Although rumors of LIV Golf shutting down were quelled by CEO Scott O’Neil’s insistence that everything was just fine and going “exactly as planned,” the company has officially postponed an event.
The LIV Golf Louisiana event, set for June this year in New Orleans, has been postponed indefinitely. Per reports, Secretary of Louisiana Economic Development Susan Bourgeois reached out to O’Neil to discuss the future of the event after initial news came out that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund was preparing to defund the league. The two agreed to postpone the event.
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Louisiana was expected to spend $7 million to host LIV at New Orleans’ Bayou Oaks in City Park, with $5 million of that cost coming from the league’s hosting fees. LIV Golf reportedly has agreed to pay back the $1.2 million that they’d already received.
Will the Louisiana event be canceled outright?
That doesn’t appear to be the case for now. Reports indicate that Bourgeois and O’Neil “hope to return to the table” to discuss a different tournament format or “re-envisioned event” for the fall. LIV Golf does not currently have any events scheduled for their fall season.
The final event currently on LIV’s schedule is the team championship set for August.
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What did Louisiana spend the money on?
As of the reported postponement on Monday, the state of Louisiana had only spent approximately $3.2 million of the $7 million they were going to in order to host the LIV event. $1.2 million was sent to LIV as part of the company’s hosting fees while the other $2 million was spent on renovations and improvements to the Bayou Oaks course.
While LIV Golf has agreed to reimburse the state for the $1.2 million it spent on hosting fees, the parties reportedly have agreed that the $2 million spent on renovations qualifies as “an acceptable improvement to a state asset.”
When is LIV Golf’s next event?
LIV Golf’s Viriginia event at Trump National Golf Club is set to begin next Thursday, May 7 in Washington D.C.
The two events following will take place from May 28-31 in South Korea and June 4-7 in Spain.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: LIV Golf postspones event for June; rumors continue
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