LIV Golf secures $300m lifeline, but star players' loyalty remains the real test

LIV Golf, which filed for bankruptcy protection after Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund cut off funding, has secured a commitment of up to $300 million in financing from BC Partners, a British global private equity fund manager.

Wire services including AP have described the deal as a potential lifeline for the struggling tour. But a closer look at the contract terms and financial due diligence suggests the arrangement amounts less to a rescue than to a painful downsizing — a view that has gained wide traction among analysts.

According to foreign media reports, BC Partners Credit, the credit arm of BC Partners, has agreed to make an initial investment in LIV Golf and provide up to $300 million in exit financing, contingent on bankruptcy court approval.

Ted Goldthorpe, head of BC Partners Credit, announced Wednesday (Korean Standard Time) that the restructured entity — dubbed "LIV 2.0" — would give players direct ownership stakes in the league and its teams, with a target relaunch for the 2027 season. The investment, however, is far from a guarantee of a bright future.

Since its launch in 2022, LIV Golf had received more than $5 billion in Saudi oil money from PIF, yet accumulated losses of roughly $5 billion due to difficulties selling broadcast rights and weak sponsorship revenue. When PIF refused to inject further funds and walked away, the tour filed for bankruptcy protection on Sept. 8.

The $300 million BC Partners has committed represents just 6 percent of what PIF poured in. Under the proposed LIV 2.0 structure, the number of annual events would be cut to around 10, and per-event prize money would be slashed sharply from the previous level of more than $20 million. A governance overhaul is also under discussion, with players set to hold roughly 52.5 percent of the new entity and BC Partners taking 45 percent.

The biggest obstacle remains whether marquee players will stay. Stars such as Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson, who were owed large signing bonuses under their existing contracts, now face the prospect of those agreements being voided through the bankruptcy process.

LIV Golf is asking players to accept equity stakes in the new entity in lieu of unpaid guaranteed money. A deadline for players to decide has been set for around Oct. 25. If key players reject the equity offer and walk away as ordinary unsecured creditors, the tour's commercial appeal could evaporate almost instantly.

Some observers have raised the possibility that BC Partners' real motive is to exploit the massive net operating losses LIV Golf has accumulated for tax benefits. Goldthorpe has pushed back on that characterization, saying it is not the primary investment rationale — but the prevailing view is that it is hard to believe purely sporting ambition drove a private equity fund to back a league that has failed to build a viable revenue model of its own.

Ultimately, AP characterized BC Partners' $300 million investment not as a full revival of LIV Golf but as "a ventilator on a timer — one that only works if it clears the difficult hurdles of court approval and buy-in from marquee players. If the tour cannot demonstrate genuine self-sufficiency, this deal is more likely to be a transitional step toward an orderly wind-down than the opening act of a comeback."