LIV Golf liquidates after rescue deal collapses

LIV Golf to shut down after last-ditch financing deal falls through.

The breakaway league that spent more than $5 billion trying to rival the PGA Tour is closing its doors.

A LIV Golf attorney told a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge on Thursday that the league could not secure the financial backing or player commitments needed to proceed with its proposed LIV 2.0 model.

As a result, the organization will begin winding down its operations and is expected to file a new Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan on Monday.

LIV Golf had been forced to apply for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September, effectively canceling playing contracts.

The league’s financial troubles began building in April 2026, when Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund—which had poured more than $5 billion into LIV since its launch in 2022—announced it would no longer fund the circuit.

The Saudi fund said LIV no longer fit its investment strategy.

Without Saudi backing, LIV Golf scrambled to find new investors.

BC Partners Credit, the credit arm of the private equity firm BC Partners, had reached a tentative agreement to provide up to $300 million in financing for a restructured LIV 2.0 league.

That deal was meant to allow the staging of tournaments in 2027.

But the offer was withdrawn after the league failed to convince enough players to commit to its proposed future.

A statement from LIV Golf on Thursday read: “LIV Golf Incorporated and its affiliates today announced that it intends to transition to an orderly wind-down of its operations.”

The statement continued: “Since April 2026, the League’s leadership team, with the support of its independent directors and advisors, has run a disciplined and thorough process to identify the best, value-maximizing path forward for the company and its stakeholders.”

“That process produced a proposed recapitalisation transaction contemplated by the company’s Restructuring Support Agreement with BC Partners Advisors, the credit business of BC Partners, which the company sought to implement through its voluntary chapter 11 proceedings in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey.”

“Despite extensive discussions, the relevant parties were ultimately unable to reach a consensual resolution of certain outstanding terms of the transaction contemplated by the RSA.”

“As a result, the RSA has been terminated, and the transaction is not expected to move forward at this time.”

LIV Golf attorney Matthew Williams explained the situation to the court.

“The debtors were ultimately unable to bring the key parties to a fully consensual arrangement that would have supported a financially viable LIV 2.0 league,” Williams said.

The league had been working on a new operating model since the Saudi fund withdrew.

But the exodus of star players made it impossible to secure the necessary commitments.

Major names including Jon Rahm, Sergio Garcia, Tyrrell Hatton, Louis Oosthuizen, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood have all departed.

Patrick Reed and Brooks Koepka had already left after their contracts expired.

The Financial Times reported that BC Partners Credit pulled out of a deal worth more than £200 million—roughly $255 million—due to the player departures.

Approximately 30 players had initially committed to LIV Golf’s proposed new vision, according to the Financial Times.

But that number proved insufficient to keep the deal alive.

Throughout the wind-down process, LIV Golf said it would remain open to considering any offers from third parties that could extract more value from its assets.

“In light of the current circumstances, we believe shifting toward an orderly wind-down is the most responsible path forward for the League at this time,” Gene Davis and Jon Zinman of LIV Golf’s board special committee said in a press release.

LIV Golf sent shockwaves through the sport when it burst onto the scene in June 2022.

The league offered lucrative contracts to a mix of star power and past-their-prime veterans, with guaranteed paydays that the PGA Tour could not match.

Major champions like Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson defected from the PGA Tour to join LIV.

The PGA Tour responded by suspending those defecting golfers, barring them from Tour events.

Those suspensions triggered a wave of bitter legal battles.

DeChambeau, Mickelson and others filed an antitrust lawsuit accusing the PGA Tour of using monopoly power to penalize independent contractors.

Critics decried LIV Golf as a vehicle for Saudi Arabia to improve its reputation and deflect criticism of its human rights record.

The Saudi government denies accusations of human rights abuses.

In June 2023, the PGA Tour and the Saudi fund stunned the world of golf by announcing a framework agreement to form one unified commercial entity and end the litigation.

As talks stalled, the PGA Tour enlisted President Donald Trump—an avid golfer whose courses have hosted multiple LIV events—to help broker a deal.

The PGA Tour ultimately rejected the Saudi fund’s offer to invest $1.5 billion on condition that LIV Golf would remain intact and that fund governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan would co-chair the PGA Tour Enterprises board.

In late April 2026, after pouring more than $5 billion into LIV Golf, the Saudi fund said the circuit no longer fit its investment strategy.

With that announcement, LIV Golf’s survival depended entirely on finding new backers.

The league filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2026.

Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows a company to reorganize its debts while continuing operations, but it also effectively cancels existing contracts—including player contracts.

The league then sought a rescue deal under a Restructuring Support Agreement with BC Partners Credit.

That agreement would have provided up to $300 million to fund a leaner LIV 2.0 model.

But the player exodus made the deal untenable.

LIV Golf attorney Matthew Williams told the court that the league could not reach a consensual arrangement with key parties.

The RSA was terminated.

The transaction is not expected to move forward.

LIV Golf will now file a new Chapter 11 plan on Monday, laying out how its remaining assets will be distributed.

The league’s assets include broadcast rights contracts, event footage, intellectual property, and any remaining cash.

Creditors will likely recover only a fraction of what they are owed.

Players who signed multi-year contracts worth tens of millions of dollars each are now unsecured creditors in the bankruptcy proceedings.

Some of those players had already left the league before the bankruptcy filing.

Others remained on the roster and are now facing an uncertain future.

The PGA Tour has not announced whether it will allow former LIV players to return without penalty.