Inside LIV Golf’s Search for New Investors: From PE to Bankruptcy

LIV Golf is still more than two weeks away from returning from its unintended 47-day summer break—a period that has given the league more time to ramp up its search for new investors.

The Saudi PIF is pulling its funding from LIV at the end of season, and some insiders have questioned whether the cash could dry up before the league’s final event of the 2026 season.

After next week’s Open Championship, the final men’s major of the year, LIV’s U.K. event is scheduled to begin July 23 at JCB Golf & Country Club. The league then has three events scheduled in the U.S. in August to close out the season. 

While LIV CEO Scott O’Neil has said multiple times that he expects the PIF to deliver on its promise of funding the remainder of the 2026 season, he stopped short of guaranteeing that all four final events will take place as planned. 

Ahead of LIV’s anticipated return to the course, Front Office Sports examined what league leaders have been pitching to potential investors, what a LIV 2.0 could theoretically look like, and how viable that all might be in 2027 and beyond.

LIV’s Fundraising Efforts

LIV is on the hunt for $300 million in new capital. The league is open to a single new investor that would inject that entire amount, or multiple new investors that would each invest smaller amounts.

Although opportunities are slimmer in golf, money continues to pour into professional sports at large—everything from the NFL to pickleball.

But how tall of a task is raising $300 million in today’s market?

“It’s attainable,” Michael Rueda, head of U.S. sports and entertainment at international law firm Withers, told FOS. “It depends on who you’re going out to raise money from.”

Private-equity firms, current professional sports franchise owners, high-net-worth individuals, and family offices are being considered by LIV. League sources continue to stress that there has been high inbound interest.

The PGA Tour raised an initial $1.5 billion in 2024 from the Strategic Sports Group, a collection of U.S.-based professional sports team owners. The firm is set to invest another $1.5 billion in 2027 that will take its total investment to $3 billion.

Would private equity be interested in LIV?

“Private equity understands it’s a longer hold,” Rueda says. “[LIV’s] timeline is consistent with what investment horizons look like for investors of that kind. This is a business that needs to be self-sustainable, and that’s going to take some time.”

O’Neil has said LIV could be profitable within three years following this season.

Family offices that have spoken with LIV have been exploring potential investments between $25 million and $50 million.

League Vs. Team Investments

LIV is open to selling stakes in the league as a whole or individually in one of its 13 teams, which LIV execs in January touted as one day being worth $1 billion each.

Under the original structure, the PIF was LIV’s sole financial backer and it owned 75% of each team, and team captains like Bryson DeChambeau (Crushers GC) and Jon Rahm (Legion XIII) were given 25% equity in their respective squads.

“If you wanted to buy a team, you can buy a team,” O’Neil said last month on The Deal With Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly. “And I’m hoping that those investors come from the respective markets where those teams hail. I would like an Australian to buy into Ripper, for example. But when you come into this league, you’re going to own 60% to 70% of all the teams in the league.”

The opportunity to capitalize on net operating losses carry-forwards (tax breaks for businesses that lose more money than they make) has been a big pitch to potential investors. O’Neil described those NOLs as “in the billions” in both the U.S. and U.K. “We have a pretty good structure that can provide an unbelievable opportunity going forward,” he said on The Deal.

The PIF’s total spend on LIV since it launched in 2022 has been projected to surpass $6 billion by the end of this year.

LIV’s Financial Outlook

With the PIF exiting, LIV has hired a small army of advisors to help forge a path forward.

Veteran corporate restructuring executives Gene Davis and Jon Zinman are leading LIV’s new independent directors committee.

U.K.-based AlixPartners is LIV Golf’s financial advisor, U.S.-based Ducera Partners is the league’s investment banker, and law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP serves as legal counsel.

The addition of Davis and Zinman in April raised some eyebrows within the golf industry, given their previous work with companies entering bankruptcy.

“My first reaction is there’s an attempt to keep the enterprise alive through a structured bankruptcy,” Brian A. Marks, a professor at the University New Haven’s Pompea College of Business, told FOS. “They’re going to have to try to align all the potential creditors in advance, come up with a package, and then present it to the bankruptcy court.”

Marks, whose career included time working in bankruptcy court, described LIV’s task of finding new investors as “monumental.”

“There’s a lot of uncertainty,” Marks said. “And that uncertainty creates a significant issue when it comes to getting investment. Because investors, given the greater risk, look for greater return. And absent Saudi Arabia, it’s really nothing more than a house of cards, unless there are some people who are going to look to shore it up.” 

LIV 2.0 Ideas

Should LIV get the financial backing it needs to continue operations, the league is exploring reducing its 2027 schedule to 10 events from 14 in recent seasons (and 13 this year due to the cancellation of the scheduled New Orleans event in June).

Five events would be considered “team majors” in international markets LIV has had its most success like Australia and South Africa. The other five events would be predominantly in the U.S. mostly timed ahead of the four major championships. 

LIV previously announced dates for its 2027 events in Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Australia, and South Africa, as well as plans to return to Mexico, but it’s unclear if those exact dates would still stand if LIV continues operations.

Purses at LIV events would be dramatically reduced. This year, each event pays out $32.3 million—$22.3 million to players and $10 million to teams. LIV 2.0 purses could be around $10 million total, but nothing has been decided.

Which players would remain with LIV in its new era are unknown. Bryson DeChambeau’s contract expires after this season, but he’s one of the league’s biggest supporters. Jon Rahm has not been as vocal about his support for LIV, but his contract has multiple years left.

O’Neil and other LIV officials have long been bullish on the opportunity to collaborate with national opens, which are gaining significance in the greater golf ecosystem. This year, the Masters and Open Championship created new qualifying pathways for winners of select national opens. 

The PGA Tour in 2027 will begin a new partnership with the Australian Open, and part of the tour’s 2028 schedule revamp includes a 4-6 event fall international series that could also target other national opens.

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