LIV Golf files for bankruptcy in latest fallout for breakaway tour

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LIV Golf filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday in New Jersey with more than $500 million in debt, part of its goal to revive the league without Saudi funding.

The move was widely expected after the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia abruptly ended its financial support this year. The final event was last month in Indiana. Four vendors already have filed lawsuits because they have not been paid.

LIV said it has agreed to a restructuring plan with BC Partners as the primary source of its capital.

“This process gives us the structure and time to pursue a landmark transaction and begin the next chapter of LIV Golf,” CEO Scott O’Neil said in a news release.

O’Neil has said “ LIV Golf 2.0 ” would feature players as majority owners in a reduced schedule. In a letter to LIV Golf fans, O’Neil said the new look would expand the size of the field from 57 to 75 players and introduce a 54-hole cut for the first time. There also would be Monday qualifiers.

He said the team concept would be built around nationalities and that LIV would continue to tap some of its more successful markets in Australia, South Africa and Asia.

Still, the new version would be a shell of what LIV promised when it launched in June 2022 after paying nine-figure signing bonuses to lure away top names from the PGA Tour. The excessive spending topped more than $5 billion before PIF said in April it was pulling the plug.

Still to be determined is the future of the biggest stars still with LIV, most notably Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau. Rahm is playing the Irish Open this week and told BBC Northern Ireland: “I still have a contract with LIV 1.0 that I’m more than willing to fulfill. Like I said, time will tell.”

Rahm, DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson and Cameron Smith were the leading four creditors listed in the filing. Of the top 30 creditors LIV listed, 14 were players. The filing listed only the “unsecured claim” — Rahm led the list at nearly $7.5 million — and not the full amount owed.

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LIV listed between $100 million and $500 million in estimated assets, and $500 million and $1 billion in liabilities.

The state of Louisiana is listed among the largest creditors at $1,220,000. LIV Golf postponed its event in Louisiana shortly after PIF announced it was ending its support. The Michigan event also was canceled, with the team championship merged into the final event in Indiana.

Chapter 11 is commonly known as reorganization bankruptcy and generally allows the debtor to continue to operate the business, even borrowing new money under court approval.

LIV Golf said the PIF has agreed to provide $49.6 million in debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing through the DIP credit agreement, subject to the court’s approval.

BC Partners L.P. — the credit business of UK-based BC Partners — and other minority investors that might emerge would provide the exit financing as LIV tries to keep going. LIV said it intends to emerge from bankruptcy and start its new version as early as 2027.

“Now it is time to enter the next phase of LIV Golf,” O’Neil said in his letter. “Today, we took an important step forward to get there. LIV Golf has entered a court-supervised restructuring process that provides us with the time and framework to address previous financial obligations and complete a transaction that will make the League’s next phase a reality.

“Put simply, this process is designed to build a stronger and more sustainable future for LIV Golf.”

But so much depends on who stays.

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LIV set out to change the world of golf. It succeeded – but not in the way LIV imagined

The PGA Tour has banned players for one year from their most recent LIV Golf appearance. Brooks Koepka was the first LIV player to return under penalty — a $5 million payment to charity, no equity grants for five years, no access to bonus money the year he returned.

PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp offered the same deal to Rahm, DeChambeau and Smith with a tight deadline to accept. None did, and three months later as the U.S.-Iran war took root, PIF pulled its funding and sent LIV Golf into a spiral.

Rolapp has not been inclined to discuss any paths back while players are under contract.

O’Neil said LIV Golf’s intention was to “complete, not compete,” a phrase that rankled more stable tours because of the disruption LIV Golf created under former CEO Greg Norman who felt players should be able to compete on any tour, while be required to play a full schedule on LIV.

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LIV Golf 周二在新泽西州申请破产保护（第 11 章），负债超过 5 亿美元，这是该公司在没有沙特阿拉伯资金的情况下重振联赛目标的一部分。

沙特阿拉伯公共投资基金今年突然停止财政支持后，这一举动在意料之中。最后一场活动上个月在印第安纳州举行。已有四家供应商因未收到货款而提起诉讼。

LIV表示，已与BC Partners达成重组计划，BC Partners将作为其主要资金来源。

“这一过程为我们提供了结构和时间，以进行一项具有里程碑意义的交易，并开启 LIV Golf 的下一个篇章，”首席执行官 Scott O'Neil 在一份新闻稿中表示。

奥尼尔曾表示，“LIV Golf 2.0”将以球员为主要股东，并缩减赛程。在致LIV Golf球迷的一封信中，奥尼尔表示，新赛制将把参赛球员人数从57人增加到75人，并首次引入54洞淘汰赛制。此外，还将增设周一资格赛。

他表示，球队理念将围绕国籍展开，LIV 将继续开拓其在澳大利亚、南非和亚洲等一些较为成功的市场。

然而，新版本与LIV在2022年6月推出时的承诺相比，简直是天壤之别。当时，LIV为了吸引PGA巡回赛的顶尖球员，支付了数亿美元的签约奖金。在PIF于4月份宣布终止该项目之前，其巨额支出已超过50亿美元。

LIV旗下几位顶级球星的未来仍未可知，尤其是琼·拉姆和布赖森·德尚博。拉姆本周正在参加爱尔兰公开赛，他告诉BBC北爱尔兰：“我与LIV 1.0的合同还在，我非常愿意履行完。就像我说的，时间会证明一切。”

拉姆、德尚博、达斯汀·约翰逊和卡梅隆·史密斯是文件中列出的前四位债权人。LIV列出的前30位债权人中，有14位是球员。该文件仅列出了“无担保债权”（拉姆的债权额最高，接近750万美元），而非全部欠款金额。

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LIV 列出的估计资产在 1 亿美元至 5 亿美元之间，负债在 5 亿美元至 10 亿美元之间。

路易斯安那州是最大的债权人之一，债权金额达122万美元。在PIF宣布停止资助后不久，LIV Golf便推迟了在路易斯安那州的赛事。密歇根州的赛事也被取消，团体锦标赛并入了在印第安纳州举行的最后一场比赛。

第 11 章通常被称为重组破​​产，一般允许债务人继续经营业务，甚至在法院批准下借入新的资金。

LIV Golf表示，PIF已同意通过DIP信贷协议提供4960万美元的债务人持有资产融资（DIP融资），但需经法院批准。

英国BC Partners旗下的信贷业务部门BC Partners LP以及其他可能出现的少数股东将为LIV提供退出融资，以帮助其继续运营。LIV表示，计划最早于2027年完成破产重组并启动新项目。

奥尼尔在信中写道：“现在是时候让LIV高尔夫进入下一个阶段了。今天，我们朝着这个目标迈出了重要一步。LIV高尔夫已经进入法院监督的重组程序，这为我们提供了时间和框架来解决之前的财务义务，并完成一项交易，从而使联盟的下一个阶段成为现实。”

“简而言之，这一过程旨在为 LIV Golf 打造一个更强大、更可持续的未来。”

但最终结果很大程度上取决于谁留下。

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LIV 的目标是改变高尔夫世界。它成功了——但并非以 LIV 预想的方式。

PGA巡回赛对参加过最近一次LIV高尔夫锦标赛的球员处以一年禁赛的处罚。布鲁克斯·科普卡是首位因处罚而重返LIV的球员——他需向慈善机构支付500万美元，五年内不得获得股权奖励，且在回归当年也无权领取奖金。

PGA巡回赛首席执行官布莱恩·罗拉普向拉姆、德尚博和史密斯提出了同样的条件，并设定了紧迫的接受期限。但三人均未接受。三个月后，随着美伊战争的爆发，PIF撤回了资金，导致LIV高尔夫陷入困境。

罗拉普不愿讨论球员在合同期内回归的任何途径。

奥尼尔表示，LIV Golf 的意图是“完成比赛，而不是竞争”，这句话激怒了其他更稳定的巡回赛，因为 LIV Golf 在前首席执行官格雷格·诺曼的领导下造成了混乱，他认为球员应该能够在任何巡回赛上竞争，而 LIV 则要求球员必须参加完整的赛程。