The Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF) is on the verge of reaching a $5 billion investment in LIV Golf, according to financial documents obtained by the Money in Sport newsletter Thursday.
Saudi Arabia has made significant investments across global sports, with a focus on men's golf, as well as ventures in football, tennis, and auto racing.
LIV Golf's U.K. branch revealed that while revenues grew during the league's first full season in 2023, losses have been mounting at an alarming rate, prompting the PIF to continue infusing capital.
Operating losses for 2023 reached $394 million, a $150 million increase from the previous year.
"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 U.K., with the balance going to LIV Golf Inc. in the U.S.," 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 the U.K."
"PIF's investment in LIV Golf could approach $5 billion by the end of this year, with further large expenses on the horizon if they want to retain top golfers as their contracts expire."
LIV Golf U.K. manages the league's operations outside the United States. LIV has expanded with the goal of being a global league, with past events held in locations ranging 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, reaching $15.7 million.
As for LIV's revenues, its best-performing country was Australia, where its $16.6 million in revenue from a single tournament in Adelaide towered over other locations outside the U.S.
