- Former Aston Villa president says questions around LIV’s long-term future are “irresponsible”
- League has US$500m in secured partnership revenue across multi-year deals
- LIV planning to double number of event title sponsors in 2026
LIFE Golf’s president of business operations Chris Heck has said that the Saudi-backed circuit is adopting an “aggressive” sponsorship strategy following the recent addition of Rolex as its latest blue-chip commercial partner.
Last year saw a change in LIV’s commercial fortunes as it secured partnerships with major brands such as SalesforceQualcomm and MGM Resorts.
Banking giant HSBC, a prominent supporter of golf for over 20 years, also joined LIV in Julyproviding further evidence that sponsors have been warming to the breakaway circuit after brands appeared to stay away when it first launched in 2021.
That momentum has continued into 2026, with Rolex agreeing a hospitality-focused deal to complement its extensive portfolio of partnerships with all four men’s golf majors, the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LPGA Tour, Asian Tour and Ladies European Tour (LET).
LIV chief executive Scott O’Neil revealed in October that the circuit secured “half a billion” dollars in sponsorship revenue in 2025. Speaking to SportsPro, Heck (pictured above) clarified that this represents secured revenue across multi-year deals – not just for 2025.
Heck, who joined LIV from Premier League club Aston Villa last summersaid that LIV has been selling itself as a “global” competition, giving it “a wide range of options and opportunities” both geographically and at the league and team levels.
This push has seen LIV secure title partners for four of its events in 2026, including mining firm Ma’aden and real estate developer Roshn Group for tournaments in the US and Riyadh respectively. Both of those companies are owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), but Heck anticipates that more title partnerships with brands outside of the Gulf state this year.
“The markets we go to have very big interest from some of the biggest, best and most powerful companies and brands in the world,” Heck told SportsPro in what was his first interview since joining LIV.
“We are going to them in those individual markets by selling title sponsorships. We’ve sold four for this year. We expect that to increase. In the next 12 months we expect that to double.
“We are being quite aggressive out there, but with an absolute strategy of global, local and teams.”
‘We follow a similar path to F1’
Heck stated that LIV’s pricing strategy for its sponsorship inventory is determined on a “case-by-case” basis and is influenced by several factors, including market location and the sector a brand operates in. He also emphasised LIV’s intent to “fully embrace” the fact that more young people are engaging with golf, particularly through fashion, music and culture, which he hopes, in turn, will attract more brands to the circuit.
Since Heck’s arrival, LIV has also added TNT Sports as one of several new media partners, with the pay-TV network replacing free-to-air (FTA) broadcaster ITV in the UK. The 2026 season will mark LIV’s second year with Fox in the US, which took over from The CW.
Heck acknowledged that sponsorship constitutes a larger portion of LIV’s revenue compared to more traditional sports leagues while likening the circuit’s approach to that of Formula One due to their global touchpoints.
“We follow a very similar path to F1,” Heck explained. “They clearly have a different model where they don’t necessarily own their tracks and they don’t control their cars specifically on inventory.
“But other than that, we are very consistent. We go to some of the same markets, they’re all over the world and have different time zones, which makes it a little bit tricky with television.
“But we’re bullish on the future of our broadcasts. We just launched our new look and feel of our broadcast that we’re super excited about.”
Narrative around LIV’s future is “irresponsible”
During his two-year spell at Villa, Heck oversaw a period of growth that saw the club’s revenue rise 27 per cent to UK£275.7 million (US$374.6 million) for 2023/24, driven by qualification for the Uefa Champions League. Heck was open about his ambitions for Villa to disrupt the Premier League’s ‘big six’ and now says he is “very much following a script” he had at the club.
“[At Aston Villa] we got we got more ambitious, we got aggressive, we grew, we got strategic and we aligned ourselves with the right partners, and that meant either current or new sponsors, agencies, influencers, broadcasters,” he continued.
“[At] Aston Villa, we opened up a London office. What we’re doing [at LIV] is we’re doubling our London office and it’s very sponsorship centric. We’re doing the same thing in New York.
“I know culture is very much an overused word, but we are playing that same card of building a culture with really exceptional people and talent that are collaborating together.”
While Heck wants LIV to ramp up its sponsorship activity this year, 2026 has already been eventful for the circuit. Big-name players Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed have returned to the PGA Tour and reports suggest that PIF is reevaluating its sports investments.
Meanwhile, LIV’s UK division has already racked up more than US$1 billion in cumulative losses, and O’Neil has conceded that the circuit will be lossmaking for the rest of the decade. All of that has led to speculation over LIV’s long-term viability.
LIV is also shifting to a 72-hole formatmoving away from its previous 54-hole events, aligning itself with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. That decision was reportedly made under pressure from players.
However, the league has not felt pressured to provide certain assurances or guarantees for existing or prospective sponsors, according to Heck.
“Call up HSBC, Rolex, Under Armour … they’re all on long term deals,” he said. “They all believe in the future of what LIV will be and how it’s getting there.
“You don’t get some of the best brands in the world chasing a false dream. So this narrative that [LIV] is a temporary league or ambition is, I would say, a bit irresponsible.”
At the same time, LIV’s proposed merger with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour appears to have stalled, with all three continuing to agree their own commercial deals over the last 12 months, suggesting that they are preparing for things to continue as they are. It casts further doubt over whether the unification promised more than two and a half years ago will ever come to fruition.
Heck’s focus is purely on LIV, rather than other tours.
“We have a business model, a business plan and a business mission that we’re very much focused on,” he said. “What the others do? Listen, we’re rooting for golf and as the world’s golf league we’re excited for the future.”
Sponsorship remains the most powerful commercial force in sportyet as investments soar, the ROI gap widens. This April, SportsPro London will deliver frameworks for proving impact beyond logo placement. Learn more here.
