{"id":596900,"date":"2026-05-21T21:57:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T21:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/596900\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T21:57:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T21:57:11","slug":"liv-golf-players-join-survival-fight-ahead-of-critical-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/596900\/","title":{"rendered":"LIV Golf players join survival fight ahead of critical talks"},"content":{"rendered":"

LIV\u2019s rescue mission has gathered pace this week, with the league being \u2018brought to market\u2019 in search of new financial partners after losing backing from Saudi Arabia\u2019s Public Investment Fund<\/a>. LIV has been subsidized to the tune of $5 billion since launching in 2022, but the PIF officially announced on April 30 that funding will be withdrawn at the end of the season.<\/p>\n

In the manic weeks since the Saudi retreat, LIV\u2019s chief executive Scott O\u2019Neil has been cobbling together a plan for a new business model which the league is now taking to potential investors. O\u2019Neil has hired two board members with \u201cproven track records of navigating complex situations\u201d, while retaining investment bankers Ducera Partners to manage any forthcoming transactions.<\/p>\n

Axios<\/a> reported this week that LIV will seek up to $250 million from new investors, while Bloomberg<\/a> has claimed that the league has \u201cbegun laying groundwork for potential bankruptcy\u201d, but the league says it is \u201cfirmly focused on securing a transaction that positions the organization for the long term.\u201d<\/p>\n

TG has learned that LIV bosses have only a handful of weeks after their season finale in Michigan in August to close new investments and continue.<\/p>\n

The clock is already ticking.<\/p>\n

The great challenge in O\u2019Neil\u2019s pitch is to tempt investors with a model that proves LIV has a path towards profitability. O\u2019Neil suggested earlier this year that the league will take between five and 10 years to become profitable, but hastened to add during LIV\u2019s last stop in Virginia that PIF\u2019s unforeseen withdrawal has only expedited that timeline.<\/p>\n

Yet without access to Saudi\u2019s trillion dollar sovereign wealth pot, the league now has to prove it has made its 13 franchises viable assets for investment, which was always part of the ambitious original plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are going to create a business plan,\u201d O\u2019Neil said, striking a positive tone in Virginia. \u201cWe\u2019re going to lock arms with the players. We will go to market and raise money on the top, on a league level, and then we will go and get investors in teams, in that order.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neil will at least be pleased he has some internal backing from his playing membership. TG has learned from various well-placed sources that some LIV players are going out of their way to help support the fight to salvage its future. <\/p>\n

Multiple players, including one of the league\u2019s most recent signings, have gone to the new LIV board with direct leads over potential backers with whom they share strong relations. There is still strong belief within LIV that private equity, or indeed a golf-obsessed billionaire attracted by the rare prospect of owning a sports league, could dig the league out of its substantial hole.<\/p>\n

Still, there is acknowledgment that LIV will need to hugely scale back its operation if it is indeed to survive in any form. Gone will be the days of the $30 million prize funds and the exorbitant signing fees which persuaded huge names like Bryson DeChambeau<\/a> and Jon Rahm to leave the PGA Tour. A restructured league would consider a reduced schedule as part of severe cost-cutting measures, while another concern is the mammoth spend on infrastructure as part of staging tournaments.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve changed pretty dramatically in my two seasons here, and I\u2019ve been on the record saying the format changes won\u2019t stop, and we\u2019ll continue to evolve to optimize the business,\u201d O\u2019Neil said in Virginia, without delving into specifics. \u201cSo I would not be surprised to see a continued evolution in our format.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Scott<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neil\u2019s task is being shaped by the ongoing questions surrounding the future of DeChambeau. The two-time US Open winner\u2019s contract is up at the end of the season and DeChambeau continues to flirt with the remarkable possibility of one day splitting his time solely between YouTube and major tournaments.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s smart, he\u2019s driven, he\u2019s committed, and he\u2019s a heck of a partner,\u201d O\u2019Neil insisted recently. But while DeChambeau has repeatedly emphasized the value of team golf and his love for his Crushers GC franchise, he only added fuel to the fire with recent comments on the The Katie Miller Podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m in that weird space right now,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t know what to do: either content creation or professional golf.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inside LIV, it is hoped that DeChambeau\u2019s appeal as both an online superstar and major force in the game would have the power to sway potential investors, but a number of other players are also considering their options in the meantime. Rumblings emerged that the league could be in financial trouble at the Masters and TG understands that several LIV players quickly began reaching out to the DP World Tour<\/a> as part of contingency planning for 2027.<\/p>\n

Some LIV players have status on the circuit, while others would be required to enter Q School if they were to pursue the potential fallback option. If the league does manage to attract investment and continues operations, the possibility remains that more players could split their time between a truncated LIV schedule and on the DP World Tour next season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LIV\u2019s rescue mission has gathered pace this week, with the league being \u2018brought to market\u2019 in search of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":596901,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-596900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=596900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596900\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/596901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=596900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=596900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=596900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}