Monday, May 18, 2026

LIV Golf Envisions $1B Franchises, but Not Ready to Sell Ownership Stakes

LIV Golf executives believe the league’s teams will soon all be worth $1 billion, but they’re not going to market just yet.

Phil Mickelson of Team HyFlyers GC hits off the fifth tee during the LIV Golf Michigan Team Championship semifinals at The Cardinal at St. John’s in Plymouth on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025.
Detroit Free Press

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — LIV Golf executives believe the league’s teams will soon all be worth $1 billion, but they’re not going to market just yet.

“We’re doing a lot of groundwork right now to prepare ourselves for that,” LIV CEO Scott O’Neil said Wednesday at the league’s Teams Week preseason event.

LIV head of team business operations Katie O’Reilly indicated the efforts are ongoing. “Our goal is to build 13 billion-dollar franchises,” she said. “That is our goal. Are we there yet? No. But right now we are building the foundation for that.”

Player captains of the four-man teams own 25% of each LIV franchise, while the Saudi-funded league owns the other 75% of each club. There is no public valuation of what teams are currently worth, and so far no ownership stakes have been sold.

“We have a very heavy interest coming our way—all of us—getting a lot of calls and real interest,” Chris Heck, LIV’s president of business operations, said. “But we are trying to do this wisely and also responsible for what we think is something that’s going to keep building and building in value.”

In 2024, LIV Golf Ltd., the U.K.-based firm that runs LIV’s non-U.S. operations, reported losses totaling $461.8 million, according to public filings. Revenue came in at $64.9 million, but expenses were $526.7 million. 

For 2026, O’Reilly said LIV is focused on driving sponsorship revenue at the team level, noting more traditional golf brands like Callaway and Ping are among the sponsors in the league. 

There is no timetable for when teams will be able to sell stakes to outside investors, but LIV’s biggest star is excited for that day to come. 

“That’s the ultimate goal,” Bryson DeChambeau, captain of Crushers GC, tells Front Office Sports. “That’s the business model. It’s taken a few years, but we’re getting to a place now where we’ve generated a lot of revenue and there’s some keen interest this year.”

DeChambeau—despite his uncertain future at LIV—has embraced the team aspect of the league as much, if not more so, than any of his peers. The Crushers have a major apparel provider in Reebok, as well as notable sponsors like NetJets and Qualcomm.

Chris Rosaasen, GM of Dustin Johnson’s 4Aces team, tells FOS the idea of LIV franchises selling minority ownership stakes is “in its infancy right now,” but still something he’s following closely. “It’s my job to make the team as profitable as possible,” Rosaasen says.

If and when LIV teams are allowed to bring on investors, Rosaasen says Johnson is “happy keeping” his 25% stake for the immediate future. “He believes in it, and that’s maybe going to be his final swan song payoff,” Rosaasen says. “And maybe that’s 20 years down the road. He’s very excited.”

LIV’s efforts to build up the value of its teams comes as the PGA Tour-backed TGL is early into its second season with an array of prominent businesspeople and celebrities invested in the league.

TGL, the indoor team competition founded by Tiger Woods, has six teams and is adding a seventh in 2027. TGL’s parent company, TMRW Sports, was valued at $500 million during an investment round in 2024. TGL teams don’t have public valuations, but various reports have suggested some could be worth between $50 million and $100 million.

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