LIV Golf League Legal Professionals Say 2023 Income Was 'Virtually Zero'

As the LIV Golf League prepares to start its second season in Mexico later this month, the circuit being financed by Saudi Arabia's Public Funding Fund is producing just about no income, according to federal courtroom paperwork.

The LIV Golf League's attorneys made that admission in a motion filed with the U.S. District Court docket for Northern California on Monday. LIV Golf asked U.S. District Courtroom Choose Beth Labson Freeman to deny the PGA Tour's movement for depart to add the public Investment Fund and its governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, as plaintiffs within the tour's countersuit against LIV Golf, by which it alleges LIV Golf interfered with its contract with gamers.


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On Monday, the PGA Tour's attorneys requested a convention hearing with Freeman to discuss whether discovery deadlines and the January 2024 trial date must be pushed back as a result of the general public Funding Fund and Al-Rumayyan have allegedly did not comply with discovery and depositions.


Freeman has scheduled a Feb. 24 case administration convention to hear the sides' arguments.
"The Tour's movement to amend needs to be denied as a result of the amendment would be futile, would cause unfair prejudice, was unduly delayed, and is obviously intended to inappropriately delay the case and resolution of Plaintiffs' antitrust claims," LIV Golf's attorneys wrote in Monday's movement.

"Delay will equally hurt LIV because the Tour continues its anticompetitive conduct while the litigation is pending. The Tour has broken LIV's brand, pushed up its costs by hundreds of hundreds of thousands of dollars, and driven down revenues to nearly zero."

Former LIV Golf president and COO Atul Khosla instructed ESPN in October that the public Funding Fund spent about $784 million bankrolling the circuit's first season in 2022, together with worker salaries, build-outs at tournaments and manufacturing prices for broadcasting LIV occasions on social media and its official web site.

Khosla, who resigned in December, mentioned that complete did not embrace guaranteed, multiyear contracts for gamers, which might be not less than one-third of that. According to varied printed reviews, LIV paid as much as $200 million for six-time main champion Phil Mickelson, not less than $150 million for Dustin Johnson, greater than $125 million for Bryson DeChambeau and at the least $100 million for reigning Open Championship winner Cameron Smith. LIV Golf officials have declined to provide details of the players' contracts.

LIV Golf's attorneys wrote on Monday that the PGA Tour's alleged antitrust conduct has jeopardized the careers of a few of its gamers, together with Matt Jones and Peter Uihlein, who are plaintiffs within the federal antitrust lawsuit, along with DeChambeau. PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan suspended Jones, Uihlein and different members who played in LIV Golf tournaments without conflicting-event releases.

" ゴルフ練習場  to Plaintiffs Jones and Uihlein from delay is clear: they threat being unable to earn a living of their chosen career during the prime of their careers," LIV Golf's attorneys wrote. "Mr. Jones and Mr. Uihlein have no safe capacity to pursue their career in 2024. Some Player Plaintiffs aren't below contract with LIV previous 2023, and are banned from the PGA Tour, the European Tour, and other tours all over the world. Participant Plaintiffs are denied enjoying alternatives they'd earned and want resolution on the enforceability of the Tour's Laws, suspensions, and conduct.

"And a number of other other golfers in LIV and different professional and collegiate golfers who are contemplating enjoying within the Asian Tour or on LIV are making decisions about their future and need clarity from the Court docket. Plaintiffs want relief soon and definitely no later than the present January 2024 trial."

On Jan. 19, LIV Golf introduced that it had reached a multiyear U.S. broadcast tv and streaming settlement with the CW network to air its dwell tournaments over its network and streaming app.

The financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed. Sources advised ESPN that it's a revenue-sharing arrangement and that LIV Golf will not receive rights fees from the CW network and would proceed to pay manufacturing prices, as it did during its inaugural season in 2022.

The second LIV Golf season is scheduled to tee off Feb. 24-26 at El Camaleon Golf Course in Mayakoba, Mexico. LIV Golf, which has 54-gap tournaments and 12 4-man groups competing in particular person and staff competitions, will stage 14 tournaments this season.