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LIV is sorting through the debris and picking up pieces after its hastened finale in Indy. (Chris Trotman/LIV Golf)
Many LIV Golf employees worked their final day as CEO Scott O’Neil took to LinkedIn on Monday to offer a message of thanks and hope, while attempting to put a positive spin on what appears to be an extremely tenuous situation.
LIV has more than 300 employees worldwide, with only a few retained as O’Neil tries to reformat the league from its flamboyant high-spending ways into a leaner “LIV 2.0” version that will have fewer events, smaller purses and — quite likely — a dearth of stars.
Amid all the chaos is the knowledge that numerous vendors and contractors have gone unpaid with the Financial Times reporting Monday that a bankruptcy filing is imminent.
O’Neil acknowledged that “the organization will look different. Change is never easy — particularly when it involves people you respect and care about.”
According to various sources, LIV employees have been paid and many will be paid for another month as there will be severance packages based on tenure with the five-year-old league.
Also in today’s DD …
WTGL reveals the five-women rosters of its five inaugural teams
Stray Shots on LIV’s reality and PGA Tour accolades
O’Neil also thanked the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia in his post, which is probably all he can do as he hopes the sovereign wealth fund steps up and helps LIV bridge the gap between its excess of the past five years and the future.
LIV employed numerous contractors as part of its television contract, had to hire vendors for various marketing and promotional activities, and had those who traveled from event to event on a fee basis who have gone weeks and months without being paid.
How that can occur when the PIF promised it would fund the league through this year is a troubling aspect and one that should preclude anyone in golf from ever trusting the Saudis again.
After coming into the game with boastful claims of disruption — spending billions on players and tournament largesse — the PIF decided in April to pull the plug on the league. It reportedly wanted to shut down immediately but then later decided to finish out the year (two events, in New Orleans and Michigan, were cancelled).
While it was certainly within its rights to no longer throw money at LIV — various reports put the investment at more than $5 billion since it began in 2022 — many of the people still owed money for services performed well before the announcement that PIF would no longer continue as LIV’s bank.
While purses are being paid to golfers who have earned millions, those behind the scenes are being stiffed. That reality is going to always hang over the league, whether it is O’Neil’s fault or not. (It’s not his fault.)
Despite the PIF being worth close to $1 trillion, expenditures within the league always had to be approved, and always were delivered with a good bit of angst. Payroll was always met, players were always paid, but contractors have always been receiving fees in a slow manner.
As the transition process has played out this summer, O’Neil didn’t have a vast well of money to make things right. Every dollar and pound had to be signed off on by the PIF. It’s likely why the Michigan event didn’t happen last week. And why there are contractors waiting in line to get paid.
All of which complicates a transition to a new LIV, which will require new investment of at least $250 million. O’Neil said several weeks ago that he has prospective investors ready to prop up a LIV 2.0. But the bankruptcy is a business strategy that will allow it to pay out a pittance compared to what people are owed, including players.
According to the Financial Times report, the PIF is expected to fund a bankruptcy loan — which is known as “debtor-in-possession” financing — for approximately $100
