LIV Golf may file for bankruptcy protection as soon as the week beginning September 7, the Financial Times reported, citing people briefed on the negotiations. Reuters said it could not immediately verify the report.

The filing would be lodged in the federal district court of New Jersey, according to the FT, with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund expected to extend a bankruptcy loan of less than $100 million without committing further equity.

The league has already sent settlement offers to players still owed hundreds of millions of dollars in guaranteed payments running past 2026. Initial offers amounted to only a few cents on the dollar, the FT reported.

O’Neil left the door open

CEO Scott O’Neil declined to dismiss a Chapter 11 filing when pressed on the tour’s mounting debts to contractors earlier this month.

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“I don’t think we would rule out any option,” O’Neil told reporters, adding that “the whole focus is on transaction, transaction, transaction.”

He also addressed vendors left waiting for payment.

“Look, I come from a family of entrepreneurs. So what I would say to them is we’re doing everything we can to make sure we can do right by them,” he said.

PIF pulled the plug in April

The crisis dates to April 2026, when the PIF withdrew its backing after pouring an estimated $5-8 billion into the venture since 2022. The Saudi fund had originally been committed to bankroll the league through 2032.

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Since then, O’Neil has been chasing between $250 million and $350 million from private equity, family offices and high-net-worth individuals to keep the tour operating into 2027. British private equity firm BC Partners has emerged as the likely lead investor via a term sheet in August, though the transaction has not been closed. A definitive agreement with BC Partners’ credit arm, led by Ted Goldthorpe, has a September deadline.

The 2026 season ended early. The Team Championship in Michigan was scrapped, prize money at the Indianapolis event was halved, and on-site concerts were pulled from the calendar.

Layoffs take effect on September 1

LIV laid off the majority of its workforce in late August, with employees notified their final employment date would be September 1. Corporate credit cards were deactivated immediately and staff were offered 15 days’ severance. The cuts followed a WARN notice issued in early July flagging likely fall reductions.

At the same time, unpaid vendors have begun to move in court. Fantasy Interactive filed suit in the New York State Supreme Court on 28 August seeking $992,870.75 for mobile app and website work, plus more than $88,000 in interest. Production house Fresh Tape Media has sued for more than $1.2 million and moved to freeze LIV assets, while Canadian broadcast-technology firm Mobii Systems is pursuing $1.1 million in unpaid fees. Deltatre, another technology vendor, has also filed.

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Rahm, Mickelson and Koepka among the biggest bills

The debts LIV would restructure in Chapter 11 include some of the largest guaranteed contracts in golf history. Forbes reported that Jon Rahm signed for a $300 million bonus, Phil Mickelson for $200 million and Brooks Koepka for $100 million when the league recruited from the PGA Tour’s top ranks.

According to the same Forbes report, LIV has paid out more than $3 billion in winnings, salaries and bonuses since its 2022 debut, against total spending of roughly $6 billion. O’Neil has told prospective investors profitability could still be a decade away.

Under a proposed “LIV 2.0” model floated to players in Indiana, contracted stars would receive equity in team franchises in exchange for reducing their guaranteed payouts, along with a scaled-down schedule of five international team majors, five US team events and eight to ten “National Opens” open to individual play and ranking points.

Rahm is reportedly unlikely to return in 2027, and DeChambeau has signalled he would rather focus on his YouTube channel than commit to a full tour card. Only Koepka has so far applied to the PGA Tour’s Returning Player Programme.

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