LIV Golf is shutting down after five years and more than $5 billion in Saudi backing, ending the upstart league’s challenge to the PGA Tour and its short-lived television run on Fox Sports.
An attorney for LIV confirmed during a New Jersey bankruptcy hearing Thursday that the league would wind down after a proposed rescue investment collapsed, according to The Associated Press. The decision comes just months after Fox Sports expanded its coverage of LIV, which had been trying to build a viable U.S. TV audience following two seasons on The CW.
Fox signed a multiyear media rights agreement with LIV in January 2025, bringing tournaments to its broadcast network, FS1 and other platforms. The network announced plans for nearly 300 hours of coverage in 2026, including almost 30% more broadcast hours on Fox.
The additional exposure coincided with an improvement in Nielsen ratings. LIV averaged 386,000 viewers across 14 telecasts on Fox this year, up 12% from 2025, according to figures reported by Awful Announcing. Its final tournament in Indianapolis drew a league-record 702,000 viewers.
Still, LIV’s audiences remained well behind those of the PGA Tour, and the league’s financial future was unraveling. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund announced in April that it would stop financing LIV after the 2026 season. The league subsequently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September, hoping to restructure with new investors.
A proposed investment of up to $300 million from BC Partners offered a potential lifeline, but the deal fell apart amid difficulties securing enough player commitments for 2027. LIV Golf, which attracted stars including Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau with lucrative contracts, said Thursday it would pursue an orderly wind-down while remaining open to alternative proposals.
Fox Sports did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
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