Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), confirmed on Thursday that it will cut funding to its breakaway LIV Golf Tour at the end of the current golf season, citing a change in investment strategy and “current macro dynamics” amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
PIF launches LIV Golf in 2022 as a rival to the established US PGA Tour, which has organized professional golf across North America since 1968.
Billions of dollars of Saudi sports investment followed in Formula 1, boxing, snooker, tennis, e-sports and football, with PIF purchasing a majority stake in Premier League club Newcastle United in 2021.
Last year, Saudi Arabia was awarded the right to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup as it seeks to diversify its economy despite allegations of efforts to “sportswash” a democratic deficit and poor human rights record.
In golf, LIV, backed by more than $5 billion (€4.26 billion) by the PIF, managed to lure several top stars, including major champions Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, from the PGA Tour with multimillion-dollar contracts, leading to bitter divisions in the sport.
However, by September 2026, LIV will have to find alternative sources of funding after PIF announced withdrawal of financial support.
Saudi Arabia: Why is PIF cutting LIV golf funding?
“PIF has decided to fund LIV Golf only for the remainder of the 2026 season,” a PIF statement said.
“LIV Golf is transitioning from a fundamental launch phase to a diversified, multi-partner investment model, with a formal process underway to attract long-term financial partners,” Circuit. said in a statement Later on Thursday.
Signs of a possible rift in relations between the PIF and LIV emerged earlier this month when US outlet ESPN obtained an email to staff from LIV chief executive Scott O’Neill in which he said the current season would continue “exactly as planned”, but made no apparent mention of the tour’s future beyond 2026.
This week, the LIV tournament planned for June in New Orleans was postponed and has not yet been rescheduled, despite organizers expressing vague hope that it could be rearranged for some point later this year and speculation that the tour’s financial foundation is in jeopardy.
“The substantial investment required by LIV Golf in the long term is no longer consistent with the current stage of PIF’s investment strategy,” PIF’s statement on Thursday said. “This decision has been taken in light of PIF’s investment priorities and current macro dynamics.”
Saudi sports investment on the back burner
PIF has not elaborated on what exactly those “investment priorities” and “macro dynamics” are, but LIV Golf is not the first victim of the apparent decline in Saudi sports investment amid an economic recession exacerbated by the war in the Middle East.
Earlier this month, Yasser al-Rumayyan, governor of the PIF and LIV’s main financial backer, presented a strategy for the Kingdom to cut international investment and focus on more domestic projects between 2026 and 2030 – which did not mention sports.
“Whether because of the war or for reasons related to economic feasibility, we constantly reevaluate our priorities,” al-Rumayyan told the state-owned Al Arabiya news channel two weeks ago. He said the PIF was reviewing “certain deals and investments”.
Last week, the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters, one of the World Snooker Tour’s richest events with a total prize money of $3 million, was abruptly canceled after just two editions.
A week before that, PIF sold a 70% stake in Saudi Pro League football club Al-Hilal worth €374 million, although a slightly lower transfer spend at Newcastle United is also linked to Premier League and UEFA financial sanctions.
Neom: Saudi mega-project also set back
More importantly, Saudi Arabia has also massively scaled back plans for “Neom” – a $500 billion desert redevelopment project backed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, which envisioned the construction of a 170-kilometre (100 mi) long horizontal, futuristic megacity dubbed “The Line.”
However, two years ago, Bloomberg reported that only 2.4 kilometers would be completed by 2030, housing less than 300,000 people instead of the initial target of 1.5 million. And, earlier this year, the 2029 Asian Winter Games were snatched from Neom and given to Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Now, LIV Golf has also felt the pinch and according to US outlet MSN, some LIV players have already reached out to the US PGA Tour and the European DP World Tour about a possible return.
Such requests are unlikely to be viewed entirely favorably given the involvement of some breakaway players in the PIF/LIV-backed antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour.
Edited by: Rana Taha