A number of players who’ve signed with Greg Norman’s LIV Golf are reportedly unimpressed with moves to reign in costs in the breakaway tour’s second season.
It’s estimated LIV Golf spent around $1.15 billion in 2022, but a mandatory meeting held in Tucson before the second event of 2023 apparently saw a number of players raise concerns.
Writing for The Fire Pit Collective, journalist Alan Shipnuck said the fledgling league is experiencing “growing pains”.
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Shipnuck wrote that LIV Golf’s original plan was to hold 10 events in 2023, before expanding to 14 in 2024. That timeline was fast tracked, with 14 events now on the schedule for 2023.
He quotes an unnamed player who suggests all is not rosy behind the scenes.
“Some guys thought their contracts for this year are for 10 tournaments, not 14. But even with more tournaments there is no bump in the guaranteed money they signed for. Last year the players kept their share of the team winnings but now that money goes back to the team,” he said.
“I heard one guy say, ‘Why are we standing on a podium spraying each other with champagne when we don’t get the money?’ So that’s interesting. And now there is talk that [LIV leadership] wants to put more of the total purse toward the team component. But, again, guys have it in their contract they would be playing for $20 million (AUD $29.8 million) on their own. So you can imagine there is a lot of conversation right now.”
Shipnuck quotes another unnamed player who says “every expense is getting double-and triple-checked now” and notes the press room lunch, which featured a “decadent buffet” in 2022, now consists of “cold sandwiches and pre-packaged cookies”.
Kevin Na, who won five times on the PGA Tour before signing with LIV Golf, offered what Shipnuck called “some needed perspective” on the issue.
“There is a shit-ton of money out here, and I already got a shit-ton,” Na said.
“If you play well, you’re gonna win a shit-ton more. I’m not worrying about the details.”
Reports of cost-cutting come in the wake of the union representing broadcast workers claiming LIV Golf has “pulled the rug out from under” those working on the tour’s TV production.
“There seems to be plenty of money to spend on extravagant excess but not to guarantee the crew that puts their product on the air access to healthcare,” said one worker, in a statement released by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE).
“These are industry standards, and the LIV executives could care less.”
The IATSE said LIV Golf has “seemingly bottomless pockets and no aversion to spending extravagant sums” and noting that “five golfers alone account for more than half a billion dollars (AUD $745 million) in guaranteed contracts.”
“As skilled and dedicated professionals, broadcast workers deserve fair benefits and working conditions that reflect the value of their contributions to LIV Golf,” said IATSE’s Rachel McLendon.
“We are calling on LIV to ensure that all workers have access to benefits and are given a voice in their workplace.”
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