For weeks, LIV Golf 2.0 has looked like a league with money on the table and no one to take it. BC Partners, a private equity firm that is ready to put up $300 million behind the relaunch, has asked just one thing in return: enough players willing to sign for 2027. What it has watched instead is one name after another choosing to walk out. But with a few players now tentatively agreeing to return, LIV may finally have a reason to believe it can survive.

Financial Times reporter Sujeet Indap reported that around 15 golfers have tentatively agreed to commit to LIV’s private equity-backed successor.

He shared the observation on X, writing, “LIV 2.0 lives for a few more days. 15 players interested outside of the Weil/Reed Smith groups, with some in those two groups expected to commit later in the week. The BC RSA deadline is today, but the real date is Oct 30 per the terms of PIF’s bankruptcy loan.”

Indap added that none of these 15 tentative players had been named, but he did rule out some speculation. Moreover, he reported that none of the 15 players belong to either of the two groups involved in the restructuring talks. One is represented by the law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges, with 18 players on its side. The other is led by Reed Smith, with five players.

That makes sense, as both groups are mainly trying to trade away their legal claims against LIV and the preferential status of the money they are still owed. While some of them could still join later this week, the 15 players who have tentatively agreed to commit sit outside those groups. In that context, we can also speculate that this relates to Dustin Johnson, who leads some members of the Weil group and is reportedly tying his group’s decision to how the old LIV payouts are settled.

Now, while the interest may seem like a small number, it can add some extra days for LIV. And it matters because the clock is already ticking. BC Partners had set a deadline of Sunday, October 25th for players to commit, and it was tied to the first $4 million of bankruptcy financing the firm provided. That date has now effectively passed with 15 players on board, and the interest might be good enough for the firm to push for a final deal in the coming days. That said, the league has asked at least 30 to 40 players for the final commitment.

But Indap pointed out in his report that Sunday was never the date that really counted. October 30 is the real deadline. That cutoff comes from a bankruptcy loan agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), LIV’s senior lender, which has said it will move to wind down the league if no deal is reached by then.

As for the players, the 15 names remain unknown, but the pool of potential returnees has narrowed as more exits have been confirmed.

The marquee player, Jon Rahm, has already negotiated his separation, securing the name and image rights tied to his LIV team, but no cash. Sergio Garcia has also been released from his deal, while Louis Oosthuizen, Tyrrell Hatton, Ian Poulter, and David Puig have all said they are moving on.

That leaves a quieter group of players, with only four having publicly confirmed their willingness to consider LIV 2.0. They include Richard Bland, Cameron Tringale, Brandon Steele, and Ben Campbell. Whether any of them are among the 15, however, remains unconfirmed.

Notably, the biggest absentee from that list is Bryson DeChambeau. He is owed the second-largest sum under LIV’s old contracts and has long been seen as the face of LIV 2.0, yet he has not formally committed. ESPN sources say he remains on board and is still working behind the scenes to make it happen, though he is also set to play the DP World Tour’s Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa in December.

All of this has been building towards a question LIV’s own attorney put before a bankruptcy judge earlier this month. As reported by The Daily Caller, the league’s lawyers told the court they anticipated a decision by the end of the month. That decision is precisely what PIF is hinting at: either LIV 2.0 goes ahead, or the league is wound down.

The plan has always been clear: build the new league around players owning a slim majority, with a smaller schedule and a team-based format. If player interest does not meet expectations, the league may not be able to sustain itself.

Even if the numbers come together, however, another problem remains: where will those players find the rest of their golf on LIV 2.0? As reported previously, LIV is no longer partnering with the DP World Tour. At the same time, the Asian Tour has also entered into a partnership with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour following the end of its International Series partnership with LIV. That leaves the 17-event global schedule BC Partners is aiming for looking a long way off.

For now, LIV has 15 unnamed players who have tentatively agreed to commit. By October 30, we will know whether that is enough.