LIV Golf Is On The Cusp Of A New Funding Deal—And Bankruptcy Is On The Table

Jul 31, 2026 11:27 PM - 1 month ago 598

Topline

The embattled LIV Golf convention is good connected its measurement to a woody worthy betwixt $250 cardinal and $350 cardinal that would prevention it from what erstwhile looked for illustration an inevitable folding aft Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund backed distant from its committedness to support the convention done 2032.

Jon Rahm astatine the LIV Golf Invitational connected Feb. 2, 2024.

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Key Facts

CEO Scott O’Neil, who joined the convention past year, is adjacent to completing a woody that will support the convention done astatine slightest 2027 and money the creation of “LIV 2.0,” a scaled-down type of the league, a root acquainted pinch talks told Forbes connected Friday.

The caller type of LIV would big 5 squad fields crossed 5 continents—likely including successful Adelaide, Australia and South Africa aft hosting two, 100,000-plus attendee events location this year—and 5 U.S.-based squad signature events per year, each timed up of individual awesome championships.

LIV 2.0 would besides present 8 to 10 "National Opens," aliases individual-play events aimed astatine allowing players to rack up Official World Golf Ranking points for awesome entry.

The league, which will big its New York arena astatine Trump National Golf Club Bedminster adjacent week, hasn’t said who the caller investor whitethorn be, but is considering bankruptcy arsenic an action to restructure its debt, arsenic first reported by Flushing It Golf.

LIV owes hundreds of millions of dollars to players for illustration Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Tyrrell Hatton and Joaquin Niemann, who signed massive multi-year deals to subordinate the league, and the restructured LIV 2.0 would connection players equity successful speech for immoderate of those outstanding contractual obligations.

It would besides return astir individual commercialized rights—like their name, image and likenes—to the players and, extracurricular of required squad events, would not enforce immoderate restrictions connected which events they could participate in.

NEWS PEG

It was announced successful April that LIV would beryllium losing its backing from the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, which had bank-rolled the convention from its inaugural play successful 2022 and was thought to beryllium backing it done 2032. It scrapped a tourney scheduled for New Orleans successful June and is apt canceling the squad title scheduled for Michigan successful August.

Key background

Upon its founding, LIV faced disapproval instantly for accepting backing from Saudi Arabia, which was accused of utilizing its money to bargain its measurement into a prestigious American athletics to amended its world image. Nonetheless, the convention did win successful wooing awesome players for illustration Rahm, Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka distant from the PGA circuit pinch massive monetary promises. Since then, LIV has built a genuine world audience—the convention reports summons income are up 129% twelvemonth complete year—but the American TV audience hasn’t surgery done and the convention has burned done cash. LIV has said it expects 4 of its events and 10 of its 13 teams to move a profit this year, but O’Neil has said the wide convention could beryllium a decade away from profitability and LIV has spent a reported $6 cardinal successful 5 years.

BIG NUMBER

More than $3 billion. That's really overmuch LIV has paid its players successful tourney winnings, salaries and bonuses since its first tourney successful 2022. Reported signing bonuses for awesome players included $300 for Rahm, $200 for Mickelson and $100 for Koepka.