LIV Golf CEO says league has financial commitment to finish season

Amid questions about the future of LIV Golf, CEO Scott O’Neil told TNT Sports on Thursday that the league has a financial commitment to finish the 2026 season.

On Wednesday, the Financial Times reported that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which has invested more than $5 billion into LIV Golf since its first tournament in June 2022, was on the verge of cutting funding.

LIV Golf has eight remaining tournaments this season, including five in the United States.

“The reality is you’re funded through the season and then you work like crazy as a business to create a business and a business plan to keep us going,” O’Neil said during Thursday’s broadcast of the opening round in Mexico City. “But that’s not different from any other private equity-funded business in the history of man.”

O’Neil, who on Wednesday sent a memo to staff saying the 2026 season would continue at “full throttle,” on Thursday said he had met with 50 people at the Masters and rolled out a plan that “might surprise people.”

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LIV Golf has said some of its metrics, such as ticket sales and team sponsorships, have increased, and O’Neil is projecting 10 of the 13 teams and four of the 14 events will be profitable.

However, there is a substantial cost involved with prize funds ($30 million for each tournament) and operations.

“Given the momentum of this business, we’re really excited about where we are and the position where we are,” O’Neil said. “… This notion of bringing teams to market, I had two calls this morning. This notion of, ‘Do you have to raise money?’ Probably. This is business. But if we keep the trajectory going the way we are and the revenue growth going, this is going to be a really good business for a really long time.”

Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Susan Bourgeois has asked LIV Golf for an answer by Monday on whether its scheduled tournament at Bayou Oaks at City Park in New Orleans on June 25-28 will go on as scheduled, Nola.com reported Friday.

Golfer Jon Rahm said he had no trouble moving forward inside the ropes amid the uncertainty.

“For me, it didn’t make sense to think about it or waste time thinking about [it],” Rahm said Thursday. “Since everything happened so suddenly and so quickly, I wasn’t very worried about it because normally, before the rumors start, we already know something — there’s always someone within the league who knows something. It happened so fast that I really didn’t worry about it.”

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and PIF chairman Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday approved a five-year strategic plan for the sovereign wealth fund that focused on domestic initiatives.

The PIF sold a 70% stake in Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal on Thursday to Kingdom Holding Company, a firm operated by billionaire businessman and member of the Saudi royal family Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal.

Meanwhile, LIV Golf and the PIF were listed as defendants in a lawsuit filed by World Golf Group and the Premier Golf League, which initially pursued having golfers competing on four-man teams in 54-hole events with $20 million purses.

Details of the lawsuit, which was filed in Commercial Court in London on Thursday, weren’t immediately known, and the World Golf League’s attorneys didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from ESPN.

The Premier Golf League recruited PGA Tour stars such as Justin Rose, Brooks Koepka, Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson starting in 2020. It reportedly promised $30 million each up front to the PGA Tour stars with ownership stake in their teams.

The league, which was created by British-based World Golf Group, wanted to stage 18 worldwide tournaments featuring 48 golfers competing for $20 million purses. The winner was going to receive $4 million.

The Premier Golf League attempted to partner with the DP World Tour in the fall of 2020 with promises of taking the European circuit to “another level.” In response, the PGA Tour formed a strategic alliance with the DP World Tour.

With the help of former world No. 1 golfer Greg Norman, LIV Golf was able to lure away several top PGA Tour stars, including Mickelson, Koepka and Johnson, with guaranteed contracts worth more than $100 million.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.