LIV Golf has grabbed attention with its superstar recruits and headline-making prize funds, yet behind the glamour the numbers remain brutal. Losses continue to mount, and the question now is how long Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is willing to cover the shortfall. Those doubts don’t just hang over the boardroom, they’re reflected on the course as well.

Dwindling returns at the Majors

If you were placing a golf bet on major winners this season, LIV recruits would hardly have been your first port of call. For LIV’s roster, Tyrrell Hatton’s fourth-place at the U.S. Open stood out as the best return of the year, respectable, but still some way off seriously threatening the winner’s circle. The US Open odds 2025 market reflects that reality with LIV players barely featuring among realistic contenders at Oakmont Country Club.

Their on-course struggles echo a bigger story off it: a business haemorrhaging money.

A model built on losses

LIV Golf Ltd, the UK-based arm of the operation, posted a £461.8m loss in 2024. That brought cumulative losses outside the United States to £1.1bn in just three-and-a-half years. Revenue did rise 75% last year to £64.9m, but that figure was dwarfed by outgoings of £553m.

Much of the gap stems from prize funds and player signing fees. Each regular-season event carries a $25m purse, and that alone has cost more than £318m across 16 non-U.S. tournaments. When you add the huge upfront payments made to lure stars like Jon Rahm — who has already banked more than £59m in prize money alone — it’s easy to see why LIV’s costs have spiralled.

Can PIF keep spending?

The PIF has so far underwritten the losses. Total investment into LIV across its structures now exceeds £4.8bn, more than triple the declared prize money distributed. That kind of backing has fuelled talk of a “bottomless pit” of cash, but history shows Saudi Arabia’s sovereign fund can tighten the taps. Previous ventures have seen lavish spending scaled back when returns failed to materialise.

A telling sign is the reduced cash injections in 2025: £759m compared with £1.2bn the year before. For most businesses those numbers would be astronomical, but for LIV they hint at a softening commitment. Furthermore, broadcast deals remain small — just under £3m generated outside the U.S. last year — and without that stable revenue base, sustainability looks far off, if not impossible.

What it means for rival tours

For the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, LIV’s ongoing losses present a strategic question. Is it better to fight the league in courtrooms and boardrooms, or simply let it continue to burn through money? If LIV fails to capture TV audiences and sponsorships at a level anywhere near its outlay, the financial pressure could eventually push PIF to reconsider.

That would hand golf’s traditional tours the upper hand without them having to spend a penny. Every year LIV continues in its current form is another year of staggering losses and another reminder that star power alone cannot guarantee commercial success in sport.