Home · Sports · Nov 5 archive
LIV Golf Shuts Down After Saudi Arabia Withdraws Support
Confirmed
In Short: The bankrupt Saudi Arabia-backed venture, which launched in 2022, announced it is shutting down.
LIV Golf, the controversial golf league backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), announced it is shutting down after failing to secure new investors.
The league, which had been bankrolled by Saudi Arabia's PIF, filed for bankruptcy in September after the fund announced it would withdraw funding after the 2026 season.
According to CBS News, LIV Golf paid $15.6 million to retain seven of its executives, including $6.375 million to CEO Scott O'Neil, in the months leading up to the bankruptcy filing.
In a New Jersey bankruptcy hearing on Thursday, LIV Golf's lawyers stated that the league would not restructure following the loss of its one-time backer, the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, and that it would move toward full liquidation.
The league's official ending came as a surprise to many, despite months of speculation about its future. LIV Golf had initially promised to reshape men's professional golf with shorter rounds, limited competitor fields, and substantial prize money.
High-profile golfers such as Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, and the 2022 Open Champion Cameron Smith, had joined LIV Golf, causing a significant rift among golf's leading male professionals.
The PGA Tour responded by banning any players who joined LIV Golf from its own competitions, leading to a contentious relationship between the two organizations.
Despite securing a possible $300 million in financing from BC Partners Credit, LIV Golf was unable to secure the necessary funding to continue operations.
Two-time major champion Jon Rahm is the latest high-profile player to leave LIV Golf, dealing a significant blow to the league's efforts to emerge from bankruptcy.
Gene Davis and Jon Zinman of LIV Golf board’s special committee said in a press release that the league believes shifting toward an orderly wind-down is the most responsible path forward given the current circumstances.
What this adds
The league's shutdown marks the end of a controversial venture that sought to reshape professional golf with substantial financial backing from Saudi Arabia.
Despite initial promises to reshape the sport, LIV Golf struggled to secure long-term financial stability and support from new investors.
Background
LIV Golf, the controversial golf league backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), announced it is shutting down after failing to secure new investors.
The controversial golf league backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund is shutting down after failing to secure new investors.
What's confirmed
- LIV Golf, the controversial golf league backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), announced it is shutting down after failing to secure new investors.
- The league, which had been bankrolled by Saudi Arabia's PIF, filed for bankruptcy in September after the fund announced it would withdraw funding after the 2026 season.
- According to CBS News, LIV Golf paid $15.6 million to retain seven of its executives, including $6.375 million to CEO Scott O'Neil, in the months leading up to the bankruptcy filing.
- In a New Jersey bankruptcy hearing on Thursday, LIV Golf's lawyers stated that the league would not restructure following the loss of its one-time backer, the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, and that it would move toward full liquidation.
- The league's official ending came as a surprise to many, despite months of speculation about its future. LIV Golf had initially promised to reshape men's professional golf with shorter rounds, limited competitor fields, and substantial prize money.
- High-profile golfers such as Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, and the 2022 Open Champion Cameron Smith, had joined LIV Golf, causing a significant rift among golf's leading male professionals.
- The PGA Tour responded by banning any players who joined LIV Golf from its own competitions, leading to a contentious relationship between the two organizations.
- Despite securing a possible $300 million in financing from BC Partners Credit, LIV Golf was unable to secure the necessary funding to continue operations.
- Two-time major champion Jon Rahm is the latest high-profile player to leave LIV Golf, dealing a significant blow to the league's efforts to emerge from bankruptcy.
- Gene Davis and Jon Zinman of LIV Golf board’s special committee said in a press release that the league believes shifting toward an orderly wind-down is the most responsible path forward given the current circumstances.
What's still developing
- Now in the early stages of its crucial second season, with US$2 billion (£1.65 billion) having been invested, LIV Golf is taking a real swing at the golfing establishment.
- The first major tournament of 2023 in men’s professional golf could be a particularly tense affair.
- Approximately 90 players will compete for that jacket after a tumultuous 12 months for the sport, during which some of the best-known golfers have controversially broken away from the US-based PGA Tour, the biggest and most powerful organiser of professional golf events.
- Our recent research suggests that LIV Golf was constructed not simply to add an extra layer to the men’s professional game or create a breakaway league.
- And while LIV Golf was initially labelled “ dead in the water ” by Northern Ireland’s four-time major champion Rory McIlroy in early 2022, not everyone agreed.
- LIV Golf responded by saying the PGA Tour was being “vindictive” and divisive.
- In fact, it appears designed to reshape men’s professional golf entirely.
- But after four years, LIV Golf has announced that it will liquidate.
- But it seemed that the breakaway event had earned a lifeline when BC Partners Credit pledged a $300 million investment to pivot to a more financially sustainable “LIV 2.0.” So why are the organisers of LIV Golf pulling the plug?
- LIV Golf, the pro-golfing startup venture whose biggest investor had been the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, is shutting down after it couldn’t reach an agreement with a new investor on a bankruptcy reorganization.
- As originally reported by Sujeet Indap, the Financial Times’ Wall Street Editor who has been working on the case since LIV filed for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy following the decision by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to withdraw its financial support, the league will now seek a liquidation of its remaining assets as it begins to wind down.
- As part of the process, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) is providing $49.6m in debtor-in-possession financing to help keep the business operating during the restructuring.