Saudi-backed consulting firm Performance54 eyes Australian sports prize

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is eyeing opportunities for further investment into Australian sport ahead of its inaugural Australian LIV Golf event.

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is eyeing opportunities for further investment into Australian sport as it prepares to host its inaugural Australian LIV Golf event next month.

The controversial breakaway golf tour will host its fourth event of the year in Adelaide, where some of the world’s best players will compete for a $US25m ($37.2m) purse.

Opponents of LIV describe it as another example of “sportswashing” from a country with a history of violence, oppression and human rights abuses.

But that hasn’t stopped the flood of ticket sales that has left organisers looking for ways to increase crowd capacity for the event.

London-based sports marketing and consulting firm Performance54, which was involved in developing the LIV concept, is working behind the scenes to manage and promote the upcoming tournament, and all other LIV tour events outside the US.

The agency is part-owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which has previously made investments into English Premier League giant Newcastle United and the Aston Martin Formula 1 team, while also bankrolling Cristiano Ronaldo’s recent transfer to Al Nassr football club.

Performance54 Australia managing director Nick Haslam at The Grange Golf Club. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

On the back of the first LIV tournament in Adelaide, Performance54 has set up a permanent base in the city as part of a wider push into the Australian market.

Performance54’s newly appointed managing director in Australia, Nick Haslam, said the firm was initially focused on delivering a successful LIV event next month, but would then explore other opportunities to expand its brand in Australia.

“We are currently setting our strategic plan for Performance54 in Australia – we’ll set up a team here and we’re going to look at some other things, initially in golf but in sport more broadly as well,” he said.

“We see a real opportunity to contribute to the development of Australia’s sporting landscape, which punches above its weight at a global level.”

The Grange Golf Club will host the first LIV tournament in Australia following a four-year deal struck between tour organisers and the South Australian state government late last year.

Ground passes for all three days of the event, currently capped at 15,000 per day, are sold out, and an additional 5000 hospitality tickets are expected to be snapped up in the coming days.

The first corporate sponsors are expected to be announced in the coming days.

Charles Howell III took out the first LIV tournament of the year at El Camaleon Mayakoba golf course in Mexico. Picture: Hector Vivas/Getty Images

Mr Haslam acknowledged some corporate trepidation with the LIV series, but said the overwhelming response had so far been positive.

“Certainly the initial feedback’s been really good – with the TV deal only just being announced it really changes the value proposition, but we’ve had a lot of interest from local companies,” he said

“There have been one or two brands that have asked the question, but people are just really excited that the best talent is finally coming to Australia for a golf event.

“We see this as an investment in sport, sport is a force for good around the world, and this is a great opportunity to generate interest in the sport.

“I’m pretty comfortable in saying this is a really good thing for sport in Australia and golf in Australia.”

LIV announced this week it had secured the Seven Network as its inaugural television broadcast partner in Australia, in a deal that will see all 14 LIV events shown free-to-air.

The first tournament of LIV’s second season teed off last week in Mexico.

LIV is looking to shake up the sport with a shortened team-based format with concerts, parties and interactive fan zones designed to engage with a new younger audience. It has prompted an all-out war with the rival PGA Tour, which has dominated elite golf since the 1960s.

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas with LIV Golf chief executive Greg Norman.

PGA major championship winners Brooks Koepka, Sergio Garcia and Phil Mickelson, and local favourite Cameron Smith, are all part of the breakaway tour and will appear in the Adelaide tournament.

Mr Haslam, who previously held commercial roles with Melbourne Storm in the NRL and North Melbourne Football Club in the AFL, said the LIV concept was resonating with Australian fans, who had been “starved of the best talent for a long time”.

“I think fans have voted with their wallets to say they really want to watch the best golfers in the world,” he said.

“The stats show that it’s resonated with a very new exciting demographic – 70 per cent of ticket purchases are under 45 (years old), 75 per cent of people purchased tickets on their mobile device, which is very unusual for a golf event.

“We’ve sold 15,000 ground passes for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and currently the allocation is exhausted.

“We’ve been asked to look at avenues for how we might be able to expand that capacity, however we need to be mindful this is the first event of this size and want to get it right in year one.”

An additional 5000 corporate hospitality tickets are expected to be sold for each day of the event following their release this week.

Mr Haslam said they ranged from a $335 ticket to the Birdie Shack, featuring a DJ and bar on the first hole, to a $1265 ticket to Club 54 – a luxury VIP dining experience on the 18th green.

“I think the best way to describe it is almost like the Village Green at Adelaide Oval or Pit Lane at the F1 coming to the golf,” he said.

“It will certainly be a party atmosphere.”

Mr Haslam said the popularity of the LIV format, and the emergence of other variations to the traditional four-day format, including Blitz Golf and the Ultra Golf Championship, showed the sport was ripe for disruption.

“We’re supportive of anyone that wants to try something different, and it’s not necessarily disruption but more additive to the current ecosystem,” he said.

“Golf has been probably played the same way for a long time. You could see the innovation at the Australian Open last year with a mixed and all-abilities tournament – doing things differently adds to the sport.”