The Saudi Public Investment Fund is on the verge of pulling funding from LIV Golf, putting the breakaway league’s future beyond the 2026 season in question.
LIV employees, players and staff will be officially notified Thursday that the league is losing Saudi Arabia’s financial backing at the end of the 2026 season, ending weeks of speculation — including by LIV’s CEO himself — that the Saudis may be on the verge of getting out of the business of running a golf league. of Wall Street Journal The news was first reported on Wednesday, followed by several other outlets, including CNBC. On Wednesday evening, a league source confirmed the PIF plan to GOLF.com.
The news casts fresh doubt over the future of LIV as a competitive entity, which has been backed by more than $5 billion in Saudi funding since its inception in 2022 and has relied on regular cash infusions to stay afloat while enduring huge financial losses. Reports first called LIV’s Saudi-backed future into question two weeks ago, around the time PIF announced a new set of initiatives aimed at tightening the sovereign wealth fund’s balance sheets. Reports at the time suggested LIV was fully funded by the PIF until the end of the 2026 season, but left the league’s plans murky beyond the team’s championship at the end of August.
While the future of the Saudi investment was not confirmed at the time of the initial news storm, several reports from Financial Times, New York Times AND Wall Street Journalamong other things, suggested that a Saudi withdrawal from LIV was expected, if not imminent. IN an interview since deleted with LIV holding European TV rights, even LIV CEO Scott O’Neil suggested the league could be on its own financially at the end of the season.
“The reality is you get funded during the season,” O’Neil said in the clip, which was later deleted and reposted without the quote. “Then you work like crazy as a business to create a business and a business plan to keep us going.”
of WSJ The report says Saudi investment in the league will cease after the 2026 season and quotes a “person familiar with LIV’s thinking” as suggesting the league has already begun the process of seeking outside investors. A spokesperson for LIV did not immediately respond GOLF.com’s request for comment.
So what does this all mean? And why is it happening now? Let’s answer your questions below.
5. Is it really over for the Saudis and LIV?
It sure looks like it! Assuming nothing changes, the PIF will sail into the sunset after the 2026 season ends at the end of August, leaving LIV without a financial backer for the first time in the league’s existence.
4. What will LIV do without Saudi funding?
Unclear! The PIF has played a critical role in LIV’s existence since the league’s inception, funding billions in start-up costs and maintaining a near-constant presence in the league as it sought to gain a foothold in golf. In fact, perhaps the most influential components of Saudi influence on LIV cannot be explained in dollars and cents: The financial security provided by the PIF meant that LIV had no immediate obligation to turn a profit—a strategy that allowed the league to operate like a startup, incurring losses in pursuit of market share.
Over the years, LIV has spent heavily on star players, high-profile concert guests, production costs and event building in an effort to build a fan base and sponsor list. The cost of that engine—and the staff needed to run it—has been high: more than $5 billion, according to the league’s financial filings. But LIV always operated under the assumption that its funding from the Saudis was secure.
“No, honestly, we haven’t heard anything other than what Yasir (Al-Rumayyan, PIF governor) told us at the beginning of the year,” Sergio Garcia said in Mexico City two weeks ago. “That he is behind us, that they have a long-term project.”
Under O’Neil, the league made progress in reducing losses, but O’Neil showed it can still be “Five to 10” years from profitability. So where does that leave the league without Saudi funding as soon as five month?
Perhaps the simplest path forward for LIV would be to find a new investor who might be able to extend the league’s runway on the road to profitability. In his interview with the European TV rights holder, O’Neil suggested that this was LIV’s most likely option.
“This notion should you raise money? Maybe,” he said. “This is business. But if we keep the trajectory the way we are and the revenue growth, this is going to be a really good business for a really long time.”
3. Why is PIF leaving golf?
The PIF’s decision to withdraw funding from LIV is in line with a much wider strategic shift to divest from the sport, which was announced by the sovereign wealth fund in mid-April. In just the past few weeks, the PIF has sold its high-flying football team, Al-Hilal, distanced itself from a Tom Brady flag football venture and has now reportedly pulled funding from LIV.
Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the PIF, admitted that the Saudis planned to shift their priorities away from sports and gambling, and towards more traditional investments, suggesting that the PIF was “review of its investments and agreements” and “re-evaluation of his priorities”.
Some of the reasons for this pivot come from changing financial realities for the Saudis, who are light in cash (relatively) after years of spectacularly ambitious bets in a well-publicized effort to diversify their economy (which the country’s leader, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, called Vision2030). In recent months, PIF has announced plans to wind down most of its Vision2030 spending, including withdrawing support behind the $500 billion Neom megacityafter years of construction delays and budget problems.
Geopolitical pressures have also played a role. The Saudi government has seen its main economic driver, oil, slow in the aftermath of the Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, with declining exports from 10.4 million barrels per day to 7.25 million barrels per day. The war has also caused the government to significantly increase its defense spending, including a recent one $9 billion deal with the United States.
However, the sovereign wealth fund’s ties to the league cannot be overstated: The league’s offices in New York’s Hudson Yards are in the same building as several PIF-related projects, including Neom, and Al-Rumayyan has been a frequent presence at LIV events and struck up friendships with several players.
2. What happens to the rest of the LIV events? What about its players?
Business as usual, except for one notable omission: LIV recently pushed back its mid-June event for New Orleans until the fall, citing heat issues and competition with the World Cup as reasons for the postponement.
The remainder of LIV’s players remain under contract through the end of the season, including Bryson DeChambeau, whose contract expires at the end of the season.
1. When will we know more?
It’s hard to say, although it stands to reason that summer and fall will be busy times on LIV CEO Scott O’Neil’s calendar.
