What’s Going On With the PGA-LIV Merger?

If the golf course is the best place to get a deal done, why is it taking so long to finalize the merger between the PGA Tour and upstart Saudi-backed venture LIV Golf?

The two competing golf leagues and bitter rivals reached a handshake agreement to merge their commercial interests back in the summer of 2023. And yet, over two years later, negotiations remain stuck in the proverbial rough, and emotions are running hot.

Just ask Bryson DeChambeau, who has received a fresh batch of scrutiny in the lead-up to this weekend’s Ryder Cup event as the lone LIV defector on Team USA’s roster.

While the two leagues are playing through for now as they (ostensibly) smooth out the fine and not-so-fine points of their tie-up, including regulatory concerns, the deal’s completion feels as uncertain as ever. So where does that leave LIV? And what does it all mean for the future of similarly money-backed breakaway sports leagues?

Chip Shots

For those not in the golf world (or who aren’t dragged into the golf world by golf-obsessed loved ones), here’s a quick recap: Financed by the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, LIV formed in 2021, with its inaugural season a year later. Its pitch to the golf world was simple: There’s enough room for a second major golf tour in the world, especially if some of the top players on the premier PGA Tour can be lured away.

And lured away many were. Despite widespread criticism that the Saudi monarchy was using the tour to “sportswash” corruption and human-rights abuses, LIV’s exorbitant paydays and tournament prize hauls were too much for the PGA Tour to match.

Former world No. 1 golfer Dustin Johnson, for instance, switched sides, joining LIV Golf after reportedly being offered a four-year, $125 million contract. (His career PGA earnings up to that point totaled just $74 million.) Phil Mickelson, who is currently ranked fourth all-time and has won some $96 million playing PGA Golf, pledged allegiance to LIV after he was offered an even larger four-year deal: $200 million. 

No Laying Up

As it turns out, though, while creating a new professional golf tour with the backing of a nearly $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund is relatively easy (The PIF has reportedly invested almost $5 billion in the tour so far), getting fans to tune in is a lot harder.

It’s why these days, more fans watch DeChambeau tee off on his ultra-popular YouTube account than official LIV Tour events. 

A recent hour-long video on DeChambeau’s channel featuring a round of golf with Adam “Happy Gilmore” Sandler, for instance, has been viewed 8.3 million times. 

LIV, on the other hand, struggled to attract a regular audience with its initial broadcast partner, The CW. In 2025, it began the first 12 months of a multi-year broadcast deal with Fox and its sister channels, FS1 and FS2, and the results haven’t been much better — especially compared with the competition.

In May, Golf magazine conducted an analysis of seven head-to-head Sunday broadcasts between the PGA and LIV this year, using Nielsen data, and found some stark results: The PGA events averaged 3.1 million viewers on CBS and NBC, while LIV averaged just 175,000 across broadcasts on Fox, FS1 and FS2. On the two Sundays aired only on the flagship Fox network, LIV drew an average of 475,000 viewers.

In April, LIV player and former PGA star Brooks Koepka lamented the tour’s lack of foothold in its fourth year of play, telling reporters, “We all hoped it would have been a little bit further along, and that’s no secret.”

The Yips

The flagging ratings may have been why, after just a couple of years as a solo entity and a wave of mutual lawsuits, LIV shocked the golf world in 2023 by agreeing to merge with the PGA Tour. Financial records seen by ESPN and filed by LIV’s UK-based business, the entity behind all the tour’s non-US events, showed the unit had suffered $400 million in losses in 2023. 

Initial reporting from The Financial Times suggested that LIV was even prepared to deliver a $3 billion cash infusion into the merged league.

Talks have virtually stalled since.

In lieu of billions in Saudi money, the PGA Tour in January 2024 announced it scored a $3 billion cash lifeline from the Strategic Sports Group (SSG), a consortium of high-profile sports investors including New York Mets owner Steve Cohen, Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts and Fenway Sports Group, which owns the Boston Red Sox, Liverpool Football Club and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

This April, ESPN reported that LIV’s investment offer had shrunk to $1.5 billion, which the PGA rejected. That was after noted golf fan President Donald Trump hosted Jay Monahan, PGA Tour commissioner, and Yasir al-Rumayyan, LIV chairman and the governor of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, in February, in hopes of hammering out a deal. According to sources who spoke to The New York Times, the PGA offered LIV a $500 million credit on its $1.5 billion investment. In exchange, the PGA would absorb LIV entirely. LIV refused, wanting the brand and tour to live on in one form or another. Hence, the stalemate.

In an interview with The Economic Club of Washington, D.C., during a live event earlier this month, al-Rumayyan provided an interesting non-answer when asked about the state of the merger: “We reached out to [the PGA] from Day One, and unfortunately, things did not go very well. But I think, hopefully, in the future, we will be able to bring the game of golf together.”

Teeing Up

Despite the limited progress, the sports world remains curious about the prospect of breakaway sports leagues and may have even learned a few lessons from LIV’s relative failures.

Most notable — and most recent — has been a planned breakaway basketball league spearheaded by NBA superstar Lebron James and his longtime business partner, Maverick Carter. The venture, reportedly, will feature six men’s teams and six women’s teams competing in events across eight host cities a year. Macau and Singapore have already signed up, with the group looking to secure European host cities soon. The intention is to give the world’s top players, especially those from Europe, an alternative to playing in the NBA and a chance to earn equity in the new league. The format would make it a distinct product from the NBA, at least initially.

“When it comes to global basketball, the opportunity is massive,” venture capitalist Byron Deeter told reporters earlier this year. About a quarter of the league’s players hail from outside the US, and an American hasn’t received the league’s Most Valuable Player award since the 2017-18 season.

James, who may ultimately play in the league following the eventual conclusion of his NBA career, and Carter are reportedly seeking $5 billion in investments. Other backers so far, according to a Financial Times report, include Skype co-founder Geoff Prentice, former Facebook executive Grady Burnett, VC firm Quiet Capital, and … Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. In this case, we may just call LIV a mulligan.