When will LIV Golf 2023 start? What do we know about next season?
Officials of the Saudi-financed league shared some of LIV Golf’s goals going into next season; more players are expected to be signed by year’s end.
As LIV Golf concluded its first season with a team event at Trump Doral, officials outlined several components for 2023.
Atul Khosla, president and COO of the Saudi-backed league told reporters outside Miami that some of the league’s goals for next year include developing its team model, finding exposure through network television deals, domestic and international, as well as bringing on corporate sponsorships.
According to Khosla, LIV officials hope the team model ends up leading to franchises being sold, producing a strong revenue stream that gets a return on an investment expected to push near $2 billion by the end of the year.
LIV Golf’s format in 2023
Among the other milestones Khosla talked about for 2023 is the transition to 12 teams, growing to 60 players, and contesting a 14-event global schedule—nine in the U.S. and five overseas. It’s set to run from late February to September.
Each of the 12 teams will add a replacement player who can only be used in case of injuries or external circumstances. The board will select the captain, “principal” player, as well as two seeded players determined by the top 24 on the points standings from this inaugural season. The captain will choose the fourth member of the team, and the team will be rounded out by the substitute.
The 12 captains—who figure to be the likes of Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia and Cam Smith—will be guaranteed a 25-percent equity stake in their team’s franchise while LIV will keep 75 percent.
The league, which will also be renamed the LIV Golf League, has future plans for a 60-day transfer window. Officials said Saturday that was already happening informally and that several players would be on new teams before the start of the new season- late February.
LIV’s transfer market
LIV aims for that transfer market to be in place after 2023. In July, the league announced the bottom four finishers on its points standings in 2023 will be relegated to a tournament it co-sanctions, the Asian Tour’s International Series. Following that, three spots will be filled by a qualifying tournament, “Promotions” event, while the fourth will go to the winner of the money list for the International Series.
Additionally, teams will take on all their own operating costs, including staff, travel, medical. There are plans for franchises to wear the same apparel and possibly forfeit logo sponsors they have in order to be able to wear the team’s uniform.
“I think there’ll be a budget to work within, but basically [a captain] will be in charge of what the team is going to wear and having certain sponsors,” Smith, captain of the all-Australian Punch GC team, said this week. “It would really be cool to bring that [franchise] element to golf like Formula 1 has.”