LIV Golf’s effort to save its business and resurrect a new iteration of the league now includes bankruptcy. The league submitted a Chapter 11 filing in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey on Tuesday, according to court documents.

LIV’s decision to file for bankruptcy rather than liquidate the company signals that it seeks to restructure and transition to a new business model. LIV said its reorganization will happen alongside BC Partners Advisors’ credit division, marking the first time the league revealed the identity of the “lead investor” it announced in August.

The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia — LIV’s financial backer from the league’s 2022 inception until it announced in April its decision to pull funding — has also agreed to take part in the restructuring. The PIF will provide $49.6 million in debtor-in-possession financing to carry LIV through the expensive and complex Chapter 11 bankruptcy process.

In the filing, LIV estimates its assets are worth between $100 million and $500 million, and its liabilities are between $500 million and $1 billion.

“This process gives us the structure and time to pursue a landmark transaction and begin the next chapter of LIV Golf — one built around the fans, an innovative, player-first ownership model, and a part of the global golf ecosystem,” LIV CEO Scott O’Neil said in a statement. “We are excited about what lies ahead and yet, there is still much to accomplish in the months ahead. We believe deeply in LIV Golf’s future, the opportunity in front of us, and the people who will help us realize it.”

Is this the end for LIV Golf?

Brody Miller

Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau, LIV’s two biggest stars, are listed as having the largest unsecured claims, worth $7.4 million and $5.7 million, respectively. These figures reflect immediate past-due payments to each player, rather than future expected payments based on multiyear contracts. Bankruptcy law requires those guarantees to be handled separately, and the listed numbers are considered initial estimates.

Notably, DeChambeau’s claim is marked “contingent” on the filing, while the next-largest creditor, Dustin Johnson, is marked as contingent and disputed.

Brooks Koepka, who left LIV Golf at the end of 2025 and rejoined the PGA Tour, is also listed as a creditor, with a claim of $1.7 million.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is another unsecured creditor, listed on the filing with a claim for $1.7 million. In 2024, LIV announced a three-year partnership agreement with the organization, through which it committed $10 million to help displaced individuals across Africa, Asia, Europe and South America access sport and education.

Bankruptcy has been seen as LIV’s likely next step. It was forced to cancel its Team Championship in August in light of the current financial realities of the business, then announced days after its season finale that most of its staff would be laid off, effective Sept. 1.

One of the most powerful tools in Chapter 11 bankruptcy is the debtor’s ability to cancel contracts. Now that LIV has filed for bankruptcy, it can go through its player roster, contract by contract, and decide which deals still make financial sense to them — much like a bankrupt retail company deciding which store leases are worth keeping. Then, LIV can offer players a choice: renegotiate with the league by swapping guaranteed cash for equity in LIV 2.0 or face flat-out rejection.

If LIV rejects a contract, the player will walk as an immediate free agent. But they will also be an unsecured creditor, holding a claim for unpaid funds. Typically, those claims are worth pennies on the dollar, significant for those who signed with LIV last and have larger unpaid signing bonuses.

Those players would only be able to sue for their full amount owed if the PIF guaranteed the contract, according to one expert. If that is the case, players hypothetically could file breach-of-contract lawsuits against the PIF in international courts.

PIF reportedly spent north of $6 billion on the league since its launch in 2022, signing stars such as Phil Mickelson, Rahm, Johnson, DeChambeau and Koepka and creating festival-like atmospheres on a worldwide tour with concerts and large hospitality buildouts. But as the league continued to lose money amid an unexpected war in the Middle East, PIF unilaterally informed LIV leadership in April that it was pulling out.

This story will be updated.