📉 LIV Golf tells court it will wind down after $5B+ Saudi cash

LIV Golf's lawyer told a U.S. bankruptcy judge on Thursday morning, Nov. 5, that the league will wind down its operations instead of launching a rebooted version, ESPN and Yahoo Sports reported. Newsweek, citing Golfweek, says the hearing in New Jersey lasted 13 minutes. The reports read give the day, not a time in ET.

Who says what

"As a result, the debtors are not currently proceeding with the LIV 2.0 plan. Instead, the debtors are toggling to a value-maximizing wind-down of their business."

LIV Golf attorney Matthew Williams, bankruptcy hearing Nov. 5, per ESPN

ESPN says Williams told Judge Michael B. Kaplan the league could not get the financial commitment and player support it needed. He also said the decision was not made until Thursday morning, per ESPN.

The trigger was BC Partners Credit, the London-based firm that had planned to replace the PIF as LIV's main financier. ESPN reports it backed out Wednesday because too few top golfers had signed on. A source told ESPN about 30 players were committed and 10 more were considering it. BBC Sport says the firm was primarily unhappy with the mix of players. Yahoo Sports says the Financial Times reported Wednesday that LIV had not landed enough commitments.

ESPN reports that Jon Rahm, Sergio Garcia, Tyrrell Hatton and others did not commit to LIV 2.0 and plan to play the DP World Tour next season.

What the filings show about the money

ESPN, citing court records, says LIV filed for Chapter 11 (US reorganization bankruptcy) on Sept. 8 with $100 million to $500 million in assets and $500 million to $1 billion in liabilities. BBC Sport reports that 14 current and former players sit among the 30 largest unsecured creditors, owed just over $45 million combined. Rahm leads that list at $7.5 million. A source told BBC Sport the figures cover only the amount owed and not paid for the third quarter.

ESPN lists the state of Louisiana among the largest creditors, at $1.2 million. Yahoo Sports says dozens of vendors went unpaid, from broadcast technology firms to Uber, Equinox and a Georgia caterer. Yahoo Sports also reports that from June the PIF stopped injecting equity and lent LIV money instead, a secured loan that reached $495 million by the filing. That is Yahoo's figure; the other reports read do not state it.

AP's Spanish-language report says LIV paid to retain seven executives in the months between the PIF's exit and the filing, including $6.375 million to CEO Scott O'Neil. AP calls such payments not unusual for a company in bankruptcy, and says the open question is whether they can be reversed now that LIV will not reorganize. AP also reports Rahm agreed to waive claims said to be worth about $100 million to leave his contract.

The response

LIV board members Gene Davis and Jon Zinman said in a statement, per Newsweek, that 'shifting toward an orderly wind-down is the most responsible path forward for the League at this time.' O'Neil said in a statement, per ESPN, that building the league 'has been the round of a lifetime for all of us.'

A BC Partners spokesperson said, per ESPN, that 'mutually acceptable terms could not be reached among the various stakeholders.' PIF lawyer Scott Greissman told the court, per BBC Sport, that the fund had learned of the decision 'a few hours ago.'

"we respect the decision"

PIF lawyer Scott Greissman, bankruptcy hearing, per BBC Sport

No public response from Greg Norman, LIV's first CEO, was found in the reports read.

What happens next

BBC Sport reports a disclosure statement and wind-down plan will be filed by 9 November. ESPN says Williams put it as a new Chapter 11 plan on Monday. Greissman told the court, per BBC Sport, that the PIF looks forward to an 'orderly wind-down by the end of the year.' LIV said it stays open to alternatives with third parties, and Williams said, per ESPN, that the strategic initiative committee can revisit the decision if circumstances change.

Not yet known from the reports read: which players had signed for 2027, what unsecured creditors will receive, and whether the executive retention payments can be recovered. BBC Sport says the hearing shed light on neither the players nor the amounts owed to unsecured creditors.

Backstory

As of Nov 5, 8:15 PM ET, confirmed: LIV's attorney told a bankruptcy court the league is moving to a wind-down, BC Partners is out, and the PIF's lawyer said the fund respects the decision. Pending: the wind-down plan due by 9 November, what creditors and players recover, and whether the executive retention payments stand.