The breakaway tour is winding down in bankruptcy court, closing the most expensive attempt yet to buy a seat at golf’s top table.
The richest experiment in modern golf ended in a New Jersey courtroom. Lawyers for LIV Golf told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael B. Kaplan on Thursday that the league would abandon its reorganization and wind down instead, ESPN reported, with the process set to begin Monday.
The trigger was a $300 million check that never cleared. BC Partners, the private equity firm lined up to bankroll a rebooted “LIV 2.0,” walked away Wednesday, saying it was “disappointed that mutually acceptable terms could not be reached among the various stakeholders.” Awful Announcing reported that the league had failed to secure enough player commitments for next season, although an ESPN source put the count at roughly 30 players committed and about 10 more considering.
Matthew Williams of Gibson Dunn, LIV’s counsel, told the judge the debtors were “toggling to a value-maximizing winddown.” Chief executive Scott O’Neil called the run “fun, demanding, inspiring, at times challenging.”
The math was never close. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund put more than $5 billion into the project, according to ESPN, before announcing in April that a long-term commitment was no longer consistent with its investment strategy. LIV filed for Chapter 11 on Sept. 8, listing assets of $100 million to $500 million against liabilities of $500 million to $1 billion. That spending bought guaranteed contracts and $30 million purses. Media money never followed. Bankruptcy filings showed 20 worldwide broadcast deals worth about 5% of revenue, roughly $10 million, per Awful Announcing, which noted the PGA Tour’s media deals are reportedly worth $700 million a year.
Now the players need somewhere to go. Jon Rahm, Sergio Garcia and Tyrrell Hatton plan to play the DP World Tour next season, ESPN reported, and most former LIV players are expected to land there in 2027 while they serve PGA Tour suspensions. The league says it remains open to “value-maximizing alternatives” with third parties. Watch the Chapter 11 plan due Monday, and whether any buyer surfaces for what is left.
Sources
- ESPN – LIV Golf to shutter the league after failing to get support
- CBS Sports – LIV Golf shutting down after new financial backer pulls funding from fledging league
- Awful Announcing – LIV Golf makes it official, announces plan to shut down
- Al Jazeera – Saudi Arabia to end LIV Golf funding, while league appoints new chairman
Featured photo: Western Shadow, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
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