Ryan Lavner remains convinced that LIV Golf will be able to sign 70 players in time for the 2027 season despite a number of names signalling their intention to walk away.
It has been a difficult few months for those associated with LIV. The league filed for bankruptcy in September in the hope of starting a new chapter in 2027.
However, that has seemingly opened the door for a number of players to walk away.
Jon Rahm has already signalled his intent to leave LIV. Meanwhile, Cam Smith is reportedly among those also planning to walk away.
LIV Golf backed to sign enough players to complete the 2027 season
Each day there appears to be fresh reports about another player planning to quit. Meanwhile, the only players to publicly confirm their desire to stick with LIV are Richard Bland and Cameron Tringale.
It is, therefore, difficult to imagine that the incoming investors will be able to convince enough players to sign up for next season. LIV is seemingly becoming more isolated in the current ecosystem, particularly with the DP World Tour confirming that no LIV player in 2027 will be able to also take up membership on the European circuit.
Despite the bleak situation, Ryan Lavner has told the Golf Channel Podcast that those writing LIV’s obituary may have spoken too soon.
“No, I do not think this is game over for LIV 2.0. I don’t think this is going to be detrimental to them potentially reaching a critical mass. You’ve already seen players such as Richard Bland and Cameron Tringale who have said, ‘oh yeah, we’ll sign up for whatever LIV 2.0 is going to be’. They very likely will get I believe 70 players they’re trying to get. 70-man fields is what they’re targeting for whatever this new version is going to be. I have little doubt that they could actually get that,” he said.
“Keep in mind, they are going to be playing for purses that are still roughly double what you’re competing for each and every week on the European Tour. So it’s not game over necessarily, that this thing’s not going to get off the ground. What it is game over for though, is why you should even care about this league and the results and the outcomes for these tournaments.”
Why BC Partners will not be overly concerned about all of the setbacks LIV Golf are dealing with
To many of us on the outside, it is difficult to understand why anyone would want to take LIV on. The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia failed in their mission after investing billions and signing a number of the world’s best players.
So it does not exactly instill confidence that BC Partners are taking over when many of those players are looking to walk away. They are now asking players to take a similar leap of faith to 2022 but without the same financial rewards.
Nevertheless, Rex Hoggard explained why the investors are not particularly concerned about rivalling the PGA Tour or DP World Tour.
“Maybe BC Partners has an interest in team golf. Maybe BC Partners is really interested in growing an international version of team golf and likes where LIV was heading. That’s all well and good. That’s not what’s motivating them to get in business with LIV Golf. What’s motivating them is billions and billions of dollars of tax relief, tax burden to put it another way,” he said.
“There is a good business reason why they want to get involved with LIV Golf, because they can use that tax burden across their entire business portfolio which means it doesn’t apply to LIV Golf 2.0. I know that sounds confusing and stupid. Just know it’s a good business decision to pick this up. Everyone is going to say, no, they can’t make this work, even with the $300 million investment. Maybe not, they don’t care.”
It is going to be fascinating to follow how the next few years play out for LIV. Clearly, there are likely to be several more setbacks to come over the coming weeks.
But given BC Partners’ reasons for investing, it would appear that few will benefit more once they have weathered this current storm.