It’s the official Lookahead season for Liv Golf, which just saw its 2025 calendar end soon, but has already begun promoting next year’s event. Their stay time: New Orleans, a longtime PGA Tour host who has never hosted a rival league.
The main reason Liv found a new home in Nola is…money. At least $5 million is provided by Louisiana as a “hosting fee” to bring some of the world’s best golfers to Bayou.
Producing LIV activities (ranged from $50-600 million), unlike the PGA Tour, Liv owns and operates all of these activities. Recently, some upfront funding is required to ensure LIV access to your area. In June, Louisiana Senators designated more than $7 million in taxpayer dollars in budget proposals for the 2026 LIV event, which was achieved in this week’s tournament announcement. Just for hosts, it cost $5 million, then $2 million to get host classes – Bayou Oaks of Muni, who performed well before the game.
LIV Championship locations often come down to such deals at home and abroad. For example, hosting a LIV event in Australia requires a lot of negotiations with local officials and state leaders. In this case, this led to an agreement reached in 2031, the longest event of the year in LIV. For homeowners like New Orleans, there is not much time to trade. Liv Golf visited each of Chicago’s first four seasons, with the last two being held at Bolingbrook Golf Club on the south side of the city. But without Illinois’ financial commitment, LIV is unlikely to return to Chicago in 2026.
“We can only welcome us with open arms,” LIV CEO Scott O’Neil said at a NOLA announcement press conference. This is not the first time he said so. He believes that the return on such a deal is just an investment in the local economy. “We took seats on the plane, filled hotel rooms, filled restaurants, and put some world-class golf balls on it,” O’Neal said at a LIV event in Hong Kong earlier this year.
Of course, tax citizens have the right to explain whenever taxpayer funds are used for a specific event. LIV’s funds are similar to the funds paid for other sports events in Louisiana, such as UFC Battles. But, given the controversy over its financial backers, Saudi Arabia’s public investment fund and its human rights record, navigation of Liv’s track has been even more tricky.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry quickly answers questions about state-funded rival golf tours, especially when the PGA Tour visits New Orleans every April.
“We want to try to get something in the city during the summer,” Landry told reporters this week. “We want New Orleans to be a city for people from January to December.”
Landry called Bayu Oaks “one of the roughest diamonds that only need to be polished” and slapped the concerns about Liv’s financial backers in praise of the Liv format, marveling at the unique feel of the traditional Zurich classics of PGA Tour.
“I went to a golf tournament and I couldn’t go because they endured it Quiet sign. “Landry said after entering the announcement phase among a bunch of fireworks. “Not me.” That’s why I love Liv Golf. No Quiet Logo. This is a party. ”
New Orleans is the 13th location to be announced, and there is another stop on the 2026 Liv calendar.
