LIV Golf will target injections of private equity amid grave concerns that their Saudi Arabian backers are poised to walk away.
In a vague email to staff late on Wednesday, LIV CEO Scott O’Neil claimed their 2026 season ‘continues exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle’ but made no mention of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF).
The latter’s formal position on LIV is yet to be disclosed, but after splurging almost $6billion on the circuit since 2022, multiple sources in golf believe they are close to abandoning their attempts to take over the sport.
That suspicion only grew on Wednesday when the PIF announced it would be tightening its spending on costly overseas projects, which came against the backdrop of 24 hours of chaos and confusion at their expensive golf league. The Financial Times reported it could be shuttered entirely as early as this week.
While O’Neil evidently remains bullish on LIV’s chances of making it to the end of their season in August, his email offered no clues about whether the PIF would bankroll the controversial circuit until that point, or if they will have any other means of filling the shortfall thereafter, with each of their 14 tournaments committed to paying $30million (£22m) in prize money alone.
LIV have stayed largely silent in the past two days, but one high-ranking source at the league claimed to Daily Mail Sport on Thursday that there has been a long-standing plan to bring in co-investors, as well as escalating searches for equity partners in their 13 teams.
Whether that is possible at a time of such uncertainty remains to be seen, but there is a substantially greater question around LIV’s ability to survive for any meaningful period without the Saudis who, to date, have covered major losses against desperately limited returns on their huge investment.
The source added that revenues on the loss-making league are up $100million through five events in 2026 and that 10 of their 13 teams will be in profit for the season, along with four of the tournaments. They also said significant upturns have been generated in sponsorship, ticket sales and hospitality.
But those attempts to downplay the existential threat to LIV have been largely dismissed as window dressing by senior figures in the wider sport, who believe the continuation of this week’s tournament in Mexico is merely a stay of execution. The PIF has been approached for comment.
