Report: PIF’s LIV Golf investment nearing $5B as losses mount

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The Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund is nearing $5 billion in total investment in LIV Golf, according to financial documents reviewed by the Money in Sport newsletter on Thursday.

Saudi Arabia has invested in global sports, most notably men’s golf but also soccer, tennis and auto racing, with critics accusing the deep-pocketed kingdom of “sportswashing” its poor human rights record.

Financial filings from LIV Golf’s United Kingdom arm showed that revenues increased in 2023, the league’s first full season, but losses are “piling up at a staggering rate,” which has led the PIF to inject more and more capital.

Operating losses in 2023 were at $394 million, $150 million more than the year before.

“We know from the statutory reporting by the Jersey holding companies that the total capital approved by PIF is now at $3.9 billion, $1.0 billion of which relates to LIV Golf UK and the balance to LIV Golf Inc in US,” Money in Sport wrote. “Clearly the U.S. financials must be considerably worse than the rest of the world performance reported by LIV Golf in UK.

“PIF’s investment in LIV Golf could approach $5 billion by the end of this year, with further big bills on the horizon if they want to retain the top golfers as their contracts expire.”

LIV Golf UK manages the league’s operations everywhere outside the United States. LIV has expanded with the intention of being a global league, with past events held everywhere from Mexico to Australia to Hong Kong to Spain.

LIV spent $102 million paying Performance54, the sports marketing firm that stages its events.

The filings also showed that LIV’s legal expenses more than doubled from 2022 to 2023, when they reached $15.7 million.

As for LIV’s revenues, its best-performing country was Australia, where its $16.6 million in revenue off a single tournament in Adelaide towered over other locations outside the U.S.

–Field Level Media