Saudi Arabia’s public fund to withdraw LIV Golf funding

Saudi Arabia‘s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), confirmed on Thursday that it will be cutting funding for its breakaway LIV Golf tour at the end of the current golf season, citing a change in investment strategy and “current macro dynamics” amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

The PIF launched LIV Golf in 2022 as a rival to the established US PGA Tour, which has organized professional golf across North America since 1968.

It followed similar billion-dollar Saudi sports investments across Formula 1, boxing, snooker, tennis, e-sports and football, with PIF purchasing a majority stake in Premier League club Newcastle United in 2021.

Last year, Saudi Arabia was awarded the rights to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup as it looks to diversify its economy, despite allegations of attempts to “sportswash” a democratic deficit and a poor human rights record.

In golf, LIV, backed by PIF to the tune of over $5 billion (€4.26 billion), managed to lure several top stars away from the PGA Tour with multi-million-dollar contracts, including major champions Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, leading to an acrimonious split in the sport.

As of September 2026, however, LIV will have to find alternative sources of funding after the PIF announced that it would be withdrawing financial support.

Saudi Arabia: Why is PIF cutting LIV Golf funding?

“PIF has made the decision to fund LIV Golf only for the remainder of the 2026 season,” read a PIF statement.

“LIV Golf is transitioning ​from a foundational launch phase to a diversified, multi-partner investment model, with a formal process underway to attract long-term financial partners,” the circuit said in a statement later on Thursday.

Signs of potential fractures in the relationship between PIF and LIV emerged earlier this month when US outlet ESPN obtained an email from LIV chief executive Scott O’Neil to staff in which he said the current season would continue “exactly as planned” but pointedly made no mention of the tour’s future beyond 2026.

This week, a LIV tournament planned for June in New Orleans was postponed and is yet to be rescheduled, despite organizers voicing vague hopes that it could be rearranged for some point later this year and fueling speculation that the tour’s financial foundations were under threat.

“The ⁠substantial investment required by LIV Golf over a longer term is no longer consistent with the current phase of PIF’s investment strategy,” read the PIF statement on Thursday. “This decision has been made in light of PIF’s investment ​priorities and current macro dynamics.”

Saudi sports investments on the retreat

PIF haven’t elaborated on what exactly those “investment priorities” and “macro dynamics” are, but LIV Golf isn’t the first casualty of an apparent reduction in Saudi sports investments amid an economic downturn exacerbated by the war in the Middle East.

Earlier this month, ⁠Yasir Al-Rumayyan, PIF’s governor ​and LIV’s main financial backer, presented a strategy for the Kingdom to cut back on international investments and focus on more domestic projects between 2026 and 2030 – which didn’t mention sport.

“Whether due to the war or reasons related to economic feasibility, we continuously reassess our priorities,” Al-Rumayyan told the state-owned Al Arabiya news channel two weeks ago, adding that PIF were reviewing “some deals and investments.”

Last week, the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters, one of the richest events on the World Snooker Tour with a $3 million total prize fund, was abruptly canceled after only two editions.

The week before that, PIF sold a 70% share in Saudi Pro League football club Al-Hilal worth €374 million, although slightly reduced transfer spending at Newcastle United is also linked to Premier League and UEFA financial restrictions.

Neom: Saudi mega-project also scaled back

More significantly, Saudi Arabia has also massively scaled back plans for “Neom” – a $500 billion desert redevelopment project championed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman which envisaged the construction of a 170-kilometer (100-mile) long horizontal, futuristic megacity called “The Line.”

Two years ago, however, Bloomberg reported that only 2.4 kilometers would be completed by 2030, housing fewer than 300,000 people rather than the initial target of 1.5 million. And, earlier this year, the 2029 Asian Winter Games were stripped from Neom and given to Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Now, LIV Golf has also felt the pinch and, according to US outlet MSN, some LIV players have already reached out to the US PGA Tour and the European DP World Tour about potential returns.

Such requests are unlikely to be viewed entirely favorably given the involvement of some breakaway players in a PIF/LIV-backed antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour.

Edited by: Rana Taha