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\n\tThe future of LIV Golf has been thrown in doubt after a report that Saudi Arabia\u2018s Public Investment Fund (PIF) will stop financing the tour.<\/p>\n
\n\tAccording to the BBC, the multi-billion dollar backing will be withdrawn at the end of current season, potentially posing issues for the likes of Fox Sports, which broadcasts and streams it in U.S., and TNT Sports in Europe.<\/p>\n
\n\tPIF will announce a \u201cnew strategic\u201d plan in a bid to find new financiers for the golf tour, which features the likes of Jon Rahm, Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau. BBC Sport was told the series is \u201ctotally up for sale,\u201d while separate reports suggest LIV Golf co-founder Yasir Al-Rumayyan is set to stop down from the board. New board members are being sought.<\/p>\n
\n\tLIV Golf has postponed its New Orleans event in June, though tournaments are planned for South Korea, Spain and the UK before the tour goes to Trump Bedminster in New Jersey.<\/p>\n
\n\tBBC Sport also reported that LIV Golf\u2019s officials have accepted they will have to significantly scale back from the current 14 events, even if they find new financiers and despite the website\u2019s sources saying the tour is set to earn $100M more this season than last.<\/p>\n
\n\tPIF has bankrolled LIV Golf to the tune of more than $5B since it was launched in 2021, since when it was lost around $1.1B outside of the U.S. The tour was establish amid controversy when it broke away from the PGA Tour and poached several big-name players on huge contracts. In 2023, LIV Golf and the PGA Tour agreed to merge, ending animosity between the rival factions, but this never came to fruition and PGA took investment from another party, Strategic Sports Group, instead.<\/p>\n
\n\tFox Sports struck a multi-year rights agreement with LIV Golf last year, which followed the tour being broadcast on The CW.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe news comes as Saudi Arabia has suddenly begun pulling back from sports investments. For many years, the country used its wealth to finance and host boxing, wrestling, golf and other sporting events, but that era could now be ending. There are questions around PIF\u2019s commitment to owning Premier League football team Newcastle United, and it announced this month it is offloading most of its stake in Saudi team Al-Hilal to Kingdom Holding Company.<\/p>\n
\n\tSaudi Arabian leader Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS, has approved a new financial strategy until 2030 that will focus on internal investments and appears to be a more tightly managed than the previous plan between 2021-2025.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cPIF will continue to support Saudi Vision 2030 objectives by delivering competitive domestic ecosystems, investing in national champions that have the potential to scale globally, and forming global economic partnerships, building on what has been achieved under PIF\u2019s 2021-2025 strategy,\u201d said PIF governor Al-Rumayyan in a statement.<\/p>\n
\n\tWe\u2019ve reached out to PIF for comment. It is expected there will be a statement on the future of LIV Golf later today, and we\u2019ll update this story when that comes through.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n