It's the End of LIV Golf as We Knew It (and Trump Feels Fine)
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome to Pablo Torre Finds Out. I am Pablo Torre, and today we're going to find out what this sound is.
It's interesting to think that Trump helped save Live Golf, and then him waging war in Iran may end Live Golf. Right after this ad.
I have a small problem here. I was going to say, a bleeding Alan Shipnuck, given the topic we're here to discuss, is something that raises questions immediately.
How did Trump influence the fate of LIV Golf?
As your neck, your neck is... Can you see this? I can. We can all see. Who did this to you, Alan? Let's start there. Are we recording? We are recording. Who did this to you? I demand answers. I demand accountability. It's not Greg Norman, although he probably would have loved to have taken a knife to my throat at some point. I don't know how many more convenient segues you can give me as you clutch a piece of toilet paper to a wound right at your Adam's apple. This is ridiculous.
This is a public service announcement. Do not shave in a hurry before, you know, the most important podcast appearance of your entire career. That's right. Huge mistake. Should I put a turtleneck on? I'll legit put a turtleneck on.
I had no idea Alan was going to be bleeding from his neck.
Hold on. I'm going to get a turtleneck.
So now that you have your turtleneck on, you no longer have to staunch the bleeding. I do want to get to the bleeding in the world of golf. I just regard you as one of the most plugged in people that I know, certainly into this sport, certainly into the world of live. So just give me a sense just behind the scenes as the collapse, as the bleeding has been happening steadily into public view now. How would you explain this to someone who's not getting the texts and calls and the messages that you have been navigating over the last month now?
I mean, Liv has been chaotic from day one. I remember one of their executives telling me back in 2022, we're building the plane as we fly it. And now the plane is crashing all around them. The wings just fell off. There's one engine left. It's smoking. Some of the windows have popped out and people are getting sucked out of the plane. Like, Any number of metaphors we could come up with, but Liv has been chaos merchants this whole way through, and it could only end this way. Just total messiness, uncertainty, the information war between the tours, the players, the agents, everyone trying to carve out the future while they're trying to figure out what that's going to be in real time. It's just a perfect ending to this era of disruption and bullsh**ery.
Live Golf's CEO has been trying to quell the speculation that the league is in deep financial trouble. Scott O'Neill sent a memo to his staff yesterday in which he insists the 2026 season of the controversial tour will continue as planned and uninterrupted. The Financial Times, among others, has reported that Saudi Arabia's public investment fund is on the verge of cutting its financial backing. Is there a warning to the world from golf? All that Saudi cash that's been lavished on sport. Are we seeing the end of vanity investment?
Start with huge breaking news that Live Golf, as we know it, is over. As expected, the tour has just confirmed that Saudi Arabia's public investment fund will no longer provide financial backing, with chairman Yasser al-Rahman also set to leave. Well, it looks like it's the end of the road, but as far as Live are concerned, the show must go on.
I want to remind people of the decadence, of the sales pitch, right? Because so much of what's happening, the schadenfreude that everyone is hearing around sports, around the collapse and the wounds, live when it was born in 2022. For those who don't remember, what did it look and sound like?
It was like if Louis XIV got into golf and sponsored a tournament. When you think of a golf tournament, you likely think of silence when the players are hitting their shots, but that is not how it works on the Live Golf Tour.
Golf, but louder. That's how Live Golf wants to be known. Our approach is to treat it like an NBA game or an NHL game or an NFL game, where the entire course is integrated like an arena.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:32
2
How did Trump influence the fate of LIV Golf?
0:32–8:30
3
What insider information is being shared about LIV Golf's collapse?
8:30–14:20
4
What financial troubles is LIV Golf currently facing?
14:20–19:02
5
How has LIV Golf attempted to change the landscape of professional golf?
19:02–30:52
6
How did LIV Golf's funding impact player salaries?
30:52–32:25
7
What role does sportswashing play in LIV Golf's strategy?
32:25–40:55
8
What challenges does LIV Golf face moving forward?
40:55–45:33
Speakers
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