LIV Golf has found, at least for now, a way to ensure its continuity beyond 2026. After several months marked by uncertainty, doubts about its economic viability and even reports suggesting a possible bankruptcy, the Saudi-backed circuit announced on Wednesday that it has reached an agreement with a lead investor that will fund the project in its new phase.
The announcement was made by the chief executive of LIV Golf, Scott O’Neil, during a media appearance at Trump National Bedminster (New Jersey), this week’s venue for LIV Golf New York. Without revealing the investor’s identity or giving many details about the deal, O’Neil said there is already a signed term sheet approved by the board of directors.
“We are fortunate to have a lead investor who has signed an agreement approved by our board and who will finance LIV Golf going forward”, said the American executive.
The executive explained that the intention is to close the deal definitively in next September and added that there are also talks with more than a dozen potential minority investors to create a financing model with multiple partners
Players will become owners of the league
The main novelty of the project presented by O’Neil is that the so-called LIV Golf 2.0 will have a very different ownership model to the current one. According to the CEO, the players themselves will become the majority shareholders of the circuit, something he described as unprecedented in professional sport.
“It will be the first major global sports league in which the players are the majority owners. It is a very exciting day”, he said.
This approach fits with reports published in recent weeks about the deep restructuring that LIV is preparing. Various sources had indicated that the league was even considering entering a controlled bankruptcy process that would allow renegotiation of some players’ multimillion-dollar contracts, partially compensating them with stakes in the competition itself.
When asked directly about that possibility, O’Neil avoided confirming or denying that scenario. “We are analysing all possible options. The situation remains very dynamic and we will make the decision that is best for the organisation”, he explained.
The end of PIF backing forced a search for a solution
The survival of LIV Golf was seriously jeopardised last April, when the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia announced that it would stop financing the circuit once the 2026 season ended.
That decision forced an acceleration in the search for private capital to keep the project alive. Up to that point, the Saudi sovereign wealth fund had invested billions of dollars since LIV’s founding in 2022, financing the huge signing contracts and the $30 million prize purses per tournament.
The consequences of that withdrawal have already begun to become visible over recent months. The tournament scheduled near New Orleans was postponed with no new date and the Team Championship scheduled in Michigan remains seriously threatened, to the point that the setup of the facilities has still not begun with only a few weeks to go before its staging.
O’Neil acknowledged that there is still no definitive decision on that team championship. “We do not yet have a formal decision. We are working tirelessly to get all the tournaments of this season done, but the situation remains very fluid”, he explained.
A smaller, lower-spending LIV Golf
The new project also represents a significant change in the business model. O’Neil himself had already said months ago that he was seeking an investment in excess of $300 million to launch a more sustainable version of the competition.
That plan envisages reducing the schedule from the current 14 tournaments, decreasing the prize purses and firmly establishing the team-franchise concept as the circuit’s main commercial asset.
The organisation itself confirmed on Wednesday that the new LIV Golf 2.0 will start with 10 major team tournaments, although the schedule and the rest of the format have not yet been detailed.
Will Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau continue?
One of the big unknowns remains the future of the competition’s leading stars. When explicitly asked about the continuity of Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau, O’Neil declined to commit. “It would be fantastic if they wanted to stay with us because they are probably two of the biggest stars in golf and in world sport”, he said.
However, he immediately downplayed the focus on the two, saying that LIV has players from 21 different countries and that the project does not depend exclusively on two names. “I think we have sufficient support from many players and a very attractive format to continue growing”, he said.
Cam Smith believes the project will go ahead
One of the players who publicly expressed his confidence was Cam Smith. The Australian admitted that he has never considered looking for another option and hopes the competition will find stability.
“I am an optimistic person. I have made no move to look for something else. I know that the people at LIV are working very hard so that we can keep playing next year. I would very much like this to work because we enjoy it a lot here and the team format makes us better players and better people”, he said.
An announcement that clears the short-term outlook, but not all doubts
Scott O’Neil’s appearance is the first truly positive message for LIV Golf since the crisis caused by the departure of the PIF began. The existence of an investor willing to finance the competition offers short-term breathing space and already allows talk of a project for 2027.
However, many questions remain. It is unknown who will provide the capital, what the exact shareholding structure will be, how players’ contracts will be affected, what the new competition’s schedule will be and whether the current season can ultimately be completed without cancelling events.
LIV Golf has avoided the worst blow. Now it must demonstrate that this lifeline is sufficient to build an economically sustainable league once the virtually unlimited backing of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund disappears.
