With LIV Golf losing its major backing from the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, the league has begun exploring bankruptcy options in the United States, according to a published report.
LIV Golf issued a statement in response to the Bloomberg News report saying that it is “firmly focused on securing a transaction that positions the organization for the long term.”
Bloomberg cited people familiar with the matter and said the league would consider a U.S. bankruptcy filing if it could not raise necessary funds through private equity and sponsorship to continue beyond this year.
Three weeks ago, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia announced that it would no longer financially support the LIV Golf League beyond 2026 after pouring a reported $5 billion into the circuit since its launch in 2022.
LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil has since struck a positive tone by saying he job has always been to make the league profitable and that the timetable has simply been moved up. LIV announced the addition of two new board members and that it had brought Ducera Partners as its investment banking advisor as it seeks to shore up funds.
At the LIV Golf Virginia event two weeks ago, O’Neil would not say if there will be a reduction in tournaments or purses next year or if there are any other cost-cutting moves planned.
“We’re going to have to change some things we do, of course, and yes, we’ve already made some changes,” O’Neil said. “I definitely will not be talking through specifics of the plan, but it’s a playbook that won’t surprise too many people once you see it.”
Later, O’Neil said: “We are going to create a business plan. We’re going to lock arms with the players. We will go to market and raise money on the top, on a league level, and then we will go and get investors in teams, in that order.”
Bryson DeChambeau, perhaps LIV’s most popular and important player, has pledged to help O’Neil in this quest although his contract with the league expires after this year. Jon Rahm, LIV’s highest-ranked player in the Official World Golf Ranking and coming off a second-place tie at the PGA Championship, has several years to go on his deal and expressed “shock” at the PIF decision.
LIV Golf's season will continue soon with two international events
LIV Golf has played seven of its scheduled 14 events this year, with Rahm and DeChambeau each winning two of them. The league recently announced the postponement or cancellation of a New Orleans tournament and has upcoming events in South Korea and Spain.
“It’s still early,” O’Neil said in Virginia. We haven’t gotten to market yet. We haven’t finalized our business plan. We’re still picking and prodding. We have a good sense at this point ... we know where we’re going, and we’re just going to tighten the screws.”
LIV has $30 million purses every week and enormous costs associated with its broadcast, which shows every hole due to a shotgun start at each of its tournaments. While there are several markets that have embraced LIV, including recent tournaments in Australia and South Africa and other international markets, LIV Golf has had difficulty securing the kind of sponsorship necessary to exist at those levels.
Its television media rights deal with Fox Sports is said to be modest and the league has significant infrastructure costs in running tournaments.
But league officials maintained last week at the PGA Championship that they have received outside interest from potential investors. The hope along with securing sponsorship and investment is to sell the franchises, which had always been part of LIV’s business plan.
