LIV Golf Says New Lead Investor Signed, but Big Questions Remain

BEDMINSTER, N.J. — LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil announced the league has secured a new lead investor that will fund LIV moving forward.

The identity of the new investor was not revealed, nor was how much money has been committed. O’Neil had previously said LIV was seeking to raise as much as $350 million to keep the league afloat in 2027 and beyond. The mystery backer will be replacing the Saudi PIF, which announced in April that it would stop funding LIV after the 2026 season, which ends later this month, after spending around $6 billion on the league since launching it in 2022.

O’Neil made the announcement Wednesday morning at Trump Bedminster ahead of this week’s LIV Golf New York event, which begins Thursday. O’Neil was not originally scheduled to speak in person to the media, but was added to Wednesday’s schedule late Tuesday afternoon, after he met with players and league staff in various meetings and informed them all of the deal—also without any further specific details.

“We’re very fortunate that a lead investor has signed a term sheet approved by our board, which will carry and fund LIV going forward,” O’Neil said at a press conference in front of the media, LIV staffers, team GMs, and other league personnel. “So, it’s very good news for us. “This is real-time information. We have good excitement.”

LIV’s New Mystery Investor

An official statement on the deal from LIV and O’Neil reads: “LIV Golf has an agreement in place with a lead investor, signed by the investor and approved by the board, to anchor the transaction and play a key role in supporting the path forward for the league’s next era, driven by and for the players. We’re also seeing strong interest from more than a dozen additional parties to potentially serve as minority investors, creating a multi-partner model built for long-term stability and growth. 

“Notably, our next chapter will make our players the majority equity holders in LIV Golf, a first for a major global sports league, and gives the league the foundation to keep growing the game worldwide. We anticipate finalizing terms in the coming weeks, with the goal of entering a transaction in September. In the meantime, our focus is on delivering a great week for fans and players at Bedminster and finishing the 2026 season strong.”

LIV’s search for new investors this summer has included conversations with private equity firms, high-net-worth individuals, professional sports team owners, and family offices, among others. When asked about potential minority investors alongside the new lead backer, O’Neil said, “We don’t need them, but we have the opportunity to do it.”

O’Neil played part of the Wednesday pro-am at Trump Bedminster with executives from LIV’s financial adviser AlixPartners (David Orlofsky) and the league’s investment banker Ducera Partners (Bradley Robins), as well as Michael Chaisanguanthum, who is the managing director of asset management at UBS.

LIV’s Next Steps

LIV had been targeting the end of its season to secure new investment, so this deal, should it be finalized by next month as planned, keeps the league on track for its stated “LIV 2.0” vision. The plan is to conduct 10 events on five different continents, down from 13–14 in recent years. Purses are expected to be around $10 million, down from $30 million this season. Official details about a 2027 schedule have not been finalized.

In the meantime, LIV is hosting its second U.S. event of the year at Trump Bedminster this week, and has two more scheduled this month in Indianapolis and suburban Detroit. But the $40 million team championship, LIV Golf Michigan, is expected to be canceled, sources have told Front Office Sports. “We have not made any final, formal decisions and hope to in the coming weeks,” O’Neil said Wednesday when asked about the season finale.

The uncertainty around the team championship comes after concern grew earlier this year that LIV may not have the funding to complete its season as planned. Details of the PIF’s exit from LIV remain unclear. “I have a lot of appreciation for them allowing us this time to go and find investment,” O’Neil said of the Saudi fund. “And it’s not something they had to do.”

The league previously canceled its LIV Golf Louisiana event that was set to be its debut tournament in New Orleans in June. The state of Louisiana is still waiting on LIV to pay back $1.2 million the league previously received from the state as partial payment for a $5 million hosting fee.

LIV management has been taking a “disciplined approach” toward the final events of the season to support the league’s long-term sustainability and maintain operations, sources with knowledge of the league’s operations told FOS. LIV recently settled a $1 million trademark infringement case and is dealing with several other active lawsuits.