The financial fallout from LIV Golf’s collapse could be particularly costly for some of the league’s biggest stars, according to a bankruptcy expert. He believes players may recover only a fraction of the millions they’re owed.
After filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September, the Saudi-backed golf league announced plans to wind down operations on November 5, following the collapse of a proposed $300 million restructuring agreement with BC Partners.
The decision leaves the future of LIV Golf uncertain, to say the least.
Part of that uncertainty is the millions of dollars in outstanding financial obligations to players, including Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson.
LIV’s initial bankruptcy filings listed approximately $5.77 million owed to DeChambeau and $5.49 million owed to Johnson under player participation agreements.
In an exclusive interview with Heavy Sports on November 9, bankruptcy attorney Chad Van Horn, founder and managing partner of Van Horn Law Group, offered a grim assessment of the players’ prospects for recovering their money.
Van Horn explained that players holding unsecured claims could find themselves near the back of the line when LIV’s remaining assets are distributed, potentially leaving them with only pennies on the dollar.
LIV Golf Stars Could Recover Just a Fraction of Their Guaranteed Money
For players who signed lucrative contracts to join LIV Golf, the league’s bankruptcy could turn those once-enormous guarantees into a fraction of their original value.
Van Horn explained that the contracts signed by LIV’s golfers can be assumed or rejected during bankruptcy proceedings. With LIV moving toward liquidation, he expects the league to reject those agreements, leaving players to pursue claims for money they’re owed.
The problem, according to Van Horn, is where those claims fall in the bankruptcy process.
He explained that creditors are paid according to an established hierarchy, with secured and certain priority claims generally taking precedence over unsecured claims. Van Horn believes the players’ contractual claims will fall into the latter category.
That could have enormous financial consequences.
“If they get paid anything, they’re going to end up with pennies on the dollar,” Van Horn told Heavy Sports.
The attorney pointed to the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s priority financing and the administrative costs of the bankruptcy process as obligations that could leave little money available for the players.
However, Van Horn also suggested the players may have another avenue to pursue.
He mentioned that potential legal claims against PIF could provide leverage in negotiations over a settlement, even if the remaining assets are insufficient to cover their contracts.
There is no guarantee that those negotiations will take place or result in a favorable settlement, and players could still receive only a small percentage of what they’re owed.
The outcome remains uncertain, but Van Horn expects the final accounting of the bankruptcy to reveal just how much of those massive guarantees the players actually recover.
Bankruptcy Expert Believes LIV Golf Is ‘Dead as We Know It’
Despite LIV Golf’s plans to wind down operations, the possibility of a revival hasn’t completely disappeared.
On November 8, the Financial Times reported that BC Partners was exploring another attempt to establish a successor league, potentially by acquiring approximately $50 million in bankruptcy financing from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, according to Reuters.
However, Van Horn doesn’t expect LIV Golf to return in its original form.
“If I were a betting man, which I’m not, I would say LIV Golf is dead as we know it,” Van Horn told Heavy Sports.
The attorney suggested that BC Partners could potentially acquire LIV’s remaining assets, including its branding and intellectual property, and use them to establish a considerably smaller operation.
Without the enormous financial guarantees that originally helped LIV attract some of the world’s biggest golfers, Van Horn believes a successor league might have to adopt a different approach.
He compared the possibility to alternative football leagues, such as the UFL, or the simulator-based golf league TGL, suggesting that a revived LIV could operate as a lower-budget option for golfers who don’t have PGA Tour cards, potentially even serving as an offseason circuit or developmental pathway.
Rather than directly competing with the PGA Tour for golf’s biggest names, a new version of LIV could potentially focus on different formats and more modest player compensation.
For now, though, that remains Van Horn’s hypothetical vision of what a successor league could look like, not a confirmed plan from BC Partners.
What Happens Next in LIV Golf’s Bankruptcy?
With LIV Golf moving toward liquidation, the next several weeks could provide a clearer picture of what the league’s creditors can expect to recover.
Van Horn explained that LIV Golf’s next major step would be filing a liquidation plan, outlining how the league intends to wind down operations and address outstanding claims.
A meeting of creditors is scheduled for November 20, followed by another bankruptcy court hearing on November 24, according to the league’s bankruptcy case website.
Van Horn explained that LIV initially entered Chapter 11 hoping to reorganize its business. Now, however, the process is shifting toward selling assets and distributing the proceeds to creditors.
He also believes potential negotiations between the Saudi Public Investment Fund and the creditors’ committee could play an important role in determining the eventual payouts.
While Van Horn expects players to recover only a small percentage of their outstanding guarantees, he emphasized that the final results could be particularly striking for golf fans accustomed to hearing about enormous player contracts.
He suggested that the final accounting could reveal players owed millions of dollars receiving comparatively minuscule amounts, highlighting the difference between money promised in a contract and money ultimately recovered through bankruptcy.
For now, the precise financial consequences remain unresolved. But as the bankruptcy process moves forward, the fate of LIV’s remaining assets and its outstanding obligations to players could become considerably clearer.
LIV Golf Stars Face Grim Warning Over Millions in Unpaid Contracts