I was kind of excited when in 2022 I found out that there was going to be some sort of competition for the PGA tours. I don't generally watch a lot of golf but several of my friends will host parties such as when the Master's is on and they can be a lot of casual fun. The fun thing about golf is that basically everyone plays it somewhat, and we all can be in awe about how much we suck when we watch the pros playing it. The issue that was had was that the PGA held a strangle-hold on the players and the industry, just like is bound to happen when any single entity controls all of anything. Although the PGA did technically have competition and wasn't a monopoly, their competition is of the likes of UFC's competition in that everyone who isn't PGA is a non-issue that nobody pays any attention to, just like in MMA. https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/liv-golf-signage-seen-prior-125713989.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=744 [src](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/liv-golf-signage-seen-prior-125713989.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=744) LIV tried to do thing differently and tried to have a more youthful vibe to it. It was kind of like Happy Gilmore became a real thing and the events would have music playing all the time and there were "side bets" with teams playing even though the real money and glory was in individual victories. Each golfer was ultimately playing for themselves through 54 holes, which is what the "LIV" means in Roman Numerals. https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vqTR!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F31ce8e68-ee28-4df7-987b-771bf9502e77_2400x1600.png [src](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!vqTR!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F31ce8e68-ee28-4df7-987b-771bf9502e77_2400x1600.png) _{when your part of the graph is barely visible, you have a problem} The events were kind of whacky and fun, but the fact remained that a lot of the best players in the world didn't participate in their events because PGA threatened they would not be allowed to participate in PGA events if they did. Several big names went anyway because the payouts for the LIV events were astronomical. LIV is Saudi-owned and they basically had bottomless pockets so their prize money managed to dwarf even the PGA, which is crazy when you think about it. However, it does seem that even the unbelievably rich oil barons have some sort of limit on how much cash they are willing to hemorrhage before they pull the plug. https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WL5S!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5bed77ea-14ed-495b-9def-a0f5a1b435bf_2658x1333.png [src](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WL5S!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5bed77ea-14ed-495b-9def-a0f5a1b435bf_2658x1333.png) _{but then again, what is a billion dollars to a trillionaire?} LIV management insists that they have no intention of shutting down but there are a lot of rumors going on right now that the unrest in the middle-east right now could end up serving as a "false flag" reason for closure. Arrogance has its limits you know, and these billionaire owners who reportedly have a trillion dollar war chest aren't just going to sit there while a vanity project drains their respective bank accounts. But on the flip side, this could also just be some PR stunt as well. But putting rumors out there of the show coming to an end, it gets them in the press and honestly, I had forgotten that they existed since their TV coverage is almost non existent. There are other rumors that suggest that the PGA bullied the networks into not covering LIV events because the PGA threatened that their license would be revoked to cover PGA events (which are really lucrative for the TV networks) if they did. None of this is in writing but it certainly does sound like something the PGA would do.