Anyone Surprised By LIV Golf Having 'Zero' Revenue In 2022 Hasn't Been Paying Attention

Published|Updated

LIV Golf could be the most unique startup in sports history given that it's funded by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment fund. While the Saudi's bottomless pockets bankrolling the golf league make it different than anything we've seen before, LIV Golf still struggled in one area all startups struggle in: making money.

According to federal court documents obtained by ESPN, LIV Golf's revenue since its launch a year ago has been "virtually zero." Not only that, but LIV Golf's attorneys are claiming the PGA Tour, and its motion to delay the ongoing antitrust lawsuit, are to blame.

"The Tour's motion to amend should be denied because 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 motion.

"Delay will equally harm LIV because the Tour continues its anticompetitive conduct while the litigation is pending. The Tour has damaged LIV's brand, driven up its costs by hundreds of millions of dollars, and driven down revenues to virtually zero."

54-Hole Tour That's Not LIV Golf To Receive World Ranking Points

Greg Norman is the CEO of LIV. (Photo by Peter Van der Klooster/Getty Images)

While the words 'zero' and 'revenue' being so closely worded together always causes a bit of a shock to the system, LIV Golf not making any money in 2022 should be the least surprising news of the year.

Former LIV Golf president Atul Khosla has been on record stating the Public Investment Fund spent $784 million to kickstart the first season. That number doesn't even include the multiyear, nine-figure contracts the likes of Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, and others reportedly signed to join the startup league.

This means that LIV Golf very well could have spent north of $1 billion in 2022.

READ: GROUP CALLS FOR DONALD TRUMP TO BE INVESTIGATED FOR HOSTING LIV GOLF EVENTS AT COURSES HE OWNS, WHICH SEEMS LUDICROUS

We're talking about a golf league that spent over $1 billion that broadcasted its first season on YouTube because it didn't have a TV deal in place. This is also a global golf league where players flew on private planes to all corners of the world to play in tournaments without any major sponsors.

Of course LIV Golf didn't turn a profit in 2022.

Any golf fans, media members, or sites like The Big Lead writing a gullible story acting caught off guard by the news simply haven't been paying attention.

Is it embarrassing LIV didn't turn a revenue in 2022? Maybe, but surprising? Absolutely not.

Follow Mark Harris on Twitter @ItIsMarkHarris

Tags
Written by

Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.