SI:AM | LIV Golf’s Plan to Stay Alive After Landing New Investor

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. My air conditioning broke last night, so I’m blaming any typos on sweaty fingers.

In today’s SI:AM:
🏈 Breer’s notes from Texans camp
🏀 WNBA power rankings
⚾ Diagnosing Raleigh’s issues

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LIV Golf rises from the dead

Here’s a shocker: LIV Golf is still alive.

The upstart golf league faced an existential threat in late April when the Saudi Public Investment Fund confirmed that it was pulling its financial support. The PIF’s decision left LIV scrambling to find other investors to provide enough cash to keep the circuit alive. Now, LIV says it has found another lead investor who will provide enough funding to keep the league operational next year and beyond.

LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil told reporters yesterday at Trump National Golf Club in New Jersey ahead of the circuit’s tournament there this weekend that LIV “has an agreement in place with a lead investor” to fund operations as the league looks to take a new approach. O’Neil didn’t say who the investor was or how large their investment is.

The Saudis had reportedly been spending about $1 billion per year on LIV, while O’Neil was said to be seeking between $250 million and $300 million to keep LIV afloat. So how are they going to bridge the gap?

One way is by playing fewer tournaments. Next year’s schedule will feature 10 tournaments, down from the 14 events LIV was supposed to hold this year. (One has already been canceled and another is in doubt.) Five events will be played in the United States, and the other five will be around the world. LIV played nine non-U.S. events this year.

Another way to cut costs is changing player compensation. LIV enticed big-name players to join the league when it began by using Saudi Arabia’s financial might to offer enormous signing bonuses and guaranteed salaries. Now, LIV wants players to take less money up front and instead offer them equity in the league. That could pay off down the road if LIV becomes a success, but if the league is a flop, then players are left with a worthless stake in a failed business. O’Neil also said that players will regain some of their name, image and likeness rights, making it easier to offset some of the lower salaries with increased sponsorship income.

The future of LIV relies heavily on its ability to retain its two biggest stars: Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm. DeChambeau’s contract expires after this season. Before the PIF pulled its funding, DeChambeau was reportedly seeking $500 million to re-sign with LIV. Rahm, on the other hand, told reporters in May that he has “several years” remaining on his contract. He’s reportedly owed as much as $150 million. But there could be a way out for Rahm. If LIV files for bankruptcy, Rahm’s contract could be voided, forcing the league to re-recruit him with the promise of equity.

When LIV was founded, it was positioned as a challenger to the PGA Tour, poaching some of its top players and presenting an alternative vision for the future of pro golf. But even before the PIF said it would shut off the firehose cash, the Tour seemed destined to win the war. The Tour instituted changes (like a less burdensome schedule and tournaments with bigger purses) that addressed some of the factors that made LIV appealing to players and thus avoided further mass defections. Without Saudi Arabia’s deep pockets, there’s no way for LIV to become the world’s biggest tour, but it’s possible that this scaled-down version could carve out a spot in the golf landscape.

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The top five…

… things I saw last night:
5. Another excellent defensive play by recent Yankees call-up George Lombard Jr. He made a diving stop on a grounder with an exit velocity of 105.5 mph, then popped to his feet to make a strong throw to first and just catch the runner.
4. Not one but two goals for Lionel Messi, his first two goals for Inter Miami since the end of the World Cup.
3. An amazing sliding finish by Antoine Griezmann to score for Orlando City.
2. Pete Crow-Armstrong’s home run that hit the scoreboard at Wrigley. It was his second homer of the day after he and Shohei Ohtani both hit leadoff dingers in the first inning.
1. Mets rookie Jefry Yan’s celebration after his first big league strikeout. Yan celebrates every strikeout by leaping in the air and almost doing a split on his return to the ground. It’s totally over-the-top, but he’s earned the right to be flashy. Yan spent five years out of organized baseball, working construction and delivery jobs in Arizona until he was spotted by the Marlins while pitching in a men’s league. Just shy of his 30th birthday, he’s finally a big leaguer.

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