Saudi may end up with an outsized cancelation bill in Neom

Ouch…

Canceled contracts don’t go away for free: Neom looks set to spend more on canceling contracts than on new projects over the next five years, with SAR 60 bn (USD 16 bn) penciled into its 2026-2030 budget for contractor termination payouts and penalty clauses, Semafor reports. That figure outpaces the SAR 40 bn (USD 10.7 bn) planned for new infrastructure spending, most of which is earmarked for Oxagon’s industrial city and utilities. Neom did not respond to our requests for comment as of this writing.

Background: Saudi Arabia has been scrapping a few Neom-gigaproject-related contracts following a comprehensive review after years of delays, design challenges, and cost overruns. Scrapped projects include multi-bn-USD contracts to build a freshwater lake at Trojena and a USD 1 bn tunneling contract at Neom’s The Line.

Fading

Is LIV Golf’s funding drying up? The Public Investment Fund’s remaining LIV Golf funding may not be enough to cover the 2026 season in full, Front Office Sports reports. The league’s cancellation of its New Orleans tournament and the 47-day gap until its next scheduled event reportedly raised concerns about the stability of the calendar and the durability of the fund’s backing.

LIV currently receives funding from the PIF every month and is still operating on the assumption that those payments will continue through the season, an unnamed league source told the news outlet. CEO Scott O’Neill said the league has begun reaching out to prospective partners as it looks to attract new investments. LIV Golf was reportedly exploring a US bankruptcy filing as a worst-case scenario if its search for new capital falls short.