Scott O'Neil, the new chief executive officer of LIV Golf, is on the show this week to talk about the future of golf as a business, a sports and a future for young people, and what it means to Hong Kong.
Check out the full transcript of TVB’s Straight Talk host Dr Eugene Chan’s interview with Scott O’Neil:
Chan: Good evening. I'm Eugene Chan, and we're thrilled to be able to bring you the LIV edition here from the Hong Kong Golf Club at Fanling. The newly appointed CEO of LIV golf, Scott O'Neil, is with us today. O'Neil brings over 25 years of experience in leading and managing global sports and entertainment brands, from Lego home parks, iconic NBA and NFL teams like the New York Knicks and the Philadelphia Eagles to mass entertainment arenas like Madison Square Garden and Prudential Center. There's plenty to discuss about his vision of LIV's future, how Hong Kong fits into that and what fans can expect as LIV evolves. Welcome, Scott, to Hong Kong!
O'Neil: Doctor, can I call you Eugene?
Chan: You're most welcome.
O'Neil: Okay.
Chan: Right.
O'Neil: So good to be here at your home course.
Chan: Yes, this is my course; I play every Sunday.
O'Neil: I understand, you're a very good golfer.
Chan: I won't say that.
O'Neil: I could have used you on my Pro-AM team.
Chan: Oh, I'll think about it.
O'Neil: Out there, it's a tight course, a beautiful course.
Chan: Thank you.
O'Neil: I kind of spray and pray.
Chan: Hong Kong golf club, it is a very fantastic place. It means a lot to a lot of Hong Kong people. It has a lot of history. And we welcome you to come to Hong Kong and use our course.
O'Neil: It's wonderful to be here. And what I've been blown away by is not only the beauty of the course, but the hospitality we've received, the quality of the leadership here, the quality of the golf course. The players are raving about the conditions and the greens, and it's been an absolutely wonderful experience.
Chan: Right. I know it's your first time being in Hong Kong, being in this role. And how has everything turned up, compared to your expectations in other tournaments this year?
O'Neil: Well, I walked … 60 days in a row, and I walked in with sky high expectations, and somehow, Hong Kong always managed to exceed my expectations – from our accommodations to the golf course, to the experience of the fans yesterday, it’s just been absolutely wonderful.
Chan: Right. I mean, I'm sure before you come to Hong Kong, you hear different stories about Hong Kong and people who say Hong Kong is not as good as before. What's your view on that?
O'Neil: Well, you know, I believe this is my eighth or ninth trip to Hong Kong.
Chan: Alright.
O'Neil: And every time I come to this amazing place, I always think about two things. One is, why don't I live here? And the second, the second thing I think about is, is when can I come back next? So, I believe that there are some really special cities in the world, and I've been, you know, blessed and fortunate enough to travel to most of them, and boy, this is one of the elite cities in the world, from the food to the culture to the people to hospitality to the kind of the multicultural experience. There're some cities where when you just walk in, you just feel like you're home. And I feel like, that's what I feel like when I come to Hong Kong,
Chan: Scott, I'm sure the chief executive would be very happy to hear that, because Hong Kong offers a special talent scheme. And do let us know if you want to come to Hong Kong, we'll definitely assist you in the process and make Hong Kong your home.
O'Neil: Well, if it's a talent scheme, I think I might fall short of that, unfortunately. But I could certainly apply.
Chan: Right. LIV golf started in 2021 and in mere three years, he had created so much excitement globally. So, what kind of impact do you think LIV has on the impact of golf itself?
O'Neil: Well, you know, I always go back to our vision of what LIV is about and then, you know, there's so much focus on the US, and there're some amazing golfers that have spent a lot of time in the US. And I think the principles that we're trying to live by are kind of the what if, you know, what if you could take some of the biggest stars in the game and take them to the four corners of the world where golf is growing like mad. In APAC alone, I believe we had about over 25 percent growth in terms of golf participants. And, so, shouldn't we have events where you take some of the biggest stars in the game to the markets where golf really matters? And so the chance to do that in Hong Kong has been quite special.
Chan: Right? Scott, you know, some of the viewers may not be very familiar with the game, especially the league LIV. Maybe you can use this opportunity to explain to them, why it is called LIV, and how it is different from other traditional golf tournaments?
O'Neil: Sure. There're several different things that are different, several different aspects of LIV that are different from what you might expect at a traditional golf course. The first thing you'd notice when you come is that there's music. We have DJs around the course and music playing. We have emcees or announcers. It's fun and it's light. The second thing ... so, music is definitely something you'd notice. Second thing is, the food experience is often absolutely wonderful. And in our market, in Miami, we're actually testing an art, an immersive art experience. So, if you think about golf, it is to go to a wonderful golf course and when a player's about to hit, everybody says, “shh”.
Chan: Yes.
O'Neil: It's quite the opposite in LIV. So, it's a place where you can bring your family, it's a place you can bring friends, you can come on a date. It's just an absolutely wonderful experience to take in the great game of golf. I'd also add that we don't lose the beauty of golf, right? We don't lose those amazing life lessons, we don't lose the essence of golf, but we do put our players into teams, and they're captained by some of the great players in history – Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Bubba Watson, Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Bryson Dechambeau. These are like, this is like the elite, elite of golfers, and they're actually kind of tasked with leading, in some cases, mentoring the next generation of stars.
Chan: Alright.
O'Neil: So, you have some of the elite players in the game. They're assembled in teams with brands that you can actually, as a fan, identify with. We have a shotgun start which, and that means, for those of you who may not be golfers, is traditional golf tournaments. They just go out with tee times on one and 10, and in our case, everyone starts at the same time. Now, why is that important? Let me ask you. Why is that important?
Chan: I mean, no one has to wait.
O'Neil: No one has to wait. Of course, it shortens the experience from 11 or 10 hours down to four hours and 35 minutes. The pace of play is very predictable. And also, maybe more importantly, from a competitive standpoint, is that everybody's playing the same weather conditions. So, yesterday…
Chan: Exactly.
O'Neil: ... in the morning, it was a little choppy out there in the morning, but everybody was playing. If this were kind of a more traditional format, the players that were out early in the morning when that rain was coming down would have been at a disadvantage. And so we put everybody on the level playing field with the players we really like.
Chan: Scott, when you mentioned family, I'm sure some of our partners will start to think, hang on, we will be able to encourage our partners to go and play at LIV. You know why? Because there's a term called golf widows, isn't it? They get left alone and not be able to do anything. Maybe start doing some programmes for all the partners.
O'Neil: It's so wonderful! You know, when you think about a LIV event, 30 percent of our attendees are coming to a golf event for the first time. So, when you think about, you know, part of what we do, part of our mission is to grow the game of golf. And so for us, whether it be men, women, children, old, young, there's something for everyone and a place for everyone to come see us.
Chan: Scott, you know, our plan was to do the interview right by the course, so we see exactly and feel it, but then the music was so exciting that I'm sure the viewers won't be able to listen to what we said. I mean, we can still hear the actual excitement out there, but we are doing right in here, in the billet room, and we've got a special trophy here.
O'Neil: Yes, we do.
Chan: This is a LIV trophy, isn't it?
O'Neil: It's absolutely spectacular, isn't it?
Chan: Yes, I took a photo of it because no way I ever got in the tournament. Anyway, so, I mean, you have led some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment, and how does … when you come into golf, especially say LIV golf, how will you compare them, and do you see much room for growth from your point of view?
O'Neil: For LIV golf?
Chan: Yes, yes,
O'Neil: We are going to go to the moon and back. We are ... this is a three-year-old company that has an incredibly incredible arc of progress and trajectory forward. I mean, it is ... boy, I mean, just from … I'll give you just my little two snapshots from the first couple months I've been here. We signed a US broadcast deal with Fox, you know, Fox Sports, one of the biggest broadcasters in the US. We put an over the air broadcast in the UK, the first golf over the air in over a decade. We're now in over 800 million homes. We signed a substantial number of marketing partners. I mean, it's been an amazing, amazing progress. I think what we're finding is the narrative around LIV Golf has been very positive, you know, as we move from golf, but narrative to Long Live Golf, you know, our incredible majors, Augusta, PGA of America, the US Open and the Open Championship. They've all, for the first time, had pathways for our players into their tournament, and that's been a really, really wonderful opportunity for our players to see now, those majors being open. So, the progress has been staggering and humbling, and I think that's just a ... really like a building block of foundation for where we're heading.
Chan: Alright, Scott, while you're mentioning all those good work you have done, I've started to wonder to think that the last few years, the whole world is in a bit of chaos, with COVID and with sort of the … instabilities around the world. I think LIV will be a fantastic thing to bind people together and to unite them.
O'Neil: I think that's a really good insight that, you know, the one thing I learned coming out of COVID was that we need each other.
Chan: Exactly, indeed.
O'Neil: We need connection, we need people, we need experiences. And I think the one thing that will never go away is just this need for live experiences, a bit of escapism, a bit of connection with family and friends. And I think we're at the forefront of that. I also just would also invite you to think about, you know, you're a golfer, like, think about the life lessons you've learned from golf. Me, I learned humility. That's a good one for me.
Chan: Indeed.
O'Neil: You learn resilience.
Chan: Respect.
O'Neil: Respect. Integrity, right? Like, yes, it's only sport. You self-score and all that consistency, right? The importance of consistency in working on yourself. And you think about taking all those life lessons and apply them to life like it's not lost on me that the more kids that are picking up golf clubs I think the better off the world will be.
Chan: Alright Scott, let's take a short break now and viewers. We'll be right back.
Chan: Thank you for staying with us, we are at LIV on the grounds of the Fanling Golf Club with LIV’s new CEO, Scott O'Neill. And Scott has been sharing with us his good work in the first weeks, haven’t you? So, Scott, you have explained to the viewers the characteristics of the actual game, with a lot of entertainment, you try to engage the youth, you want to engage more people to enjoy the sport, and I brought up a point that it is a good thing for unity. So, with this game now for like 3 years, what will be your vision in the next 5-10 years? I mean, you said you will bring us to the moon, but what exactly will happen on the route to the moon?
O'Neil: Oh, sure. Well, I envision a day where our young players, first off, kind of what I am really excited about. If you think about, this might be too technical, but David Puig, and Eubin, and Abe, and Tom McKibbin, and Caleb, and Freddie, some of the young players, you see them kind of emerging into the kind of the world golf scene, and performing high in the majors. I see a day where there is more free agency, you know, where players are given the opportunity to play across multiple platforms. I see a day where we may be ingrained into the local golf federations in that every kid that picks up a golf club in Australia, for example, is going to have a little Ripper’s hat. One of our team, Cam Smith's team, his team is an Aussie team. And we are integrated into kind of the youth programs. I definitely see a day where we will have kind of the world's best performance center, where we will have more data and opportunity to grow the game and grow the performance of the game. So, I think the future is bright. I would like to make sure that we continue to kind of spread out that map and go to all 4 corners of the globe and make sure that this game continues to grow.
Chan: Right, Scott. I mean, you have been talking about your experiences in entertainment, especially in sports. What makes Hong Kong sort of a place on your calendar right now? I mean it is one of the 14 tournaments that goes on yearly, and we had you first time last year. And I think the responses have been very positive. What is so special about Hong Kong as compared to other 13 destinations?
O'Neil: Well, Hong Kong has a wonderful history and tradition in golf. This golf club, I believe, was founded in the late 1800s, is that right?
Chan: Yes, yes.
O'Neil: So, you have history and tradition. You have a wonderful and supportive corporate base. You have incredible disposable income. You have a friendly government. And you have a golf club with members who are leaders and want to see this work. And so all those various components lead to a lot of success in the future.
Chan: Right. And I am sure that as golfers, we would love to see LIV continuing to develop in this part of the world, especially Hong Kong. So, I will definitely hope that will happen.
O'Neil: I think you will see it, I think you will see us. We expanded to Korea this year. We have been in Singapore for a couple of years, and in Hong Kong for a couple of years. Korea this year for the first time, and we are working on some opportunities in Japan, and then, hopefully over to Shanghai as well.
Chan: Right, and also you had mentioned a few times that you enjoy the food …
O'Neil: I do.
Chan: … and have a bit of an experience in Hong Kong. And I read that we have sort of a live cooking demonstration from one of Hong Kong's most acclaimed chefs in Hong Kong. Is this something new?
O'Neil: It is new. It wasn't my own personal request, but it should have been.
Chan: Right.
O'Neil: We are really fortunate. Our hospitality experience is unmatched. It is like you are going into a world-class dining experience. And then you turn around, and you are staring at the 18th green. I mean, it is absolutely spectacular. What a great way to entertain clients! What a great way to bring your family and have a time out! It is wonderful. I was in there and I had to be carted out. They said I ate a bit too much.
Chan: Really?
O'Neil: No, not really. But I did eat a lot.
Chan: Right. Actually, I had a good chat with one of your colleagues, William, that he is going to bring me to some of the nice hospitality tents tomorrow.
O'Neil: Oh, wonderful.
Chan: So, I want to enjoy that too.
O'Neil: Great. Well, I will see you up there.
Chan: Yes. And I mean, I told you before, I was a student at Adelaide myself, and I know LIV was there in February. And we saw a massive energy of over 100,000 fans and some unforgettable moments, like Patrick Reed who had won at the Watering Hole.
O'Neil: It was unbelievable.
Chan: It was unbelievable. People should look up this wonderful experience that people have been through. And I read that Hong Kong is about to get its own version of a ‘Party Hole’, with a fence set at the 6th hole for next year. Can you tell the viewers what you have got in mind?
O'Neil: Sure. So, ‘Party Hole’, I believe we have in 8 markets this year out of the 14, we will continue to expand them. And the ‘Party Hole’ is just an opportunity to have fun. So, we create almost … it is like a coliseum-like experience around the hole. There’s different levels of hospitality. And in some of our markets, they sing, they do the wave. They have quite a bit of fun around the game of golf. And the players absolutely love it. It is typically tucked around a Par 3, so you have that excitement every tee shot, and there is nothing quite like it in sports.
Chan: So, everybody might be expecting another hole-in-one coming through.
O'Neil: Yeah, they hope so. Yeah, the hole-in-one is the big party celebration, and when you get one, you know how difficult it is. Have you had a hole-in-one?
Chan: I wish I have. I try every time.
O'Neil: Yeah.
Chan: But one good thing is at least when you make a hole-in-one …
O'Neil: Maybe this week, maybe this is your week.
Chan: All right, we will try. But at least you don't have to buy drinks for all the fans because there would be too many, wouldn't it? Anyway, so how do you see Hong Kong's role evolving as part of this LIV calendar? Because you said that, I am sure that we want to bring to all four corners of the world.
O'Neil: Oh, yeah, absolutely.
Chan: And does Hong Kong fit in your broader strategy and hopefully can it be a regular stop?
O'Neil: Yeah, we are hoping so. I mean we are working very hard right now, as I am sure you are aware, with the Hong Kong Golf Club here, with Andy the captain, and Ian, and Peter, and the local government. And there as a whole host of number of parties that are working very hard to make sure this is a regular stop on the calendar. And that is what our expectation is.
Chan: Right, and also we see that there are Asian players in the League, like from Japan and Korea, and this year wild card with Chinese Taipei’s Max Lee.
O'Neil: Max, yeah.
Chan: So, I think the local crowd would love to see a Hong Kong player.
O'Neil: I would too.
Chan: And we had Taichi Kho finished second in LIV golf promotion in 2024.
O'Neil: I heard. I heard he is a heck of a player.
Chan: Yeah, so, what are the chances of having a Hong Kong player at LIV if you come back next year?
O'Neil: Well, that would be absolutely wonderful. It is pretty simple, you know, it is a meritocracy. And the wonderful thing about golf is it doesn't matter where you come from, it doesn't matter how tall you are, or how short you are, or who your parents are, or where your home golf club is. It is like if you can play, you can play. And LIV is providing an opportunity. But from a business standpoint, I would love nothing more than to have a local play in this tournament. And so, I hope we get there.
Chan: Yeah, we will even draw even more crowds to come here to watch the local play.
O'Neil: Wouldn't that be great?
Chan: Yes. And beyond the tournament itself, we always talk about all this corporate responsibility, and I am sure LIV would be hopefully looking at ways of contributing to the golf development in Hong Kong. So, you have any plans for like our grassroots programs or partnerships or any clubs? What have you got in mind? Any initiatives you would like to do?
O'Neil: Sure, no, I mean, you mentioned the ‘Party Hole’ here on site 2. We would love to get another layer, in most of the markets we are permitted to do double-decker experiences, which makes the ‘Party Hole’ and our Club 54 a lot more kind of fun and imposing, you know, for the experience. And so, I know there is some local ordinances that don't allow that currently, so we are hoping we can work through that. In terms of local programs, in most of the markets where we have long-term agreements, we work with the local golf federation, we work with the local youth programs, to make sure that we are here for the long haul, and that more kids have clubs in their hands. So, we have plenty of programs.
Chan: Right. And we know that you have 14 tournaments in a year. That means you go to 14 cities.
O'Neil: Yes.
Chan: Anything you would do sort of making a sort of local flavor to each of the tournament? Is that already in place or you will be thinking about that?
O'Neil: Yeah, there’re some things we do. Hopefully you will notice some nuances as you get on the course tomorrow, whether from the tea box markers to certain music that is played. Peggy Gou, who is coming on as a DJ, is a local, a very famous DJ. And so, yes, you will always find some local flavors. If you have any thoughts and ideas on how to do that better, let us know.
Chan: Well, I will talk to you after the show. I am sure I will get some ideas for you. You know, LIV came at the time during COVID 2021 had caused a lot of, I won't use “disruption”, but sort of new energy to the game …
O'Neil: Yeah sure.
Chan: … and want people to be taking a notice of golf. How would you look at, foresee the future, working with all the traditional golf tournaments?
O'Neil: Yeah.
Chan: Will there be a possibility?
O'Neil: Yeah, of course, we are open. I mean, we come in, we say we are palms up, we come in to every conversation and we talk about the importance of growing the game of golf. We talk about our role in growing the game of golf. We talk about the importance of taking some of the biggest stars in the world to the four corners of the world because it matters in terms of growing the game and lifting the profile of the game. And so our approach has been pretty consistent, it is that we are here, we would love to be part of the environment, as it’s most important in growing the game of golf.
Chan: Right. And also I have been reading some of your interviews. You mentioned that you like to modernizing and supercharging the event. So, what does that mean in practical terms, say for the players and the fans, you should have talked about, and the partners? What do you mean by that?
O'Neil: Well, there is some simple things we talked about before. Even, you know, our focus on pace of play. Even allowing the little range finders that the players use, or the shotgun start. But there is also the technology that you will see in our broadcast, that is, if you haven't watched online, like go to LIV Golf Plus, you will absolutely love the experience. You can actually see every shot of every player on our app, which is pretty fun. And we are engaging and investing in quite a bit in AR and VR and AI, to actually continue to improve the experience.
Chan: And finally, tell the viewers, how would you describe LIV Golf in so simple words, say 3 words?
O'Neil: Just 3 words – fun, innovative, and inclusive.
Chan: Thank you, Scott. And I am sure all our fans will enjoy this year's LIV as much as last year.
O'Neil: Eugene, you are amazing. Thank you, very much appreciated.
Chan: Thank you very much. So, LIV's return to Hong Kong is not just another golf tournament, but it is all about inspiring young talent and also what Hong Kong has to offer. Have a good evening and see you next week.
