Competing with a league or brand that has already laid out its legacy is always a question for a new entrant. A similar situation was in front of LIV Golf when they launched officially in October 2021. No one ever imagined a new tour to have prominent names and compete with the PGA Tour, which has been in the game for half a century now.

However, in just a few years, LIV Golf has become the greatest competitor, with some prominent names on their side. John Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson, and Cam Smith are some names who have joined the Saudi PIF-backed golf league leaving the PGA Tour. Though, the revenue for the league is still a big question that is still unanswered when compared to the PGA Tour’s splendid success with sponsors and TV broadcasters.

Now that the league is growing big and catching the attention of players and analysts, it is a significant question that everyone will be expecting an answer to. This rings a bell for everyone on how LIV will survive. Even in the recent podcast at the Smylie Show, Bob Harig also remarked on LIV Golf. Harig is a senior golf writer at Sports Illustrated and has written a biography of Tiger Woods, i.e. ‘Drive: The Lasting Legacy of Tiger Woods.’ During the discussion, Bob, when sharing how TV broadcasters help in generating revenue, said “What LIV is doing is not commercially viable”. Even further adding to it, he said there is no event out of the 14, which is equivalent to the purse they are paying.

It would be a viable question as the players get a whopping offer to join the league while having no cut format in the events which guarantees tournament earnings for each player. The recent biggest contract came from the former Masters Champion Jon Rahm, which was finalized for more than $500 million. Additionally, as per the Mirror, the events at the LIV offer a $20 million purse for individual events, along with a $5 million purse for team events.

This will be a concern for the league as well, but to pay up the huge contract and sustain the big players, there will be necessary steps to be taken which can be seen with the recent news.

How is LIV Golf planning to survive?

The concerning question and the data shared for the revenue have been shocking. But now things seem to change with the new initiatives and deals. It has been some time now when financial growth can be seen for the league. LIV Golf announced a few of its sponsors back in the mid-2023 season. The league first signed a deal with the first corporate sponsor, EasyPost. Along with that, there have been a few names added to the partnership list, like Asprey, a British silverware company, and Corpay.

Even for the event in the UK, LIV Golf has officially partnered with JCB, which resulted in the name change from LIV Golf Invitational London and LIV Golf London to JCB Country Club in Rochester. Apart from this, the league is in merger terms with the DP World Tour as per the report of Bloomberg. If the two leagues merge, it will be a great financial growth opportunity for the Saudi league, while players a greater visibility in the bigger tournaments.

However, there is still a long way to go for LIV Golf, as it is just the beginning. Fortunately, it has been toward growth and has laid down a strong foundation with just a few years of existence. It would be interesting to see how the leagues will follow up with the finances in the coming years. What are your thoughts on LIV Golf’s financials? Can LIV survive against the legacy creator PGA Tour? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.