What a wild sequence of events that we have all seen over the past few days.
The short summary? In the face of several reports indicating that LIV Golf is on the verge of being defunded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the league responded by saying it is going “full throttle” with this year’s season.
How much for AFTER season 2026? Speculation remains that LIV will be forced to close shop.
Here’s everything we know. Read to the end for my personal take on the situation.
Gossip, reports and premature grave dancing
Coming into this week, LIV seemed to be on pretty solid footing – relatively speaking.
It’s not exactly a conventional business that has to adhere to the normal rules of profitability. LIV CEO Scott O’Neil recently admitted that the league, which has been bleeding hundreds of millions in cash, was 5-10 years away from turning a profit.
However, O’Neil attended the Masters and it was widely reported that his “sales pitch” for the league included the information that LIV is fully funded until 2032. The league has also, in the eyes of some, made progress in recent months towards taking official world golf ranking points AND moving on to 72-hole events. They have added employees and office space.
Nothing about LIV has shown that the league is slowly declining. Although US viewership and corporate advertising remain thin, LIV is about halfway through its fourth season and had quite successful stints in Australia and South Africa earlier this year.
But then, suddenly, LIV’s future was thrown into doubt.
Rumors started swirling on Tuesday as Ryan French on Monday Q Info teased a “bombshell announcement” and took to X Spaces to explain that LIV was in serious jeopardy as PIF was considering pulling funding.
This led to several additional reports on Wednesday, including from the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Fox News and The Telegraph.
The consensus among those reports? LIV is in survival mode due to a change in priorities with PIF.
Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia and chairman of the PIF, approved a plan that will “focus on providing competitive domestic ecosystems to connect sectors, unlock the full potential of strategic assets, maximize long-term returns and continue to drive Saudi Arabia’s economic transformation and further improve the quality of life of its citizens.”
In short, PIF is reevaluating all of its investments as the geopolitical landscape has changed dramatically. Leisure and sports, previously part of the PIF plan, were not mentioned in the announced five-year vision for Saudi Arabia.
This week, the PIF sold its star-studded soccer team, Al-Hilal, while another Saudi investment group pulled out of Tom Brady’s soccer league. LIV appears to be on the chopping block as well.
Athletic painted a particularly grim picture.
“Top-level LIV Golf executives are in meetings regarding the league’s next steps, while also beginning their own job searches,” the article said.
These reports led to a lot of dancing on LIV’s grave as the tweets and memes got hot and heavy.
For many hours, LIV remained in radio silence and only further raised the belief that his end was near.
But it’s not that cut and dried
LIV finally showed signs of life later in the day on Wednesday when he posted about his still ongoing Mexico tour.
And LIV Mexico began as planned – although there were technical difficulties during the broadcast of the first round on Thursday that caused interruptions in coverage (this reflected a power outage earlier in the week that apparently prevented press conferences from taking place).
On Wednesday, O’Neil sent an email to LIV staff that provided a new pitch, but, very tellingly, the memo did not mention any future beyond 2026 and did not address PIF funding concerns. The numerous reports that emerged were not strongly denied.
“I want to be clear: Our season continues exactly as planned, without interruption and at full frequency,” O’Neil wrote. “While the media landscape is often filled with speculation, our reality is defined by the work we do on the grass. We are moving into the heart of our 2026 program with the full energy of an organization that is bigger, louder and more influential than ever before.”
Despite the heartfelt rallying calls, most in the golf media world believe the next big news to break here will be the PIF announcing that funding for LIV is being cut at the end of this season, severing ties between the Saudis and the current golf league.
Does this automatically mean that LIV will end? Not necessarily.
LIV has made some progress this year, and it’s within the realm of possibility that O’Neil could use his connections to find a creative way to flood LIV with cash. There is also the option of partnering with the DP World Tour, which, despite a strategic alliance with the PGA Tour, is unhappy with its place at the back of professional golf.
While I’m sure LIV will fight like hell to keep its doors open, there are many reasons why this will be incredibly difficult.
First, the product has not been commercially successful. It is a failed, unhealthy business.
Bryson DeChambeau’s contract expires at the end of this year and there are multiple reports that negotiations are not going well. It will take one big number—probably something in the $400 million range—to keep it. Without Bryson, LIV’s talent pool is in rough shape. Most of its players are old and insignificant. Even younger players like Joaquin Niemann are going backwards.
And players have competed for purses of $30 million in each event. This will surely not be recreated without PIF’s bottomless portfolio.
Taking Sean
LIV was never about golf or running a functioning business.
It was a tool that existed strictly for political gain.
Without getting too deep into the weeds, you can draw a straight line from LIV’s creation to American politics. There was something to be gained with Saudi-US relations.
This has changed, so it appears that PIF no longer needs LIV.
There is so much to discover here. It’s very complicated.
Some LIV players like Jon Rahm are owed money beyond this year. Of course there could be some lawsuits.
And how will the PGA Tour react? Will DeChambeau and Rahm invite again the same way they did with Brooks Koepka? Will there be a one-year suspension, as was the case with Patrick Reed?
My prediction is that LIV will play out the rest of the season and then close up shop.
DeChambeau and Rahm will receive a special exemption similar to Koepka to start on Tour immediately. PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp cares about improving his product more than anything else, and these two players do just that.
No other players matter, but they can do suspensions and then try to qualify the hard way. I think most players will retire or go to the DP World Tour.
That’s how I see things going. What are your thoughts?
Let me know in the comments below.
