LIV Calls Off $40M Finale

Morning Edition

July 29, 2026

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LIV Golf is expected to cancel its $40 million season finale in Michigan. The move leaves the league with just two events remaining this year. As LIV searches for new investors, questions about its future are only growing.

—David Rumsey

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LIV Golf to Cancel $40M Season Finale in Michigan

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LIV Golf Michigan, the league’s $40 million team championship, is set to be officially canceled after the status of the 2026 season finale had come under serious doubt last week, sources tell Front Office Sports.

An official announcement on the cancellation is expected Wednesday, according to golf media personality Tom Hobbs, who runs the Flushing It social accounts, which first reported the news.

LIV Michigan had been scheduled for Aug. 27–30 in suburban Detroit at The Cardinal at Saint John’s Resort, which is owned by the Pulte Family Charitable Foundation. Spokespeople for LIV Golf, Saint John’s Resort, and the Pulte Family Charitable Foundation have yet to respond to a request for comment from FOS.

As of early Tuesday afternoon, there had not been any internal announcement or memo to players about the cancellation, one source told FOS. But the news does not come as a surprise to anyone inside or around LIV.

The team championship was one of two events FOS sources had pegged last month as being at the most risk of being canceled as a sentiment grew among those in and around LIV that the funding from the Saudi PIF—which has announced it would stop funding LIV after this season—could dry up even earlier than expected. The other event at most risk, per sources, was LIV’s regular-season finale in Indianapolis Aug. 20–23, but that is currently scheduled to still take place.

“I don’t think they’ll ever get to Michigan,” one source told FOS last month. LIV CEO Scott O’Neil also wouldn’t guarantee that all four remaining events would take place as scheduled.

Last week, Martin Kaymer, captain of LIV’s Cleeks GC team, told Today’s Golfer that the team championship event scheduled was “highly unlikely” to be played after leaving a captain’s meeting led by O’Neil with lingering questions. There has also been no infrastructure buildout at the host course, which also hosted LIV’s 2025 season finale last August. Aramco, the Saudi-owned oil company, was a primary sponsor of LIV Michigan.

This year’s team championship is supposed to pay out $40 million in prize money, with the winning squad taking home $11.2 million, which is down from $50 million and $14 million, respectively, in 2025. Last year’s season finale, also at The Cardinal, included concerts by Imagine Dragons and Swedish House Mafia. No musical acts for next month’s event had been confirmed.

This marks the second LIV event this season to be canceled. LIV Golf Louisiana, which was going to be the league’s debut tournament in New Orleans in late June, was canceled in April.

The removal of Michigan from LIV’s schedule reduces the league’s event total this season from a planned 14 tournaments to 12, and leaves just two more this year: LIV Golf New York at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey Aug. 6–9 and LIV Golf Indianapolis at The Club at Chatham Hills. Both of those events are set to have the standard $30 million purses that LIV events have paid out this year.

LIV is still seeking new investors to replace the PIF’s financial backing, aiming to raise up to $350 million to keep the league alive in 2027.

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11

That’s the number of potential successors NFL owners could consider whenever it’s time to replace Roger Goodell as commissioner. The list includes PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp, NFL executive Peter O’Reilly, Bears president Kevin Warren—and even NBA commissioner Adam Silver.

Owners are expected to finalize another contract extension with Goodell in the coming months. In fact, one person familiar with their thinking told Front Office Sports, “This may not be the last one.” Read the story.

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Recovery Time

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“I think we need to commit to more rest time.”

—That’s what WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike said after the All-Star Game, saying players need a longer break if the league wants a more competitive showcase. She pointed out that players had only a few days between the exhibition and the resumption of the regular season.

Several stars, including Caitlin Clark and Breanna Stewart, also pointed to the quick turnaround before the regular season resumed Tuesday. Players have pushed for more recovery time in multiple rounds of collective bargaining, but the league has previously declined those proposals. Read the story.

The New Era of Sports Media

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Joining us on Oct. 13 at The Times Center will be NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman, MLS commissioner Don Garber, Steve O’Donnell of NASCAR, Chris Berman of ESPN, Elle Duncan of Netflix, and Pablo Torre of the Pulitzer-winning podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out. Also, college sports broadcasters John Fanta of NBC Sports and Josh Pate of Josh Pate’s College Football Show will sit down together to discuss the growth of college sports and its impact on media.