LIV Golf Gets Up to $300M Financing Offer From BC Partners, Bankruptcy Court Still Has to Sign Off

LIV Golf's bankruptcy case just got its first real lifeline. BC Partners Credit, the lending arm of British investment firm BC Partners, announced Monday it will commit up to $300 million to help the Saudi-backed golf league claw its way out of Chapter 11, according to a statement the firm released through PR Newswire.

BC Partners calls this a targeted $300 million cumulative package. It's not a done deal. The financing still needs approval from the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, where LIV filed for Chapter 11 protection on September 8 after Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund pulled its multibillion-dollar backing, according to BBC Sport.

How LIV Got Here

PIF has poured more than $5 billion into LIV since the league launched in 2021, according to BBC Sport. That money bought star power: Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, and others signed contracts worth hundreds of millions combined. Then the money stopped, the 2026 season ended early, and LIV ended up in bankruptcy court.

PIF is still in the picture through a separate $49.6 million debtor-in-possession loan to keep the league's lights on during restructuring, a figure LIV disclosed when it filed in September. BC Partners' $300 million is on top of that, aimed specifically at getting LIV to a 2027 season.

Who's Actually Owed Money

The bankruptcy filing laid out exactly who LIV owes and how much. Rahm tops the unsecured creditors list at $7.5 million. DeChambeau is owed $5.7 million, Dustin Johnson $5.5 million, Cameron Smith $4.8 million, and Tyrrell Hatton $3.4 million, according to court documents reviewed by BBC Sport. Brooks Koepka, who left LIV to rejoin the PGA Tour in January, still has a $1.7 million unsecured claim.

Altogether, 14 current and former players in the top 30 creditors are owed just over $45 million. A source familiar with the figures told BBC Sport that number reflects unpaid amounts for the third quarter of 2026 specifically, not the full total LIV owes those players over the life of their contracts. The real exposure is larger than the headline figure suggests.

The Equity Pitch and the Honest Objection

BC Partners isn't just offering cash. The plan, which the firm is calling "LIV Golf 2.0," would make players equity owners in both the league and its individual teams. Ted Goldthorpe, partner and head of BC Partners Credit, said in the company's statement that "giving players real and actionable ownership in the League and the teams is a unique opportunity in professional golf." LIV Golf CEO Scott O'Neil called the investment "an important step forward" in his own statement.

The fair question a player or his agent would ask: why trade money already owed, from a league that just went through Chapter 11, for equity in that same league's unproven next act? BC Partners is asking players to bet their back pay on a turnaround. BBC Sport reported that no player is obligated to sign on to LIV 2.0, even those who had multi-year contracts with the original LIV. Talks on new terms are open until October 25.

A league that just defaulted on obligations to its own stars is now asking those same stars to accept ownership stakes instead of cash. Whether that's a fair trade depends on what LIV 2.0 is actually worth, something nobody can verify until the league fields a season.

What Happens Next

The bankruptcy case has a second hearing scheduled for Wednesday, October 7, at 11:30 a.m. ET, according to Front Office Sports. More consequential is a separate deadline: Front Office Sports reported that BC Partners has set October 13 as the cutoff for enough players to agree to new contracts, and that the firm could walk away from the entire $300 million commitment if that threshold isn't met.

BC Partners isn't committing blind. It wants proof players will actually show up before it fully funds a relaunch. If the player count falls short by mid-October, LIV's restructuring plan could be back to square one just weeks before the case's target resolution in early 2027.

There are smaller complications too. Adelaide's Kooyonga Golf Club has asked the bankruptcy court for clarity on whether LIV's planned March 2027 event in Australia will go forward at all, Front Office Sports reported, a sign that golf courses and host cities around the world are watching the same deadline with the same uncertainty as the players themselves.