Tranlate this title LIV golf: «We continue working as normal» in spanish

LIV Golf’s management maintains that it has funding from Saudi Arabia to continue with its project and that it is operating «normally,» thus rejecting any concerns about the circuit’s viability.

LIV’s Chief Business Officer, Chris Heck, explained at a press conference in Oklahoma (USA) that they continue to have «a great deal of confidence» both in the players on the league, including Spaniard Jon Rahm and American Bryson DeChambeau, «and in the product.»

Liv Golf, statement

When asked if he could confirm whether the Public Investment Fund (PIF), managed by the Saudi regime, had withdrawn its funding from LIV and, if so, where future funding would come from, Heck replied: «No, we have funding and we continue to operate normally.»

According to Heck, there is no concern about the project’s continuity: «I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have a great deal of confidence, not only in our players, but also in our product. Global golf is a difficult path; we all travel a lot, but the impact we are having worldwide is something I never thought I would experience.»

Heck’s message, from one of the key figures on the LIV board headed by Scott O’Neil, comes a week after news broke about the PIF’s decision to cut its funding to the golf tour in light of the new geopolitical context and the reassessment of spending on sports initiatives.

O’Neil stepped forward the following day to guarantee that the current season, which will end in August, will be completed and that his goal is to secure funding to continue the league, without clarifying to what extent he will continue to receive resources from the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, a pillar of the competition since its inception in 2022 as a competitor to the PGA Tour, the American circuit.

«We are concerned about ticket sales for the next event and, of course, the launch of excellent teams like OKGC,» Heck noted at the unveiling of the new name for the team formerly known as Smash GC, which will now be based in Oklahoma, marking the first time a League One Invasion franchise has aligned itself directly with a US market.

At the same press conference, Katie O’Reilly, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of Team Operations at LIV Golf, emphasized that strong franchises «build a strong league.»

«We are team golf. We represent team golf around the world. We are the world’s golf league (…) We firmly believe that our thirteen teams will become $13 billion franchises (approximately €11 billion), and we are incredibly excited to bring this project to Oklahoma,» O’Reilly added.