THE NEW YORK TIMES: The kingdom is pulling back from a costly and high-profile golf venture amid mounting financial concerns, raising questions about its plans.
Saudi Arabia embarked on a nation-changing project over the past decade under a young prince in a rush to reimagine his kingdom. The kingdom announced ambitious ventures in sports, entertainment and other areas — all in a bid to diversify its economy from its heavy reliance on oil exports and to remake its image from a conservative, insular nation to a dynamic country playing on the world stage.
But in recent years, the global ambitions of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have clashed with financial reality, as the state faces mounting expenses and lower oil revenue, exacerbated by the continuing war in the Middle East. Several major projects have recently been scaled back, mothballed or scrapped.
On Thursday the country’s $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund announced the latest casualty: a multibillion-dollar effort that had, when it started just four years ago, threatened to upend global golf and become a key symbol of Saudi Arabia’s determination to be a major player in sports.
When launching in 2022, the upstart competition, LIV Golf, tore apart the sport’s traditional structures by luring some of the games biggest names with the biggest checks in the sport’s history. It also pulled in — and remunerated — figures like President Trump and led to costly legal battles and congressional hearings.
Now, just four years later, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund had said it will cease funding the competition at the end of the year, raising questions about Saudi plans in sports and beyond. In the fund’s most recent announcement about its strategy for the next five years, its main focus was domestic investment. Big-time sports was notably omitted from its list of priorities. » | Tariq Panja | Tariq Panja has covered Saudi Arabia’s efforts to disrupt sports since it began spending heavily for its global ambitions. | Friday, May 1, 2026