LIV Golf's Money Pit

The real news

The story, straight

A golf league needs money to stage tournaments and pay its bills. Investors can cover a shortfall, but their backing is not the same as a business paying its own way.

LIV Golf launched in June 2022. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund stopped funding it in April 2026, after LIV had spent more than $5 billion.

It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on 8 September. That process gives a business court protection while it works through its debts.

A proposed $300 million rescue from BC Partners Credit was meant to support LIV 2.0. It collapsed.

On 5 November, LIV's lawyer told a New Jersey bankruptcy court the league was switching toward a wind-down rather than that relaunch. Selling assets would seek to recover money for creditors: the people and organizations owed money.

The plan still needs court approval.

My golf lesson apparently now includes digging for working capital.

AP reports LIV paid $15.6 million to retain 7 executives between Saudi funding stopping and the bankruptcy filing, including $6.375 million to CEO Scott O'Neil. AP notes such payments aren't unusual in a business trying to emerge from bankruptcy.

Whether they can be recovered remains open. This is a joke about financial priorities, not an allegation of wrongdoing.

LIV remains open to outside offers. A wind-down plan is not proof every possible rescue is finished.

The useful lesson: ask how an operation pays its bills when its biggest backer stops paying. A deep pocket isn't a bottomless hole.

Like or repost if your golf handicap is also financial.

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