Who is Scott O’Neil? What to know about new LIV Golf CEO replacing Greg Norman

Greg Norman is out as CEO of LIV Golf. Who is Scott O’Neil, the man now overseeing the vagabond golf league?

O’Neil assumed the mantle Wednesday after Norman had been in charge since LIV Golf’s inception in 2021. The league, funded by Saudi Arabia’s Private Investment Fund, is headquartered in West Palm Beach and hosts tournaments at courses owned by Donald Trump. Its biggest move so far has been using gigantic contracts to pull dozens of prominent golfers from the PGA Tour, including Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Phil Mickelson.

The biggest task facing O’Neil is ensuring those players and the others in LIV Golf can be featured in golf’s biggest tournaments, specifically the Masters and the other three majors. While O’Neil doesn’t have experience in the golf world, the 54-year-old executive does come with a long list of experience in sports, including the NFL, NBA and NHL.

Here are three things to know about new LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil:

Scott O’Neil had leadership positions with 76ers, Knicks

O’Neil was born in the U.S. and graduated from Villanova University just outside of Philadelphia. After getting his master’s from Harvard, he worked for the Philadelphia Eagles and New Jersey Nets before transitioning to senior vice president of team marketing with the NBA from 2000-08.

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After that, O’Neil jumped to New York to be president of MSG Sports, running operations for the New York Knicks and New York Rangers from 2008-12. In 2013, he left to become CEO of the Philadelphia 76ers and later Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment, led by Josh Harris and David Blitzer, which owns the 76ers and New Jersey Devils.

The 2013 Sixers marked the start of what became known as “The Process,” in which the team tanked for four straight seasons in order to stockpile draft picks, putting up some of the worst seasons in NBA history in the process. Eventually, the Sixers landed Joel Embiid, who would become the MVP in 2023, and became a perennial playoff team again, but they have yet to win more than one playoff series since making the 2001 NBA Finals.

Scott O’Neil was CEO of company that runs Legoland Parks, Madame Tussauds

In 2022, O’Neil was named CEO of Merlin Entertainments, a British company that operates theme parks and other tourist attractions. The biggest of those are the Madame Tussauds wax museums and the London Eye. The portfolio also has some Florida ties, including the Orlando Eye at ICON Park and Legoland Parks.

O’Neil stepped down at the end of 2023.

Scott O’Neil ‘confident’ LIV Golf players will be allowed to play majors

LIV Golf events still don’t count toward the World Golf Ranking, meaning it’s very hard for LIV members to play in the majors. Only players with ongoing exemptions to the tournaments, such as being a previous winner, can still participate in the biggest events on the calendar.

O’Neil said in an interview with The London Times that while “our time with the world rankings has passed,” talks with the tournament runners and the ongoing PGA Tour merger has him confident that LIV golfers will be able to play in the majors.

“We all want the same thing and I’m really confident that clearer heads will prevail,” O’Neil said to The Times. “I have a good feeling that the headwinds LIV has seen over the last two and a half years are very quickly going to turn to tailwinds.”

Palm Beach Post staff reports contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: LIV Golf CEO: What to know about Scott O’Neil