The Saudi Public Investment Fund is on the brink of pulling funding from LIV Golf, thrusting the future of the breakaway league into question beyond the 2026 season.
LIV employees, players and staff will be officially notified on Thursday that the league is losing Saudi financial support at the completion of the 2026 season, ending weeks of speculation — including from LIV’s own CEO — that the Saudis might be on the verge of getting out of the business of running a golf league. The Wall Street Journal first reported the news on Wednesday evening, followed by several other news outlets, including CNBC.
The news casts fresh doubt on LIV’s future as a competitive entity, which has been propped up by more than $5 billion in Saudi funding since its 2022 launch and relied upon regular cash infusions to stay afloat while enduring heavy financial losses. Reports first called LIV’s Saudi-funded future into question two weeks ago, around the time the PIF announced a new set of initiatives aimed at tightening up the sovereign wealth fund’s balance sheets. Reports at the time suggested that LIV was fully funded by the PIF through the completion of the 2026 season, but left the league’s plans opaque beyond the team championship at the end of August.
While the future of the Saudi investment had not been confirmed at the time of the initial flurry of news, several reports from the Financial Times, New York Times and Wall Street Journal, among others, suggested that a Saudi withdrawal from LIV was expected, if not imminent. In a since-deleted interview with LIV’s European TV rights holder, even LIV CEO Scott O’Neil suggested that the league could be on its own financially at the end of the season.
“The reality is you’re funded through the season,” O’Neil said in the clip, which was later deleted and reposted without the quote included. “Then you work like crazy as a business to create a business and a business plan to keep us going.”
The WSJ report says that Saudi investment in the league will be no more following the 2026 season, and quotes a “person familiar with LIV’s thinking” suggesting the league has already begun the process of looking for outside investors. A spokesperson for LIV did not immediately respond to GOLF.com’s request for comment.
So, what does all this 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 that way! Assuming nothing changes, the PIF will sail off into the sunset after the 2026 season is done in late-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 founding, footing billions in startup expenses and maintaining a near-constant presence over the league as it attempted to gain a foothold in golf. In fact, perhaps the most impactful components of Saudi influence on LIV can’t be explained in dollars and cents: The financial security provided by the PIF meant LIV was under no immediate obligation to turn to a profit — a strategy that allowed the league to operate like a startup, running up losses in pursuit of marketshare.
Over the years, LIV has spent lavishly on star players, high-profile concert guests, production costs and event buildouts in an effort to build a fanbase and roster of sponsors. The cost of that engine — and the staff needed to run it — has been steep: more than $5 billion, according to the league’s financial filings. But LIV was always operating under the assumption that its funding from the Saudis was secure.
“No, honestly, we haven’t heard anything other than what Yasir [Al-Rumayyan, the PIF governor] told us at the beginning of the year,” Sergio Garcia said in Mexico City two weeks ago. “That he’s behind us, that they have a long-term project.”
Under O’Neil, the league made headway in cutting losses, but O’Neil indicated it could still be “five to 10” years from profitability. So, where does that leave the league without Saudi funding in as soon as five months?
Perhaps the simplest path forward for LIV would be finding a new investor who might be able to prolong the league’s runway on the path to profitability. In his interview with the European TV rights holder, O’Neil suggested this was LIV’s likeliest option.
“This notion of do you have to raise money? Probably,” he said. “This is business. But if we keep the trajectory going the way we are and the revenue growth going, this is going to be a really good business for a really long time.”
3. Why is the PIF getting out of golf?
The PIF’s decision to pull away funding from LIV aligns with a much broader strategic shift to divest from sports, which was announced by the sovereign wealth fund in mid-April. In just the last few weeks, the PIF has sold its glitzy soccer team, Al-Hilal, distanced itself from a flag football venture with Tom Brady and now, according to reports, pulled funding away from LIV.
Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the PIF governor, acknowledged that the Saudis planned to shift their priorities away from sports and moonshot bets, and toward more traditional investments, suggesting the PIF was “reviewing its investments and deals” and “reassessing its priorities.”
Some of the reason for this pivot comes thanks to changing financial realities for the Saudis, who are light on cash (relatively speaking) 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, named Vision2030). In recent months, the PIF has announced plans to wind down much of its spending in Vision2030, including withdrawing support behind the $500 billion megacity Neom, after years of construction delays and budgetary issues.
Geopolitical pressures have also played a role. The Saudi government has seen its primary economic driver, oil, slo precipitously in the fallout from the Iranian blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, with exports falling 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 $9 billion deal with the United States.
Still, the sovereign wealth fund’s ties to the league can’t be overstated: The league 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 forged friendships with several players.
2. What happens to the rest of LIV’s events? And what about its players?
Business as usual, except for one notable omission: LIV recently postponed its mid-June event for New Orleans until the fall, citing issues with heat 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, though it stands to reason that the summer and fall will be busy times on the calendar of LIV CEO Scott O’Neil.
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