LIV Golf CEO confirms Saudi funding will end but says he has a plan that 'might surprise some people'
LIV Golf CEO Scott O'Neil confirmed reports that the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund will stop giving money to the golf league after this season.
However, O'Neil told TNT Sports that he has a "plan" that "might surprise some people."
"The reality is you're funded through the season and then you work like crazy as a business to create a business and a business plan to keep us going. But that's not different from any other private equity-funded business in the history of man," O'Neil said ahead of the golf tour's next event in Mexico City on Thursday.
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Despite the uncertainty, O'Neil is taking the challenge head on.
"How we go forward is what I'm really excited about. I talked about some structural changes - they're coming. You can ask just about the 50 people I met at Augusta, I rolled out the plan. We have one, it might surprise some people..." he said.
"This notion of, 'Do you have to raise money?' Probably. This is business. But if we keep the trajectory going the way we are and the revenue growth going, this is going to be a really good business for a really long time."
Sources told Fox News that the Saudis will stop funding LIV after the 2026 season. The Financial Times was the first to report the news.
O'Neil wrote a memo to LIV employees obtained by Fox News Digital that confirmed that the season was going to go "exactly as planned, uninterrupted, and full throttle."
"While the media landscape is often filled with speculation, our reality is defined by the work we do on the grass. We are heading into the heart of our 2026 schedule with the full energy of an organization that is bigger, louder, and more influential than ever before," O'Neil wrote.
"The life of a startup movement is often defined by these moments of pressure. We signed up for this because we believe in disrupting the status quo. We have faced headwinds since the jump, and we’ve answered every time with resilience and grace. Now, we answer by doing what we do best: putting on the most compelling show in sports."
"The noise you hear is simply the sound of a movement that is working. Embrace it. We are pioneers, and while the road isn’t always smooth, the destination is worth every mile," he said. "Let’s go out and show the world why LIV Golf is the future of the game. It matters. You mattered. Now, let’s go win.
"Long LIV Golf."
LIV began in 2022 and has produced two major winners in Brooks Koepka, who has since rejoined the PGA Tour, at the 2023 PGA Championship, and DeChambeau at the 2024 U.S. Open.
LIV Golf shifted from its 54-hole format, a draw for golfers defecting from the PGA Tour, to 72 beginning this season. Patrick Reed is also set to rejoin the PGA Tour.
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