LIV GOLF: The Beginning of the End

Declan Link & Jon Bonfiglio discuss LIV Golf's demise. 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:19

Hi everyone, welcome back to World Sports, etc., where um I'm joined with uh by Declan Link, where we're just recording a midweek little episode because it seemed relevant given the fact that we covered just a few days ago in the last episode the potential demise of Saudi-backed Live Golf Tournament. Now, I'd like to say, Declan, that some of our comments over the weekend were prophetic, but really it's a bit like uh it uh I I feel some of our the comments were more akin to seeing a cloud on the horizon and saying it's going to that rain is is coming. Nonetheless, I was sort of uh surprised a little bit to see the sort of hastening of the of the story as um Sergio Garcia and a number of others were sort of forced to come out and defend Liv Golf, saying that the season was going to continue amid collapse uh rumours. Liv Golf Chief Executive Scott O'Neill apparently told players that the 2026 season was going to continue uh as planned and uninterrupted as uh rumors grew and grow that the tour is on the verge of of collapse. What's your reaction to this um uh to this story?

SPEAKER_05 1:31

Aloho, John. Well, did you say pathetic or prophetic?

SPEAKER_04 1:36

Well, I I think uh you know uh I think we're definitely pathetic on occasions, but I think there was a hint of the prophetic to our comments in the last episode.

SPEAKER_05 1:47

Yeah, no, uh just joking with you. Uh it definitely seems as though we had our crystal balls out, and I didn't, and I'm sure you didn't think it was gonna happen as quite as quickly as this, but it definitely seems like live golf is uh like a genuine crossroads now, as there's been intense speculation in the last 36 hours, 24 hours that the league is gonna shut down, even though uh Scott O'Neill keeps uh claiming it's not gonna shut down, it definitely seems as though you know we've been around the block a few times that the the signs are that at some point in the not too distant future the uh the the Saudi Arabians who are funding everything are gonna pull back on the funds.

SPEAKER_04 2:28

Uh but that's that's also an interesting question because if Saudi Arabia sort of pulls back on on the funding for this, that also I think throws into question the Saudi Arabian brand and also more broadly this sort of sense of being able to um just throw money at private breakaways and establish your own parallel uh systems. It's it's arguably the first real time, real first real moment that we've seen with these significantly funded breakaways where the sort of the lack of supportive infrastructure is being revealed.

SPEAKER_05 3:04

Yeah, it it definitely with the bigger picture, you know, the so-called sport swashing and and everything else that's been going on with the strategic plan for Saudi Arabia. This is going to be a major black eye if it happens. Um, you know, they they've already had some big-time players leaving the tour. Now that I don't know what their actual individual reasons why Brooks kept Kirk Patrick Reed uh and a couple of others have left the tour, but it it it's just it's a bit like again relating everything to football as I always do. It's a a bit like however many years ago, ten years ago, when China decided to invest so much money in their high high high quality, supposedly high quality professional football league, and it only lasted so long before they put they pulled the plug on that. And it seems as though um the the uh Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, you know, their losses apparently are just staggering. Uh something like 1.4 to 1.5 billion lost, and that was through 2024, and that was from the operate main operating entity alone, and annual losses are up uh uh a potentially even more than that. So it's just it just doesn't seem like it's sustainable, but ultimately the the Saudi Arabian uh whole strategy could could really receive um a lot of embarrassment if they do pull the funds on this.

SPEAKER_04 4:32

Yeah, I think it's I think it's a really big deal, and I think it is worth just reminding ourselves as well that when something sets up like the Saudi Sports League, say, or the the boxing that is currently taking place in in the country, various other sporting events, and the purchasing of of um sports teams outside of Saudi as well, that actually what um what the Saudi Arabian government and private finance linked to the Saudi Arabian government is trying to do, of course, is to rehabilitate the image of Saudi Arabia internationally. And when people think about Saudi Arabia, to have them not just think about to have those words not just relate to the beheadings of criminals uh and state repression, and of course Jamal Khashoggi, who is um, I mean literally butchered in a Turkish in an embassy in in Turkey, but to associate it with sports and to use sports uh in parallel to to those frames of of reference. And that's um and so there's very little that Saudi Arabia can actually put into the the mix beyond money, and in order to be able to achieve any level of success, uh it understands that money is its primary driver, it's a sole driver, and so it needs to throw the absolute kitchen sink at it. Also, I think very uniquely, it's almost interesting what you said, Jacqueline, about you know balancing of the books or it being sustainable, because I don't think the Saudis are particularly interested in that. So the the the fact that they're losing money on these projects hand over fist is not the is not the reason why um live is potentially coming to an end. It's just because the project has uh failed to catch the public imagination, and very specifically, again, which you referenced, because a lot of the main players are starting to turn their back on the tournament. I mean, remember that when there was a couple of years ago, just big name player after big name player moving between the PGA and Liv, and there were these ongoing rumors that would sort of dog certain individuals about the fact that they were going. Well, now that tide is going completely in reverse.

SPEAKER_05 6:40

Yeah, I mean, uh Scott O'Neill says says, and again, words are cheap, but um he's told the uh the players apparently, and you mentioned it with uh Sergio Garcia, that they will continue at, and I quote, to use Paul's words, full throttle. Um but and like we were saying on Sunday though, after the Masters, there's a there's apparently a 14 event schedule, and you asked me whether or not I follow LivGolf. I didn't even know there was 14 events. I figured you think of the PGA tour, the PGA tour goes goes along its merry way seem seemingly every weekend. So, you know, the the the bottom line it seems to be is that live is not collapsing uh today, but this aura of unstoppable growth that it had at one point, uh I have a funny feeling in the next few next few months that it's probably going to become uh either a in its worst context go out of business completely, which probably won't happen because they've got so much money behind it, but secondly, it could become sort of like a permanent second power engulf, and they'll be happy to to keep it at that level and ultimately then move on to you know the big focus, which is the World Cup in 2034.

SPEAKER_04 8:00

Yeah, absolutely. And then the aura is definitely important. I mean, if your CEO is repeatedly coming on, being forced to come onto media channels and uh and uh and have to deny the fact that his product, his company, basically, is is uh is gonna go under, is gonna stop existing anytime soon, that in and of itself sort of punctures that that bubble. And and the sort of the as we said before, the the the the sort of the the broad sense that this um that the that the bubble has been burst, that the aura is not what it was, is not invincible, obviously has implications not just for live, but also for Saudi sports and also for for other private breakaways. It's it's again arguably the first time that we've seen um uh that we've that there's been a broad question about the potential future, not just of golf breakaways, but of all sports breakaways.

SPEAKER_05 8:59

Yes, and now obviously there is a a large level of success with the um funding behind uh global boxing now. So uh you know that's obviously sh because of the amount of money there, all of the different promoters in the boxing world have sort of toned in line because they're all lining their pockets up. You know, I fair play. I I with the goal with the Liv golf, I I say fair play to the players that I know well, you know, the the Westwoods of this world and the polters of this world because they've seen an opportunity and they've been laughing the whole time, knowing that in the twilight of their careers they're making so much money. I mean, ultimately the losses are massive for for Liv and their losses. I use that in vertic commas, you know, because these players have been getting massive play player signing bonuses, the prize purses are incredible, and ultimately, you know, when I'm watching TV, when I'm watching sport, the the act it ironically, the the TV and the sponsorship revenue is very limited, and and obviously the the PGA tour, which they're trying to they were trying to compete against and disrupt, uh, is very well established.

SPEAKER_04 10:12

Yeah, and I I think boxing is a slightly different example because if we're thinking about the sort of the structure of these these big sporting events, live, of course, is an ongoing um tournament over a period of time that needs ongoing sort of um television exposure. Whereas with boxing, there's sort of standalone events. Actually, the fact that they take place in Saudi Arabia is relatively irrelevant, it just needs precise sort of single event infrastructure, and then it has its massive global um television audience. So it seems as though that's more of a sustainable model potentially for Saudi. It'll be interesting to see what happens with the Saudi Football League, and and because that that's the one that I think more closely resembles uh the potential failures of um of Liv Golf. But um, yeah, I think you know, questions for sports breakaways um uh across the board. Jacqueline, thanks thanks so much for your time as ever, and uh yeah, look forward to to talking again soon.

SPEAKER_05 11:11

Great, fantastic job.

SPEAKER_00 11:12

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SPEAKER_05 11:16

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SPEAKER_03 11:34

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SPEAKER_00 11:41

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