LIV Golf Just Got Dealt the Death Blow
The Saudi Government Pulls Funding. Is it 'Game Over, Man?'
Most of you know that I have another (senior) media platform called Knew Amsterdam Radio. You haven’t? Well, it’s just the best dang podcast ever:
When Knew Amsterdam (as a brand) was launched, I had big plans. The original investment (somewhere between $4-7K) was but a small price to pay to see my vision of a lifestyle brand for creatives come to life. There was going to be premium stationery, and top-shelf luggage and travel goods. There would be Knew Amsterdam-branded travel guides and curated roadtrip-worthy music playlists. And to make a long story short, all that didn’t happen. What I ended up with was an award-winning podcast, and a nominal sponsorship of an esports racing team.
And why don’t we have all the other things? Because the money DRIED UP. Can’t do anything without the cash, and Knew Amsterdam had to pivot. The thing is LIV Golf, the upstart golf league, doesn’t really have “just start a podcast, bro” as an option.
LIV Golf, a golf league that was positioned as both an alternative and competition to the incumbent PGA Tour, has had a tumultuous history. I’ll spare you all the details, but it’s like this: LIV Golf, heavily sponsored by the Saudi Government (via their PIF, or ‘Public Investment Fund’), came out of seemingly nowhere a couple of years ago, signing away players from the PGA Tour. For a while, LIV looked unstoppable because it looked like they had a blank check from a government that is down to throw LOTS of money at sports projects, for better or worse. But now? No more:
The fact that the above video is NINE MINUTES long should let you know how dire this is. Also, if you watch the clip, can you tell me what happened? I don’t have time for all that video golf content. Honestly, on the golf side of things, there’s just going to be years of awkward exchanges. LIV looks likely to collapse, and all those players who signed to the now dead league would have to basically go back to the PGA Tour on their knees for a gig. Wrestling fans have seen this happen plenty of times. Rinse and repeat.
But there’s a bigger story here. (At least for me, anyway)
Saudi Arabia pulling out from LIV is only one example of the PIF pulling away from sports wholesale. Maybe there are other investments to be had, or maybe the world has become so cynical that they realize ‘sportswashing’ when they see it. (For the record, I see this sort of thing coming a mile away, but I’m also the guy who flew out to Australia to see a WWE show). Golf.com explains:
The PIF’s decision to pull away funding from LIV aligns with a much broader strategic shift to divest from sports, which was announced by the sovereign wealth fund in mid-April. In just the last few weeks, the PIF has sold its glitzy soccer team, Al-Hilal, distanced itself from a flag football venture with Tom Brady and now, according to reports, pulled funding away from LIV.
Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the PIF governor, acknowledged that the Saudis planned to shift their priorities away from sports and moonshot bets, and toward more traditional investments, suggesting the PIF was “reviewing its investments and deals” and “reassessing its priorities.” - Golf.com
PIF Governor out here sounding like me after a weekend in Vegas. “I had some fun, and I knew how much those cocktails were going to cost at the time, but now that I am back home, I can concentrate on purchasing store-brand snacks and reacclimating to one-ply toilet paper.” This shift in portfolio does feel really “We’re not ‘out on the street,’” broke, but a ‘why did we think investing in the golf equivalent to Pepsi was a good idea?’
There’s also the question of whether Saudi Arabia is going to renew their partnership with WWE in the wake of next year’s WrestleMania being in Riyadh, but this post already has too many wrestling references.
The Saudi finances are still pretty strong, despite the liquidity crunch it’s experiencing now. And for what it’s worth, LIV is focused on trying to find new investors, as evidenced by appointing new executives to top positions in an attempt to right the ship. If there’s one thing I’m learning running this blog is that investing in sports scratches a certain itch for the wealthy, but it is incredibly hard to come out of it unscathed. Either you burn cash, fans and critics want you gone, or withdraw to the point of being deemed a recluse. When the largest economy in the Middle East is ready to pivot away and put its money elsewhere, it really puts things into perspective. Maybe sports investment is as risky as playing the actual lottery. Maybe, just maybe, it’s more often than not a sound investment.
But then, seeing your name out there is pret-tee cool. OK, you’ve twisted my arm. I’m booking that Vegas trip. What could go wrong?