LIV Golf’s future is in grave doubt as Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) consider withdrawing their financial support for the breakaway league.
According to multiple reports, an emergency meeting took place among LIV executives in New York on Wednesday despite a tournament starting in Mexico City on Thursday.
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The reason for the meeting remains unclear, but The Telegraph reported that not a single LIV executive is present in Mexico for the sixth event of their season.
Reports of the meeting come after the PIF announced its new strategy for the next five years.
The Saudi sovereign wealth fund worth almost $1 trillion stated they will shift to a “a new phase of achieving sustainable value, maximising impact and increasing investment efficiency”.
There are theories circulating that the PIF are opting to consolidate its finances given the effects of the Iran war.
After the release of the report, the Financial Times claimed a PIF announcement of the removal of Saudi funding for LIV could come as soon as Tuesday.
Part of the mystery around the situation is that the media centre at LIV’s Mexico City event was closed on Tuesday.
That has not stopped journalists trying to grab a hold of players for comment.
One golfer, who chose to remain anonymous, told The Telegraph that the news could lead to a coming together of the two tours.
“I’ll be honest. None of the players have heard anything. It’s hopefully a merger. Everyone gathers at Augusta don’t they?” he said.
While Sergio Garcia, the 2017 Masters champion who created headlines at Augusta National on Sunday for smashing his driver, said in a press conference, where he apologised for his actions a few days ago, that the reports contradict what the players were told by PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan.
“That is not what Yasir [Al-Rumayyan, governor of PIF] told us at the beginning of the year,” Garcia said.
“[He told us] that he is behind us, that they have a project of many years. There are always rumours and I cannot comment anything more to you than what we know.”
LIV players were allegedly told at their most recent event in South Africa that funding is in place to support the league until at least 2032.
That came after LIV chief executive Scott O’Neil, the former president of Madison Square Garden Sports and CEO of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers who replaced Greg Norman, said in February that the tour would not be profitable for another five to ten years.
Murmurs began to bubble away about the financial viability of LIV’s future in January when a senior Saudi Arabian source told the BBC that there was a shift in attitude towards investments – namely a greater focus on technology and artificial intelligence rather than sport.
Since LIV began in 2022, the PIF have spent nearly $5 billion on the rebel league.
Players like 2023 Masters champion Jon Rahm have cashed in with the Spaniard reportedly jumping ship in the same year he won the green jacket for $500m.
While the likes of major winners Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka (who is now back with the PGA Tour), Dustin Johnson and Australia’s Cameron Smith all received more than $100m to abandon the PGA Tour.
The PIF’s total losses are unknown, but The Telegraph reported that United Kingdom-based company LIV Golf Ltd – which manages activities outside of the United States – lost £461.8m in 2024.
It is believed by The Telegraph that LIV is losing as much as £100m per month.
Huge crowds have supported events in Johannesburg and Adelaide, which has signed a deal to host the annual tournament until 2031, this year, but LIV has struggled to crack the broadcast market.
They have deals with broadcasters FOX TV in the US, TNT Sports in the UK and Channel 7 in Australia, but LIV executives have allegedly been regularly disappointed with ratings at a time when interest in golf is booming.
By comparison, the final round of The Masters peaked at more than 20 million viewers in the US, making the largest audience in more than a decade.
But LIV has made ground in the partnership stakes with sponsorship deals being inked with HSBC, Rolex, Salesforce and Qualcomm in recent times.
Although, it may be a case of too little, too late.
O’Neil is expected to speak to the players following the pro-am in Mexico City which will take place Thursday morning Australian time.
A more clear picture of what is actually playing out is likely to come from that meeting.
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