LIV Golf's search for a financial lifeline has come up empty. BC Partners Credit has dropped its bid to invest as much as $300 million into a proposed “2.0” version of the Saudi-backed league, according to people briefed on the matter, leaving the bankrupt circuit without the replacement funding it needed after its original Saudi benefactor pulled back.
The Financial Times first reported the withdrawal. The Athletic later cited people briefed on the matter in describing BC Partners Credit's decision to abandon its plan to fund the relaunch. Front Office Sports offered a slightly different read on the firm's intentions, reporting that a source described BC Partners as “not out completely,” but “just not under this version” of the plan, according to Front Office Sports. Either way, the version of LIV 2.0 that was on the table appears to be dead.
The setback comes two months after LIV Golf voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sept. 8, reporting between $100 million and $500 million in assets against $500 million to $1 billion in liabilities, according to ESPN. That filing followed Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund announcing in April that it would not finance LIV beyond the season, after pouring more than $5 billion into the league, per the same ESPN report. Without a new backer, ESPN reported, the breakaway circuit is likely headed toward liquidating its assets barring a last-minute buyer.
Players Were Split on Staying
Before BC Partners walked away, the picture inside LIV's locker room was already shaky. A source told ESPN that roughly 30 players had committed to the league's planned 2027 season, with another 10 still weighing whether to sign on. LIV's investment bank, Ducera Partners, had reportedly cast a wide net in search of a new backer, reaching out to 300 potential parties, according to The Athletic.
The restructuring plan would have made LIV's players shareholders in a new entity, per Sportico. But not everyone wanted in. Jon Rahm's attorney told the bankruptcy court that the Spanish star “will not be participating” in LIV's planned restructured entity, Sportico reported — a notable defection given Rahm's standing as one of the league's marquee signings.
Rahm wasn't the only prominent name heading for the exits. Several golfers had already announced they were finished with LIV, including Tyrrell Hatton, Sergio Garcia and Louis Oosthuizen, according to Yahoo Sports. Brooks Koepka took a different path out, securing a return deal to the PGA Tour in January that Yahoo Sports estimated cost him roughly $85 million in forfeited earnings.
A League That Never Found Its Footing Financially
The numbers behind LIV's struggles paint a stark picture. The league accumulated more than $5 billion in losses, according to The Athletic, and never generated more than $227 million in revenue in a single season — a gap that made the business case for a sustainable relaunch difficult even before BC Partners walked away.
Sources told BBC Sport that the timelines for pulling together LIV 2.0 ultimately proved insurmountable, with organizers unable to lock down the agreements needed to move forward. That assessment lines up with the uncertainty over player commitments described elsewhere in the reporting, suggesting the collapse wasn't a single dealbreaker but a combination of missed deadlines and cold feet from potential signees.
A bankruptcy hearing was expected Thursday to address what comes next for the league, including the possibility that LIV will move toward liquidating its assets. The league's financial backer had dropped its plan for the new 2027 circuit, leaving LIV's next move uncertain just over four years after it launched in 2022 with Saudi backing and a roster that once included Dustin Johnson, Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Rahm.
