PIF cuts the LIV Golf cord

It’s official — The PIF is done throwing USD bns at LIV Golf. The Public Investment Fund is pulling the plug on the breakaway golf league it bankrolled for four years, telling players and staff that funding will stop after the 2026 season wraps up.

The fund confirmed the move in a statement to AFP on Thursday, with a spokesperson saying that “the substantial investment required by LIV Golf over a longer term is no longer consistent with the current phase of PIF's investment strategy.”

The price tag: The fund’s total commitment rose to USD 5 bn back in December, according to industry tracker Money in Sport. Annual top-ups amounted to USD 1.2 bn in 2021, USD 1.3 bn in 2022, USD 200 mn in 2023, USD 1.2 bn in 2024, and USD 1.1 bn last year.

Translation? The league has been burning money at a clip of roughly USD 100 mn a month, with no obvious path to break even.

It wasn’t going to end anytime soon: LIV chief executive Scott O'Neil told the Financial Times in February that the league would need another five to 10 years to turn profitable — a runway PIF has now decided it doesn't want to underwrite.

Why it never became sustainable: The league’s commercial model never managed to wean itself off PIF capital. A 2023 framework deal between PIF governor Yasser Al Rumayyan and PGA Tour boss Jay Monahan was supposed to merge the two sides' commercial operations under Al Rumayyan’s chairmanship — but the deal never materialized. The PGA Tour subsequently raised bns from a consortium led by Liverpool FC owner John Henry, leaving LIV out in the cold. Bankers at Citi were brought in earlier this year to try to sell stakes in LIV’s teams, but with little to show for it.

The context: Part of a broader PIF reset

The decision lands squarely in the middle of the fund’s new 2026-2030 strategy, which the board signed off on in mid-April. The shift is toward private-sector co-investment, a 15% spending trim, and a sharper focus on commitments the Kingdom can’t walk away from — the 2034 FIFA World Cup, Expo 2030 infrastructure, and housing.

The PIF’s recalibration started before the US-Israel war on Iran in late February — but has been complicated by it. Persistent oil prices below USD 90 a barrel, the fiscal pressure of gigaprojects like Neom and the Red Sea, and the cost of the Gulf’s exposure to Iranian retaliatory strikes on regional infrastructure have all narrowed the room for nine-figure checks on overseas plays.

!_Subhed_! LIV isn’t the only sports asset on the block

The fund already sold a 70% stake in Pro League powerhouse Al Hilal to Kingdom Holding Company last month, with Al Rumayyan saying the fund plans to gradually exit Saudi football club investments altogether, holding minority stakes rather than majority ownership. The Kingdom has also reportedly walked away from a planned bid for the 2035 Rugby World Cup and dropped hosting the Next Gen ATP Finals.

Newcastle United, however, is staying: An unnamed source close to PIF told the FT that the fund remains committed to the English Premier League club it bought in 2021 — Al Rumayyan headed a delegation to the UK last week to review the club’s long-term strategy and short-term performance. The fund is also still planning the PIF London Championship on the Ladies European Tour in August.

What’s next?

The new directors hint at what’s coming next. LIV said on Thursday that Gene Davis and Jon Zinman are joining its board — both veterans of US distressed debt investing, which Wall Street took as a tell that some form of balance-sheet restructuring is in the cards. Al Rumayyan was notably absent in LIV’s statement, and he is reportedly stepping down as chair, according to the salmon-colored paper.

LIV’s pitch to potential backers: The league is talking up “a 100% increase in revenue year over year,” a strong international fan base in markets the PGA Tour ignores (Australia, South Africa), and partnerships with HSBC and Salesforce.

BUT- Several of the league’s sponsors — including Aramco and Riyadh Air — are themselves PIF assets, raising questions about how much of that revenue is genuinely commercial.