LIV Golf Could Be Shutting Down—Saudi Arabia May Slash League’s Funding, Report Says
Topline Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is considering slashing funding for the LIV Golf league, its premier competitor to the PGA Tour that lured big stars with millions in advance payments, according to a new report in the Financial Times —adding to rumors swirling that the league could soon shut down. Reports and rumors circulated on Wednesday that the Saudi Public Investment Fund could soon pull funding from the PGA Tour competitor. Getty Images Key Facts A decision about LIV Golf’s future could be announced as soon as Thursday, sources told the FT—the same day the league is scheduled to kick off its next major tournament in Mexico City.
LIV Golf is a centerpiece for Saudi Arabia’s considerable investment in sports and entertainment in recent years, which also includes Formula 1 events and the FIFA World Cup in 2034, but the league has never been profitable—its U. K. branch lost a reported $590.
1 million in 2024 alone, The Athletic reported last year. Another report from U. K.
newspaper The Telegraph said the organization’s executives were not on site at the Club de Golfo Chapultepec in Mexico City, and instead went to an “emergency summit” in New York—although the same report said players had not heard anything. The Public Investment Fund is planning a new strategy to reprioritize its spending, the FT reported earlier on Wednesday. Key Background LIV Golf was founded as a rival to the PGA Tour in 2021, with considerable funding from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
At its height, LIV lured away huge names in the golf world with massive contracts, including Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm. However, several of the league’s biggest stars jumped ship over the last year back to the PGA, including Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed . President Donald Trump also became affiliated with the organization between his first and second terms in office, hosting events at his golf clubs in Miami and New Jersey in 2022.