As of Monday night, some LIV Golf players were still awaiting payment from the league’s most recent event at Trump National Bedminster, which concluded Aug. 9, according to SBJ’s Josh Carpenter. Players are typically paid the Tuesday or Wednesday following a tournament. The delay has led to speculation about whether some players will skip this week’s event in Indianapolis. A source told SBJ that this week’s $30 million purse is expected to be “substantially lower” than what was originally planned. LIV Golf did not comment on the report.
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The reports of unpaid players came the same day a production company revealed it is suing LIV over separate unpaid invoices. Fresh Tape Media, the company that handled LIV Golf’s preseason media days, is suing the league for more than $1.23 million in missed payments and interest, according to a complaint filed in New York State Supreme Court on July 21 and first reported by Front Office Sports. LIV was formally notified of the complaint on Monday, the same day the league announced the cancellation of its $40 million team championship that had been scheduled for next week in Michigan.
The lawsuit centers on LIV Golf Week 2026, held in West Palm Beach, Florida from Jan. 12-14, where Fresh Tape managed logistics and on-site production for an event that drew more than 50 players from all 13 teams. The Denver-based company says it filmed promotional content, conducted interviews and transferred more than 50,000 images and videos to LIV, some of which are still used across the league’s social, TV and digital platforms. Fresh Tape has roughly 20 full-time employees but says it employed 115 total workers that week, all of whom have been paid.
Fresh Tape CEO Jared Kleinstein said the company received positive feedback on its work and had no reason to expect payment issues. LIV paid about half of the contracted amount before the event, and Fresh Tape had operated a smaller preseason event for LIV in 2025, for which it was paid in full. According to the lawsuit, LIV has not paid eight invoices due between Jan. 22 and March 22, ranging in value from $74,470 to $231,137.40 before interest. The suit states LIV never disputed the invoices and repeatedly indicated payment was “approved.”
On May 8, LIV offered Fresh Tape a $200,000 settlement. “This proposal is made in good faith and is intended to balance LIV Golf’s current financial constraints with a clear, structured and certain payment timetable,” LIV legal manager Jake Cutter wrote in an email cited in the lawsuit. That offer was reduced to $150,000 on June 18.
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Fresh Tape applied for an ex parte emergency order when it filed its claim, which was granted July 30. As part of the proceedings, the company is seeking to freeze some of LIV’s assets, with subpoenas served to 10 to 12 banks in New York that work with the league beginning Aug. 7. LIV had not responded to the order as of Monday evening, according to Fresh Tape attorney Larry Hutcher.
The lawsuit follows a separate suit filed last month by Mobii Systems Group Limited, a former technology partner that supplied LIV’s “Any Shot, Any Time” broadcast feature, which is seeking more than $1.1 million over alleged unpaid invoices and breach of contract.
LIV Golf’s Indianapolis event, now the league’s season finale after the Michigan tournament was canceled, begins this week.
