Report: LIV Golf to replace Greg Norman ‘as early as next week’

LIV Golf is on the verge of hiring a new CEO, according to reports.

The Sports Business Journal’s Josh Carpenter revealed in October that LIV – which is financed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund – was looking to replace Greg Norman, who has held the role since the league was founded in 2021.

Carpenter said LIV had hired London-based recruitment firm Odgers Berndtson, who targeted top executives in the sporting world, with Brett Yormark – the commissioner of athletic organisation Big 12 Conference – among those on the list.

But while talks with Yormack “did not progress”, it now seems LIV have got their man.

• PGA Tour-LIV ‘Showdown’ to offer historic prize fund (and there’s no cash)

• LIV Golf star wants to play ‘four PGA Tour events’

Sky News reported on Wednesday that Scott O’Niel has stepped down from his role as the CEO of Merlin Entertainments, which runs a number of theme parks and attractions including Alton Towers, Legoland and Madame Tussauds, “to take an undisclosed role elsewhere”.

And Carpenter soon followed up with his own story, including a source who said LIV are in “advanced talks” with O’Neil, whose appointment could come as early as next week. The source added that it’s “not signed but on the 1 yard line”, and that O’Neil will also take over from Norman as the league’s commissioner.

O’Neil comes with previous experience in the sporting world. He was the CEO of NBA team the Philadelphia 76ers before moving upstairs to take on the same role at Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which owns a number of teams, including the 76ers and NHL side the New Jersey Devils.

• Next LIV Golf signing could be two-horse race

• PGA Tour investor makes LIV merger admission

The appointment would see O’Neil once again team up with Katie O’Reilly, who recently took on the role to run LIV’s team business operations. The pair first worked together at the 76ers.

Norman, meanwhile, is still expected to remain with LIV Golf. He told Sports Illustrated last month that he has a contract with the league until August 2025.

Alex Perry is the Associate Editor of bunkered. A journalist for more than 20 years, he has been a golf industry stalwart for the majority of his career and, in a five-year spell at ESPN, covered every sporting event you can think of. He completed his own Grand Slam at the 2023 Masters, having fallen in love with the sport at his hometown club of Okehampton and on the links of nearby Bude & North Cornwall.

Associate Editor