NORTH PLAINS, Ore. — LIV Golf’s original plan called for multiple years of its ‘Invitaitonal Series’ before switching to a league schedule down the road. That timeline has been accelerated.
A LIV Golf official confirmed that the upstart organization will transition to the LIV Golf League and hold 14 events in 2023, more than the 10 events initially slated for the league’s second year. LIV also plans to have 48 players contracted to play all 14 events next year, with permanent team captains that can recruit their own teams and make trades—a stark contrast from this inaugural season, which has and will continue to feature a rotating cast of players with more expected to sign with the Saudi-backed venture.
The idea is for the 12 teams to develop their own identity. LIV officials view the franchise model—eventually selling them—as crucial to their business model and the sustainability of the product. Despite some belief that the Saudis” Public Investment Fund has given LIV a blank check and that the league does not need to make money to persist, officials have maintained that the PIF’s goal with LIV is profit and that the league will survive only if there is return on investment.
LIV has been emboldened by the signing of a number of big-name players in the period between its first event and the one at Pumpkin Ridge—Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed, Abraham Ancer and Matthew Wolff, to name a few—and has spent considerable money providing players and their teams a first-class experience. The hope, it would seem, is for word to spread to other players who would fill out the 48-man fields.
A LIV official confirmed that while nothing is set in stone, the league has 10 venues identified for 2023 and hopes to add international sites—all while avoiding areas the PGA Tour has a presence.