Here's How Much Cash LIV Golf Says It Needs to Turn a Profit

LIV Golf has been scrambling for weeks after the Public Investment Fund announced it would be dropping its funding, believed to be in excess of $5 billion to this point, after this season. Then, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the PIF and the chairman of LIV Golf, said he would be stepping down. LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil acknowledged at the time the league would have to find its own funding and investment sources beyond this year to continue past a fifth season.

The question now is how much money does LIV Golf need to continue existing, and where will these funds come from? LIV isn’t known for being cheap, by any means. In fact, the excessive cash is arguably the biggest draw for why PGA Tour golfers jumped ship to join the Saudi-backed golf league. Sports Illustrated’s Bob Harig previously reported that LIV Golf, with its $30 million tournament purses, is said to spend in excess of $40 million per event without the backing of a significant television media rights deal and title sponsorship.

Axios reported on Monday that LIV Golf is officially seeking $250 million from new investors in order to keep the league afloat past this season.

The process to look for new investors begins this week, starting with the league informing its golfers of their plan. After that, LIV Golf will go to market, led by Ducera Partners. Here’s what Axios reported regarding what LIV Golf intends to tell potential investors:

“Prospective investors will be told that the full $250 million could get LIV to profitability within around 20 months. It also could raise significantly less—down to around $150 million—and then bank on rising team values and a new media rights deal.”

LIV Golf needs to fill its funding gap by the beginning of October, which is when Saudi’s PIF plans to stop funding the golf league. If the league is unsuccessful, then they could look elsewhere to “bridge financing.”

The issue is, of course, that plenty of prospective investors are nervous to fund LIV Golf because of its current and previous partnership with the Saudi Arabian government. There’s been lots of controversy surrounding the league because of how it’s funded, and investors might not want to latch their name onto something that’s been looked down upon in the sports world.

There’s a good chance LIV will consider a restructure, especially depending on how much funding they get. The $250 million the league is looking for is quite a decrease from the $5 billion Saudi Arabia has given LIV since its origination in 2022. Depending what happens with LIV, the league could also look to lose some of its golfers to the PGA Tour or other tours—Brooks Koepka already jumped ship earlier this year. Patrick Reed is also expected to be reinstated on the PGA Tour in August.

The coming weeks and months will be extremely important for LIV Golf’s future as a league. Will this be the final season of LIV Golf, which would open up multiple cans of worms regarding the status of the league’s golfers, or will the league continue on with new investors? We’ll see what happens.

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