Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is preparing to withdraw funding from LIV Golf, according to golf industry sources, a shift that would put one of the sport’s most disruptive projects on uncertain ground. The Athletic reported on Wednesday that people inside golf are scrambling to figure out their futures as the Saudi-backed circuit faces a possible change in direction.
PIF laid out its strategy on Wednesday for its investments over the next five years, and its news release did not mention sports directly. The fund did not comment formally when contacted, but a source familiar with its thinking said it remains fully committed to sports. Even so, the reported move would be the biggest sign yet that the kingdom may be rebalancing a sports portfolio that has helped reshape golf while putting soccer at the center of its public spending.
LIV Golf was launched in 2022 with the aim of disrupting the established PGA and DP World Tours, and it quickly became a major Saudi-backed project. The circuit’s arrival triggered a spending race and a wider fight for players, with some of the sport’s biggest names drawn into the orbit of Saudi money. If the funding is pulled back, the impact would go well beyond one tour.
That is because Saudi Arabia has already shown where its sporting priorities lie. Cristiano Ronaldo left Manchester United at the end of 2022 to join Al Nassr on a deal worth £173 million a year, and he was followed in 2023 by other high-profile signings including Karim Benzema, Neymar and Sadio Mane. In June 2023, PIF acquired 75 percent stakes in Al Nassr, Al Hilal, Al Ahli and Al Ittihad, and more than £700 million, roughly $760 million, was spent across the 2023-24 campaign by the four clubs before close to £500 million, about $565 million, went out in 2024-25.
The tension is obvious. LIV Golf was built as a centerpiece of Saudi sport spending, but soccer has become the clearer priority, even though the Saudi Pro League is overseen by the Ministry of Sport rather than PIF. The reported shift also raises questions for other Saudi-backed ventures that have relied on the fund’s backing, and it arrives just as people inside golf are trying to work out what comes next. For a sport that has already been forced to absorb shock after shock, that may be the part that matters most.
