A $1 Team & Huge Deal Deadline - 5 Big Takeaways From LIV Golf Bankruptcy Papers

LIV Golf filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in order to enter a "next phase" according to CEO Scott O'Neil, but a closer look at the documents shows there's still plenty of work to do before LIV 2.0 can take off.

O'Neil has secured a possible new investor in BC Partners, but there are conditions on that investment revealed in the bankruptcy filings - namely that enough big players have to sign up for the new league.

And there's a deadline for these players.

Other fascinating details revealed in the documents show how small a percentage TV revenue was in LIV's finances and curious individual equity deals done with players.

Players are key to the future of LIV 2.0 as well, so they're being offered a majority stake in the league if they pledge their futures. Will it work though? The clock is ticking.

So what do we know from a glimpse inside the LIV Golf bankruptcy filings?

Deadline set for players to sign up

BC Partners could well bail LIV Golf out and fund the 2.0 version to the tune of around $300m, but it's very much conditional at this stage - and all depends on the players.

As the financing deal is totally dependent on the number, and the quality, of players that sign up to LIV Golf 2.0 for next year and beyond.

A clause in the papers says BC Partners requires 50% of players with "claims" to sign up, with those players covering two-thirds of the total dollar amount in claims.

In other words, half of the playing roster needs to sign up and enough big names need to be in there to cover two thirds of the overall contract payments outstanding.

Some players will gladly sign up, but others may take more persuading depending on other more solid options they may have.

And what's more, there's a 35-day deadline set by BC Partners for LIV Golf to get these signatures, which works out at around October 13, going on the date these papers were filed.

Officially competitors with main tours

Scott O'Neil's new mantra he's outlined is to "complete not compete" saying the new LIV Golf can be an additive to the sport.

He's also voiced his desire to work with and alongside the DP World Tour and PGA Tour in order to get all the best players in the world playing against each other more often.

However, LIV Golf originally took a more combative approach as Greg Norman lured the biggest stars away with bumper deals and he himself along with some of his players got embroiled with wars of words against the PGA Tour - and mainly Rory McIlroy.

And these bankruptcy protection documents reveal for the first time that LIV Golf catagorizes both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour as competitors. That's not exactly something most people didn't know, but now it's formally in writing.

Expansion team going cheap

Among some of the nuggets in the documents, one of the stranger ones sees BC Partners offered something of a bonus in the shape of a purchase option on a new LIV team.

And it will come at a steal as BC Partners has an exclusive option to buy an expansion team in LIV Golf for just $1 if it wishes to do so in the future.

As an extra sweetener, BC Partners will get 2% of revenue generated by LIV 2.0 - but only once it's achieved profitability.

Player investors and some strange deals

All LIV players had different deals when they joined, with contracts based on how big a name players were and also when they joined the league.

Some deals seemingly included a piece of the action, including with former CEO Greg Norman who was handed a small 0.23% of LIV Golf for his troubles, as was an unnamed current player.

Many are guessing who that player is - from the initial main protagonist in Phil Mickelson to canny businessman Bryson DeChambeau to the last mega signing Jon Rahm.

Other players are named as shareholders though, with Henrik Stenson and Ian Poulter disclosed as among the larger shareholders on the roster.

And among other deals listed, another player has a bumper personal healthcare package while one has a $3m indemnity in case one of his sponsors takes him to court.

Tiny TV revenue

There are a number of theories around why LIV hasn't been as successful as you'd expect from the reported circa $6 billion outlay - but one that can't be argued is that it just didn't generate enough TV interest.

Broadcast deals remain the mainstays of big professional sports leagues, with the PGA Tour bringing in almost 70% of its total revenue from TV deals - but LIV's last financials showed just 5% of revenue coming that way.

O'Neil often speaks about the international homes LIV Golf is available in - but quite simply not enough have been watching to warrant some bumper TV deals.

LIV's overall revenue was increasing, and O'Neil beamed about the rise in sponsorship cash coming in, which was $102m in 2025 and growing, accounting for almost half the total revenue.

What you have to wonder about though is with four of LIV's big six global partners being Saudi companies, whether they'll continue their investment now the PIF is no longer involved.

So, although this is a crucial step forward, there's still plenty of work to do and questions to be answered before LIV 2.0 becomes a reality.