LIV Golf rescue plan falters as BC Partners abandons investment, FT reports

Nov 4 (Reuters) - BC Partners, which provides financing to middle-market companies, is dropping its bid to relaunch LIV Golf due to an inability to secure enough player commitments, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

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By Pritha Sarkar

The professional men's golf league, a competitor to the PGA Tour, filed for bankruptcy protection in New Jersey in September as part of a restructuring after Saudi Arabia's Public ​Investment Fund, which has ​invested more than $5 ⁠billion in LIV since its launch in 2022, announced it was ending its financial backing after the 2026 season.

The private capital firm's decision came as a deadline loomed to show there was enough player support to hold a tournament series in 2027, the FT said, citing people directly familiar with the matter.

LIV has said it plans to continue operating while it reorganizes. The Athletic, citing multiple sources, reported that LIV Golf is preparing to wind down operations after BC Partners concluded it had run out of time to make a "LIV 2.0" viable.

LIV did not provide a comment when contacted by Reuters. BC Partners did not respond to requests for comment.

Former world number one Jon Rahm is among a wave of high-profile golfers who have left LIV Golf since it filed for bankruptcy protection.

LIV is expected to appear at a Thursday hearing in US bankruptcy court in Trenton, New Jersey, to discuss various contracts, leases and assets. It is unclear whether LIV's ultimate fate may also be discussed.

In October, BC Partners made an initial investment in LIV Golf and planned to provide up to $300 million in financing to help the league emerge from restructuring and strengthen its finances ahead of the 2027 season.

LIV Golf launched in 2022 with funding from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and lured leading players from the PGA Tour including Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson with lucrative contracts.

LIV Golf failed to secure contractual commitments with DeChambeau and Johnson as well as others including Cam Smith and Joaquin Niemann, leading BC Partners to pull out, Sports Business Journal reported.

DeChambeau, one of the biggest names on LIV's player roster, said recently the business model for the league's proposed 2.0 era "makes a lot of sense" and that he hoped that it would last "forever".

Others have been critical of LIV Golf, with DP ‌World Tour chief executive Guy Kinnings saying that LIV had sought to undermine the European circuit.

"They took players; they took ​sponsors; they turned professional golf into an arms race," Rory McIlroy told reporters earlier on Wednesday ahead of the Abu Dhabi Championship.

(Reporting by Mrinmay Dey in Mexico City, Rory Carroll, Frank Pingue and Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Pritha Sarkar)

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