{"id":736502,"date":"2026-04-18T10:32:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T10:32:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/736502\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T10:32:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T10:32:28","slug":"liv-golf-ceo-admits-leagues-funding-will-end-this-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/736502\/","title":{"rendered":"LIV Golf CEO admits league’s funding will end this season"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Thursday, when LIV Golf\u2019s broadcast from Mexico City was actually working<\/a>, it offered stiff rebuttals to reports of its impending demise. However, it sounds as though CEO Scott O\u2019Neil said the quiet part out loud at least one time.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the Financial Times<\/a> reported that the Saudi Arabian government was preparing to pull the plug on its funding of LIV Golf amidst the war in Iran and changing priorities of the Saudi Public Investment Fund.\u00a0Bret Baier at Fox News and Rex Hoggard at Golf Channel\u00a0both reported<\/a>\u00a0that the league will continue operations through the 2026 season, but there will be no PIF support following the conclusion of this year\u2019s campaign. Hoggard added that O\u2019Neil told players that LIV Golf had the funding to continue through 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At the beginning of Thursday\u2019s event, broadcasters Arlo White and David Feherty strongly condemned the reports<\/a> as the work of \u201cfast typists that consider themselves to be experts\u201d and that the league was going to be fine. O\u2019Neil later joined the broadcast and echoed those sentiments.<\/p>\n

However, O\u2019Neil did confirm that while the 2026 season will finish as intended, anything beyond that remains unknown.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reality is that you\u2019re funded through the season, and then you work like crazy as a business to create a business and a business plan to keep us going,\u201d O\u2019Neil said in an interview with TNT Sports UK that was posted on its X account but later deleted, per The New York Post<\/a>. \u201cBut that\u2019s not different from any other private equity-funded business in the history of mankind.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Here is a clip from the deleted video TNT posted<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reality is you\u2019re funded through the season and then you work like crazy as a business to create a business and a business plan to keep us going.\u201d pic.twitter.com\/TefE2cKXqj<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/Cc781nYaeV<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) April 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Per The Athletic<\/a>, TNT Sports released a truncated portion of the conversation later Friday, omitting the quote about future funding.<\/p>\n

Those comments come on the heels of an email O\u2019Neil sent to staffers that later became public, in which he pushed back on reports of the league\u2019s impending demise.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be crystal clear: Our season continues exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle,\u201d O\u2019Neil wrote in the email<\/a>. \u201cWhile the media landscape is often filled with speculation, our reality is defined by the work we do on the grass. We are heading into the heart of our 2026 schedule with the full energy of an organization that is bigger, louder, and more influential than ever before.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe life of a startup movement is often defined by these moments of pressure. We signed up for this because we believe in disrupting the status quo. We have faced headwinds since the jump, and we\u2019ve answered every time with resilience and grace. Now, we answer by doing what we do best: putting on the most compelling show in sports.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the ongoing Mexico City event, LIV has eight more tournaments scheduled this season, concluding on August 30 in Michigan. After that, by all accounts, it\u2019s anyone\u2019s guess how the league will be able to come back in 2027. Guess they\u2019d better get to work on that business plan.<\/p>\n

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