As Uncertainty Hovers Over PGA Merger, LIV Golf Hires Entertainment Industry Veteran as Legal Chief

The Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf League has named veteran sports and entertainment attorney John Ruzich as chief legal officer.

The move comes as negotiations drag on between the Professional Golfers Association and LIV to combine their operations into a new, collectively owned, for-profit entity. The competing pro golf organizations shocked the sports and businesses worlds in June 2022 by announcing plans to merge. But the parties’ self-imposed deadline of reaching a “framework agreement” by the end of 2023 came and went.

Ruzich joins LIV after serving 12 years as CLO at New York City-based Legends Hospitality, which is owned by affiliates of the New York Yankees and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, and provides food, beverage and entertainment services to event venues.

At LIV, Ruzich will oversee all legal matters for the golf league and its 13 teams, including international operations and events. He will be based in New York and begin this month, LIV said in a statement.

Ruzich replaces John Loffhagen, a London-based attorney who took the legal reins of LIV in May 2022 and quietly departed 13 months later, with no explanation from the league or Loffhagen on the reasons for his departure.

The PGA is based in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, and LIV is based in Knutsford, England. The PGA has been widely criticized for joining up with LIV, which is bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, given that nation’s history of human rights abuses, including the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi five years ago. In addition, legal observers have called a merger monopolistic and said they doubt one would pass muster with U.S. and European antitrust regulators.

LIV Golf launched in October 2021, with golfing great Greg Norman as its CEO, and swiftly doled out hundreds of millions of dollars to poach some of the PGA’s top golfers, including Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau.

LIV has struggled to connect with fans and sponsors, however. Its format involves 13 teams with four golfers playing 56 holes over three days with no minimum score required to continue play. In contrast, under the PGA format individuals compete against one another, playing 72 holes over four days. Golfers who score above the cutoff after two days are eliminated from play.

The press release announcing Ruzich’s appointment did not address the proposed PGA merger.

In the release, Ruzich said, “I’m thrilled to join LIV Golf at such a pivotal time as the League continues to expand and enhance the sport across the globe. It’s been impressive to watch LIV Golf forge a new path within the professional game in such a short amount of time, and it’s clear that the League has ambitious and exciting plans as it builds for the long term.”

Ruzich has a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Miami. He received his law degree from St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens, Florida.

He began his legal career with roles at WWE and the New Jersey Devils. He later was for general counsel for Classic Media, which owned the rights to a trove of cartoon characters, for eight years, a tenure that culminated with the company’s sale to DreamWorks Animation for $155 million in 2012.

LIV will begin its third, official full season in February 2025. The first tournament is in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh.