Saudi golf league for sale.
Reason: Saudi Arabia’s Sovereign Fund.
Warnings: it is a loss-making business, mortgaged by millionaire contracts, without much history, with little sporting relevance and hardly any impact in the United States.
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LIV, the groundbreaking circuit that since 2022 caused an unparalleled split in the sport by signing some of the best players in the world with petrodollars, is looking for new sponsors in anticipation that the PIF, the Saudi Sovereign Fund, its patron, will close the investment tap when its fifth year of life ends next August.
That huge injection of money allowed the creation from scratch of an artificial product that enticed some of the most prominent golfers on the planet (Jon Rahm, Cameron Smith, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio García, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson…) and brought them together to compete under a revolutionary format that broke traditional rules: three-round tournaments, 54 participants, no cut, shotgun starts and with music on the course. The formula made its way against the American (PGA Tour) and European (DP World Tour) circuits thanks to its economic muscle. Since its inception, the PIF has invested more than 5 billion dollars in signing these stars and securing them with multi-year contracts and in increasing prize pools up to 30 million per tournament, a surge that forced the US tour to respond in kind and has led to unprecedented market inflation.
But that checkbook of infinite zeros, backed by the bottomless pit of oil, was also a double-edged sword. LIV depends so much on the Saudi government’s subsidy that when the PIF decided to move its coins to another basket (the 2034 FIFA World Cup and tennis), the league’s survival is in danger if it doesn’t find adequate income.
The auction is underway. “Structural changes are coming. If money needs to be raised… probably. This is a business,” admits LIV CEO Scott O’Neil, from Mexico, the sixth stop of the season. The executive, hired for his experience in managing American sports (NBA, American football, and hockey), sent an email to the general managers of the league’s 13 teams to assure them that the budget covers the rest of 2026, but not beyond.
LIV is a tough sell because the business is not flourishing apart from the green shoots that this season’s stops in Adelaide and South Africa have represented, two successes that are the exception in a global circuit with venues all over the planet. This year, the league extends its roots through Arabia, Australia, China, Singapore, South Africa, Mexico, the United States, South Korea, Spain (Valderrama from June 4 to 7) and Great Britain. O’Neil points to this globalization as a symptom of good health to downplay the fact that LIV has not captured large audiences or television contracts in the United States, the world’s largest market.
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“I am American. I love the United States market. It is the number one television and sponsorship market in the world. But in the long term, do you want to bet on 340 million people or 7.5 billion? I bet on the latter. Golf should be seen all over the world and that is what we do,” argued the executive.
The numbers are resounding and play against LIV. Since 2022, it has distributed more than 1.5 billion dollars in prizes alone, and losses during the first three seasons exceeded 1.46 billion in a constant growth of red numbers. LIV claims to generate about 500 million annually in sponsorships from “global brands” such as Rolex, HSBC, and Aramco, the Saudi oil company, but that amount barely covers the checks extended to golfers for the competition. Excluded are large signing contracts such as Rahm’s for 300 million until 2028 and a percentage of his team, Legion XIII, in addition to the expenses of organizing each event.
The economic and sporting competition with the PGA Tour has turned golf into a sport that today moves at sky-high figures, a compelling reason for any investor to think twice about the slightest move, and even more so about entering a league with a certain air of exhibition. The dispute between the two sides has left a divided sport embroiled in a battle to see who pays more. Bryson DeChambeau, the big star alongside Rahm, has not renewed his contract which ends this season, and uncertainty is spreading among the players. “They told us they have a multi-year project,” said Sergio García in Mexico. “I am oblivious to all the noise because it doesn’t depend on me,” added Rahm.
LIV’s desire was for the teams to be able to finance themselves after two or three years of existence. Almost five have passed, and that is not the case. The oil tap is closing. O’Neil does not hide the reality. “We will be funded for this season, and we have to work like crazy to achieve a business plan that keeps us going,” he stated on TNT. And he commented on Movistar: “I know there are many people who wish for our disappearance. But LIV is moving forward. It’s good for golf, and we are taking the competition all over the world.” A world through which it now walks with a For Sale sign.
