LIV Golf Prepares Bankruptcy Filing as Saudi Backers Pull the Plug, Offer Players Pennies on the Dollar

The Saudi money is drying up

LIV Golf is preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, possibly as early as the week of September 7, 2026, according to the Financial Times. The filing could land in federal district court in New Jersey, the FT reported.

The trigger is simple. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund that bankrolled the breakaway league since its 2022 launch, is walking away. PIF's funding commitment expires at the end of the 2026 season, and multiple outlets, including Yahoo Sports, Golfweek and the Daily Express, cite the FT's reporting that PIF is not interested in putting up more.

"PIF wants a clean baton toss," one person involved in the negotiations told the Financial Times, a quote picked up by Heavy.com.

The bill: $5 to $6 billion and no profit

Yahoo Sports reported PIF has poured more than $5 billion into LIV since the league launched. Golfweek and the Daily Express put the figure at a reported $6 billion in losses. Either way, the fund never got a direct financial return, according to the Express, which noted LIV never landed a major U.S. television broadcast deal or the corporate sponsorships it needed to break even.

Throwing billions of dollars at a product doesn't make it profitable if the underlying business doesn't work. LIV signed stars, paid enormous guarantees, and still couldn't get American television or sponsors to bite.

Players offered pennies on the dollar

LIV has sent settlement offers to current players owed millions in guaranteed money beyond 2026, according to the Financial Times. Those offers came in at just a few cents on the dollar, per people familiar with the talks cited by the FT.

Golfers face three possible paths, per the FT's reporting: settle and join the reworked league, settle and walk away, or reject the offer and fight for the full contract value as unsecured creditors in bankruptcy court. Names like Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm carry deals that fall into this bucket, according to Heavy.com.

LIV has already gutted its staff. Golf Digest's Joel Beall reported the majority of the league's employees were told their jobs would end in the first week of September. A LIV spokesperson confirmed to Golf Digest that the PIF funding commitment "will reach its conclusion" as a result.

The league canceled two 2026 events, including its Team Championship in Michigan, according to Golfweek, and deactivated corporate credit cards, per the Daily Express.

What comes next: "LIV 2.0"

The plan on the table is a prepackaged bankruptcy that clears LIV's existing debts and contracts while standing up a smaller league for 2027, nicknamed "LIV 2.0" in the reporting. The new version would run about 10 events, mostly overseas, with significantly smaller purses, according to Golfweek and the Express.

PIF is expected to fund a bankruptcy loan, known as debtor-in-possession financing, of less than $100 million, but nothing beyond that, according to the Financial Times as relayed by Heavy.com and Golfweek.

LIV has been negotiating with the credit arm of private capital firm BC Partners to bankroll the slimmed-down circuit. BC executives, alongside LIV CEO Scott O'Neil, showed up at recent tournaments at Trump National Bedminster in New Jersey and The Club at Chatham Hills in Indiana to court player support, according to Yahoo Sports and Newsmax reporting picked up by Yahoo. BC is reportedly weighing an equity-like investment structured to preserve LIV's net operating losses, per Golfweek.

The problem: LIV hasn't locked down enough star commitments to make that deal attractive. Without enough big names signed on, BC Partners has less incentive to write a check, according to the FT's reporting across Yahoo, Golfweek and the Express.

There's also a jurisdictional fight brewing. The DP World Tour has warned LIV golfers they could face fines or suspensions if they play in LIV 2.0 events scheduled opposite DP World Tour tournaments, according to Yahoo Sports.

The loose ends

Golfweek reported LIV vendors are going unpaid and additional lawsuits have surfaced from parties seeking millions from the league. It's unclear how those claims get resolved if bankruptcy proceeds.

Two of the seven source articles reviewed for this story, Your News and Yardbarker, carried the same headline as the Financial Times scoop but offered zero independent reporting or new detail. The substance here traces back to a single Financial Times report.

The open question is whether enough top players sign settlements to make BC Partners' investment worthwhile. If they don't, LIV 2.0 may never get off the ground, even after a bankruptcy filing clears the old league's books.