LIV Golf Makes Surprise Leeds United Reference as Huge $1bn Financial Crisis Unfolds

Leeds United have unexpectedly been dragged into the latest LIV Golf crisis after the Saudi-backed breakaway golf league used the Whites as an example while announcing its Chapter 11 bankruptcy process.

The mention of Leeds is likely to surprise supporters because the club’s financial problems belong to a very different period of its history. However, Leeds became one of the most famous examples in English football of what can happen when a club spends beyond its means and then struggles to deal with the consequences.

LIV Golf is now facing its own major financial problems. The league has entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New Jersey, with court documents showing liabilities between $500 million and $1 billion and assets estimated between $100 million and $500 million. The process is designed to allow LIV to restructure rather than simply disappear.

The situation comes after Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund decided that further investment in LIV would no longer continue beyond the 2026 season. PIF had invested more than $5bn into the project since its launch in 2022, helping LIV attract some of the biggest names in world golf away from the PGA Tour.

Now, Leeds United have been named as part of LIV’s explanation for why the organisation believes it can recover.

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Why LIV Golf has mentioned Leeds United

LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil referred to Leeds in a message explaining the organisation’s next step.

He pointed out that a number of major businesses and sports organisations have gone through similar restructuring processes before successfully continuing in a new form. Leeds were included alongside names such as Marvel Entertainment, Delta Airlines, Caesars Entertainment, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Pittsburgh Penguins.

That is a remarkable mention for Leeds because the club’s financial collapse became a warning story for football.

Leeds enjoyed a hugely successful period around the turn of the millennium, competing near the top of English football and playing in the Champions League. However, heavy spending and growing financial problems eventually caught up with the club.

The Whites dropped out of the Premier League and eventually fell all the way to League One. The situation became one of the biggest financial warnings in English football, with Leeds having to rebuild from a very difficult position.

The club eventually returned to the Premier League in 2020, showing just how dramatic the recovery had been.

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The important figures behind the two stories

The comparison does not mean Leeds and LIV Golf have experienced the same financial situation. The important point is that LIV is using Leeds as an example of a sporting institution that went through severe financial difficulties and later managed to rebuild.

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Leeds United have come a long way from their darkest days

For Leeds supporters, there is actually something positive in being mentioned in this way.

There was a time when the club were used as a warning about financial management. Now, more than a decade later, their story can be looked at from another angle.

Leeds survived the collapse, rebuilt themselves and returned to the Premier League.

The 49ers have played an important role in the club’s modern development, while Daniel Farke has helped create a team capable of competing at the highest level again. Leeds are now trying to establish themselves as a stable Premier League club rather than simply enjoying another short spell in the division.

That is why the LIV Golf reference could actually be seen as a compliment to the recovery Leeds have made.

The club went from being one of the biggest financial cautionary tales in English football to having ambitions of becoming a regular Premier League side capable of challenging teams higher up the table.

The current Leeds project is obviously still developing, and there will be difficult periods along the way. But the direction is very different from the one that eventually led to the club’s financial collapse.

LIV Golf, meanwhile, is hoping to use its own restructuring process to create a more sustainable future. The league says BC Partners will support the next phase, while its proposed model includes greater involvement for players and a stronger focus on team-based competition.

The financial numbers show how serious the situation is. LIV has between $500m and $1bn in liabilities, while some of its biggest stars are listed among its creditors. Jon Rahm has a reported $7.5m unsecured claim, with Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson also owed millions.

Yet the league is not presenting the bankruptcy as the end.

Instead, it wants to follow the sort of recovery story that Leeds United have already experienced.

For Leeds fans, that may be the most interesting part of the entire story. Their club’s past financial problems once represented failure and poor planning, but the journey since then has shown that sporting institutions can rebuild when the right structure is put in place.

The fact that Leeds United have now been named by LIV Golf as an example of that recovery is a remarkable turnaround.

From Champions League nights and financial trouble to League One, then back to the Premier League, Leeds have experienced almost every possible high and low.

Now, while LIV Golf tries to find its own way forward, the Whites have been used as proof that a sporting institution can fall badly and still find a route back to the top.

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