Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund may not view its LIV Golf experience as one of its major commercial success stories. The Saudi-backed tournament is now facing financial challenges after the fund decided to stop financing it by the end of 2026.
However, reducing the experience to profit and loss alone would be short-sighted, without overlooking the lessons learned from it. Several weeks after the decision, the project deserves a calmer assessment, especially as it comes within a broader shift in strategy from expansion to a greater focus on financial returns and spending efficiency.
LIV Golf is, after all, only one part of a wider strategy to invest in sports locally and globally. Through this strategy, Saudi Arabia has become one of the most influential investors in international sport in just a few years, according to Asharq Business.
The Kingdom acquired English football club Newcastle United at a relatively modest price compared with valuations in the world’s leading league. It has hosted major global boxing fights, strengthened its presence in Formula 1, invested in esports, and reshaped football through the Saudi Roshn League, which attracted global stars, most notably Cristiano Ronaldo. Saudi Arabia has also won the right to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup.
The irony of the LIV Golf story is that the PIF’s investment may leave an impact that lasts for years after funding stops at the end of 2026. This impact includes reinforcing Saudi Arabia’s presence in a sport that is not widely popular locally, as well as the gains golf achieved from the historic confrontation between LIV Golf and the US-based PGA Tour, which had dominated professional golf for more than a century.
From the beginning, Saudi Arabia understood that breaking the PGA Tour’s monopoly would not happen through speeches or marketing campaigns. It had to target the sport’s most important asset: the players themselves. This led to unprecedented contracts, even by the standards of the “sport of the wealthy.”
Phil Mickelson, one of golf’s biggest stars, reportedly received around $200m to join the project. Dustin Johnson received about $150m. They were followed by leading players such as Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Smith, and later Jon Rahm. Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy became one of the most prominent public defenders of the PGA Tour against the Saudi-backed project.
It was a shocking moment for golf. A sport long known for conservatism and strict traditions suddenly became a battleground. Saudi Arabia injected investments not only to build a new league, but to force the existing system to redefine itself.
In June 2022, LIV Golf held its first tournaments with unprecedented prize money of $255m. The PGA Tour’s initial response was swift and forceful. It suspended the membership of players who moved to LIV, while legal battles erupted between both sides. US media also launched intense criticism of the new investment, accusing it of trying to “buy the game.”
This confrontation gave the Saudi project additional momentum. The more the conflict with the PGA Tour escalated, the more LIV Golf gained visibility within the global sports scene. Suddenly, golf, a sport that already suffered from limited public interest outside its traditional audience, became the centre of a global economic and political debate.
Saudi Arabia also succeeded in pushing the American institution to change. The PGA Tour significantly raised prize funds, introduced new high-return tournaments, and amended financial and organisational policies to retain its stars. In June 2023, what many considered the most important turning point in modern golf history took place. Without warning, LIV Golf and the PGA Tour announced a framework agreement to unify commercial activities and end the open conflict between the two sides.
The shock was not only in the agreement itself, but in what it symbolised. The institution that had spent months attacking the Saudi project and describing it as a threat to the game ended up sitting at the negotiating table with it and recognising it as a key partner in the future of global golf.
However, the confrontation with the PGA Tour also revealed once again how difficult it is to dismantle or break traditional systems in sport without a long-term approach. Sometimes, money is not the main issue. The failed attempts to create a European football Super League offer a clear example. Despite the support of 14 major clubs aiming to secure huge television revenues, the project has so far failed to overcome broad public and political opposition from those who saw it as a threat to smaller clubs and their fans’ right to compete with the elite.
For LIV Golf, the main problem was not a lack of liquidity, but the difficulty of building a fan base equal to the noise the project generated in a relatively short time.
The tour attracted big names and offered huge prize money, but it did not fully succeed in turning that into stable viewing figures or television broadcast deals matching the scale of spending. Its tournament model, which tried to present a more modern and entertaining version of traditional golf, including the use of 54-hole events — LIV in Roman numerals — did not create the expected fan loyalty.
At the same time, the US market remained extremely difficult for a new project competing against an institution more than 100 years old. The Financial Times estimated that the project’s losses approached $1bn, revealing that the tour is considering reducing the number of tournaments and focusing more on international markets that have shown stronger audience engagement, such as Australia and South Africa, instead of relying heavily on the United States.
The coming scenarios remain open. The league may succeed in attracting new investors and transforming into a smaller, more efficient model. It may also undergo a restructuring of its current format.
In the end, the central paradox of LIV Golf is that it reveals the power and ambition of Saudi capital, while also reminding everyone of the limits of financial influence in international sport. It would be an exaggeration to describe the experience as a clear victory for the Kingdom. However, when evaluated as a tool of strategic influence, the project did achieve a large part of its objectives, according to Asharq Business.
The experience changed the economics of golf on four levels: PGA Tour prize money rose sharply, players gained unprecedented negotiating power, the modernisation of broadcasting and entertainment in golf accelerated, and global tours became more interested in international markets.
In other words, even LIV Golf’s opponents were forced to change because of its presence. That, in itself, is a strategic success that is difficult to ignore. Golf has already changed.
As for Saudi Arabia, it will not stop investing in sports. This is reflected in the Public Investment Fund’s announcement that it will be an official supporter of FIFA for this year’s World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, only days after its decision regarding LIV Golf. Newcastle United is also planning to invest hundreds of millions of pounds to develop its stadium, and even more to build an entirely new stadium aligned with the club’s sporting and financial ambitions.
The post Did Saudi Arabia Change the Sport of the Wealthy Despite Halting Investment? first appeared on Dailynewsegypt.
