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So let's talk about the state of Live Golf. I know you've said before you need about three years to reach profitability at this moment. What is the amount of funding you're looking for and how's the journey to getting that funding.
Sure, we're looking at raising three hundred million dollars and we're talking to a combination of traditional private equity investors that invest in sports, talking to family offices, and a group that I would characterize as sports team owner billionaires. And they take place mostly in North America, a good healthy dose in the UK and some in Europe, and then of course some in Asia, Australia and South Africa.
What kind of rights are people demanding, what kind of stakes are they looking at? Just give me a sense of what the conversations look like and how they're shaping up.
You know, it's a really interesting dynamic in that we have billions of dollars of nls net operating losses that we believe we can carry forward with the business, and so that has us structuring the company in a very unique way. So we're spending a lot of time with investors really understanding how to best preserve those nls, which is for me, you know, I love my way around a deal and being able to work with the advisors we have and do Sarah our Bank has been.
Quite an experience.
So it's not just a stake in the League that perhaps people are looking for. They might also have team level investments that they could be looking to achieve.
Yes, absolutely, I'll just take you to tell you little stories. Is when I was at Madison Square Guarden. I was the psident of Madison Square Garden. I started in two thousand and eight. You very well know what was happening in two thousand and eight with the financial crisis, and the Knicks were valued around six hundred million.
The New York Rangers were valued about four hundred million.
And they look today and there isn't a person on the planet that would value in the New.
York Nicks under ten billion dollars, especially on now, and.
Not a person on the planet that would value the New York Rangers under four billion. And you think about this growth in team valuation, and that's what we think is the economic engine and to drive lives. So when you invest in the league, you also get stakes in all the teams.
I mean Live also just had this really unique prospect coming in. But the PGA responded. It responded with mega purses, giving players some steaks and in certain tournaments. Now that the PJA has responded, what is Live's usp What is your unique selling point in which you exist in the golf world.
As I think the PGA Tour does a wonderful job serving the three hundred and forty million US golf fans, it's the eight billion that I work at work with, and so we operate on five continents or in ten countries and incredible golf markets that are growing like a weed. And so the whole bet is is are you buying the eight billion or are you buying the three hundred and forty million? And I love the three hundred and
forty million million bet for the PGA Tour. I just like the Live Golf bet for the eight billion a lot more.
I mean a lot of people would look at Live and say, one of the unique selling points is the talent that you're able to bring over Sham, one of the faces of Live Golf. His contract comes up in October. Can you get him back?
Oh? Absolutely?
You know, we have stars like Bryson d Chambeau and John Rahm and Terrell Hatt and Dustin Johnson, camp Smith household names. The difference with this league more than any other business I've ever been a part of it.
I've been a part of.
A few, is that this league was built for by and through the players.
Yeah, but isn't it just you paid them a lot so they came over?
Can you still do that?
But we're actually like building it for them, so they'll actually be the majority owners of this business going forward. And there hasn't been a time in history where players have owned a majority of a league, and that's a pretty special opportunity. I think also some players want something different.
Some and none are the same. But some, you know, maybe grew up in Australia like camp Smith, or grew up in Korea like ben On, or grew up in the UK like Ian Poulter, or Sergio Garcia who grew up in Spain, and they think, you know, it'd be good to travel the world, it'd be good to grow the game around the world and give back. And maybe maybe they live in the US, or maybe they live in Dubai, or maybe they live in South Africa. So
I don't think there's one shoe fits all. I think for someone who wants to change the game, wants to play for a big prize, persons who wants to be part of a team. That's the other kind of interesting part of Live Golf is where we operate in teams. And you don't have to look too much further than
the World Cup to understand the nationalism going on. So we have Team Ripper is an Australian team, the Southern Guards is a South African team, the Korean Golf Club is a Korean team, and there's so much affinity when we go to these markets rooting for their home clubs.
As part of your pitch to investors, the idea is that you're going to change Live Golf's business model absolutely pretty dramatically. What do you expect to be the main driver revenue in five years time that doesn't exist today?
Well, I can tell you I've been here for eighteen months, so this is about a five year old league. And the one thing I noticed very quickly is that bringing in sponsors which we have like Rolex and HSBC and Salesforce and Qualcomm and Ping and Calaries, some of these glove Moble brands, that's an important component of any golf business.
We also moved our television from the CW in the US to Fox Sports, and we moved to TNT in the UK and we actually got into almost a billion homes around the world, and so I think TV disution will be a key part. But maybe equally as important is the impact you mentioned Bryson d Chambau. The impact he has on YouTube and YouTube golf is unmatched anywhere
in the world. This guy is a bona fide like mister Beast of sports, and I think that's the area when I go to whether we're heading out to the US Open, at the Majors or the Math the Masters, I'm sitting next to young kids their favorite golfer is Bryson DHMBO because he reaches them in a different place, and I think that part of growing the game matters as well.
Twelve million followers across all the major social media platforms counts for a lot. I'm curious what is the role of Saudi Arabia in live golf now at the PIFF. Does it still own about ninety five percent? Is it helping to source investors in any way? Would it consider resuming funding if there's a certain level of him that.
You do get. You know, PIF's been very clear with us.
They've been really good, positive, solid investors with us, and they've been really clear they're going to fund through the season, and it's up to us to make sure that we spend all our waking hours finding the next investors and we're up to the task.
By the way, the sports media was pretty excited when it saw you with the PGA CEO at the Masters in April. Can you clear up any of the little rumor mill Might there be some sort of arrangement between you and the PGA still in the works and sort of ecosystem that might exist.
Just listen.
I walked into a very rocky, rough environment with the ecosystem and lift golf, and that's been moved out pretty dramatically and pretty quickly, and we have very productive conversations throughout the ecosystem. We were granted world ranking points, which has been great. We've gotten direct pathways for our players to qualify for the US Open and the Open Championship, wonderful. When we go to the majors or talk to other bodies in the marketplace, we've been treated very well.
So that is that a know, nothing else needs to kind of be worked out with the PGA at this moment, or might there still be some conversation.
You know.
I think over time the world of golf will open up, but our one hundred percent focus right now is making sure that we find the right investors to carry us forward.
By the way US Open this weekend, I'm sure you're attending, who's your money on at this moment? Scotty looks good, Tommy Fleetwood, people love him.
Those are not my choices.
No, John Rahm is playing elite golf. I think he's one of the best golfers on the planet. He does it at an excellent level all the time. You can never count out a two time winner of the US Open like Bryson d. Chambeau, who again is the most dynamic player I've ever seen, athlete I've ever been around. And then Terrell Hattan just won our last event in Valderama.
He's playing well, and Dustin Johnson seems to have found an electric putter, and Cam Smith cannot seem to miss the fairway off the drive and when he does that, there's nobody better one hundred and fifty yards. And then so those are my big five all right, mark it down.
And on that one, you mentioned you worked at MSG, and of course you worked at the NBA as well. On top of that, you graduated from Villanova, So I'm guessing that you might have rooted for one team in that it was Musty.
TELEVI in the O'Neil house, and I have a daughter who's a freshman and Eliza at Villanova now, so so very much connected. And when Jay Wright was the coach, I was very connected to that program. And I had a chance to be around Jalen and Michael and of course Josh Hart, who's my favorite NBA player, And I will tell you they represent everything that's right about sports, everything that's right about Villanova, and everything that's right about the NBA.
They played team basketball better.
Yet they're wonderful human beings and great examples for New York. And we needed it in the city. We needed a lift, and we got it.
And the NBA needed it too. It's a great, long awaited championship for us.
Do just fine. My good friend on Silver, he's done just okay.
When he announced an expansion franchise somewhere between seven and nine billion dollars, I just kind of winked and said that's okay, and that's what we're heading. That's what we keep talking about is is that you can't look past franchise values. When I started at the Philadelphia Eagles in nineteen ninety five, jeff Looyd had bought that team for one hundred and eighty eight million dollars and everyone's.
Like, well, they said, you are crazy. He just sold a piece of that for eight billion.
So you look at where franchise values are going, and then you look at how many.
Global options do you have in sports? There's Formula one, there's Moto GP, and.
There's lift golf, and that's it, you know, And I think I think we'll distinguish ourselves.
And the other thing I love about golf.
Is the leaders of the free world play golf, leaders of countries play golf, and of fortune, five hundred CEOs play golf, and half of New York City and so I think we have a really good opportunity in a sport people love. I don't think there's a better business development opportunity in the world. And then playing in a pro am next to some of the best players in the world, or seeing the world class hospitality and actually driving business,