LIV Golf files for bankruptcy protection, will attempt to restructure

LIV Golf’s effort to save its business and resurrect a new iteration of the league now includes bankruptcy. The league submitted a Chapter 11 filing in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey on Tuesday, according to court documents.

LIV’s decision to file for bankruptcy rather than liquidate the company signals that it seeks to restructure and transition to a new business model. LIV said its reorganization will happen alongside BC Partners Advisors’ credit division, marking the first time the league revealed the identity of the “lead investor” it announced in August.

The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia — LIV’s financial backer from the league’s 2022 inception until it announced in April its decision to pull funding — has also agreed to take part in the restructuring. If approved by the court, PIF will provide $49.6 million in debtor-in-possession financing to carry LIV through the expensive and complex Chapter 11 bankruptcy process.

However, the PIF’s loan will come with milestones, which are strict deadlines that LIV must meet to continue receiving cash payments. One milestone will be LIV’s ability to sign a finalized investment agreement with BC Partners, according to a source briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

In the filing, LIV estimates its assets are worth between $100 million and $500 million, and its liabilities are between $500 million and $1 billion, illustrating the gap on its balance sheet which helps LIV qualify for Chapter 11 in the first place. LIV’s high liabilities also show the scale of its long-term commitments — like multi-year player contracts — that it will not be able to pay out.

“This process gives us the structure and time to pursue a landmark transaction and begin the next chapter of LIV Golf — one built around the fans, an innovative, player-first ownership model, and a part of the global golf ecosystem,” LIV CEO Scott O’Neil said in a statement. “We are excited about what lies ahead and yet, there is still much to accomplish in the months ahead. We believe deeply in LIV Golf’s future, the opportunity in front of us, and the people who will help us realize it.”

Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau, LIV’s two biggest stars, are listed as having the largest unsecured claims, worth $7.4 million and $5.7 million, respectively. These figures reflect past-due third-quarter payments to each player, rather than future expected payments based on multiyear contracts. Bankruptcy law requires those guarantees to be handled separately, and the listed numbers are considered initial estimates.

Notably, DeChambeau’s claim is marked “contingent” on the filing, meaning the payout is dependent on a certain undisclosed future event. The next-largest creditor, Dustin Johnson, is marked as contingent and disputed, meaning that LIV disagrees with the size of the claim.

Among the top 30 unsecured creditors is Brooks Koepka, who left LIV Golf at the end of 2025 and rejoined the PGA Tour. He holds a claim of $1.7 million.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is another unsecured creditor, listed on the filing with a claim for $1.7 million. In 2024, LIV announced a three-year partnership agreement with the organization, through which it committed $10 million to help displaced individuals across Africa, Asia, Europe and South America access sport and education.

The creditor list provides a fascinating look into the league’s business dealings, with content creator Rick Shiels and the state of Louisiana also holding claims worth more than $1 million. LIV hired Shiels as a strategic partner in January 2025, while the debt to Louisiana stems from the decision to cancel a tournament in New Orleans earlier this year.

Bankruptcy has been seen as LIV’s likely next step if it is to survive. It was forced to cancel its Team Championship in August in light of the current financial realities, then announced days after its season finale that most of its staff would be laid off, effective Sept. 1.

One of the most powerful tools in Chapter 11 bankruptcy is the debtor’s ability to cancel contracts. Now that LIV has filed for bankruptcy, it can go through its player roster, contract by contract, and decide which deals still make financial sense to them — much like a bankrupt retail company deciding which store leases are worth keeping. Then, LIV can offer players a choice: renegotiate with the league by swapping guaranteed cash for equity in LIV 2.0 or face flat-out rejection. A reorganized version of the company is expected to be majority-owned by the players.

If LIV rejects a contract, the player will walk as an immediate free agent. But they will also be an unsecured creditor, holding a claim for unpaid funds. Typically, those claims are worth pennies on the dollar, significant for those who signed with LIV last and have larger unpaid signing bonuses.

What You Should Read Next

LIV Golf 1.0 met an unceremonious end. Inside the fight for what comes next

No longer is LIV trying to usurp the PGA Tour as golf's hegemonic power. It's now just about survival.

PIF reportedly spent north of $6 billion on the league since its launch in 2022, signing stars such as Phil Mickelson, Rahm, Johnson, DeChambeau and Koepka and creating festival-like atmospheres on a worldwide tour with concerts and large hospitality buildouts. But as the league continued to lose money amid an unexpected war in the Middle East, PIF unilaterally informed LIV leadership in April that it was pulling out.

LIV published a letter from O’Neil on its website on Tuesday that hinted at what a slimmed-down LIV 2.0 might look like. He wrote that the league will expand its fields from 57 to 75 players, introduce a cut, and organize Monday qualifiers to provide pathways into LIV tournaments. O’Neil also shared that more LIV teams will be aligned with national identities. Although the CEO did not share the final number of events the league is targeting, he did restate that it plans to compete across five continents, in locations such as Australia, South Africa, Mexico, England, Hong Kong and the United States.

O’Neil stated again that its new goal is to “complete” the golf ecosystem, not compete with it. The remainder of the professional golf landscape does not appear to be on board with that mission. In August, the DP World Tour began notifying LIV players that it would resume imposing heavy-handed fines and suspensions, making it all but nonsensical to compete on both LIV and the former European Tour.