing with 20 different partners in 160 countries, but in the United States and UK the events have limited reach via YouTube and LIV’s own website.
“On the US front, we are back and forth with a few different networks,” Khosla said. “Step one was to show them the product, which they clearly understand. We had to show them the graphics and how it would be very different. Step two was to clear the time.
“We are now at the point where outlets have said time could be cleared. There are only so many times a year you can do that on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We are figuring out what commercial arrangements could look like.”
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