So, to review the initial fallout from Wednesday’s ballyhooed PGA Tour announcement of its agreement with a consortium of billionaire sports investors to make its players equity partners: The filthy rich got richer and the fans of the sport … well, they got nothing.
The PGA Tour players, most of whom are already wealthier than most of the fans who pay their hard-earned money to watch their sport, now are poised to make more millions on top of the millions they already have in the bank?
They’re the biggest winners.
The golf fans who care most about bridging the divide between the best players in the game — some of whom are on the PGA Tour and some of whom are playing for LIV Golf — so they can watch the best players competing against each other in tournaments other than the four major championships?
You’re the biggest losers.
Nothing that came out of this news, announced to PGA Tour members on a conference call with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan (who had a large hand in creating this divide that has shaken the sport to its core), gave any indication that the PGA Tour and LIV Golf are any closer to coming to come sort of agreement.
Nothing that came out of Wednesday gave anyone any hope that the likes of LIV players Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau will be competing against PGA Tour players Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay anytime soon.
The “framework agreement’’ the PGA Tour and LIV Golf came to last June 6 — mostly so it would put an end of the litigation fees that were draining the PGA Tour coffers? That framework now looks like it’s made of balsa wood.
The “framework agreement,’’ which was supposed to have been consummated by the two parties by the Dec. 31 deadline before they predictably extended it into the new year (new decade?), appears to have been a can kicked on down the road for the moment.
Wednesday, all Monahan and the Strategic Sports Group, the group of billionaire sports team owners who are bringing in some $3 billion into a new for-profit entity, PGA Tour Enterprises, wanted to do was thump their collective chests about how good this is for the players and the sport.
Monahan crowed about how “historic’’ and “novel’’ and “transformational’’ the deal is and how it’s “not done at this scale in any other sport.’’
“Today marks an important moment for the PGA Tour and fans of golf across the world,” Monahan said. “Fans win when we all work to deliver the best in sports entertainment and return the focus to the incredible — and unmatched — competitive atmosphere created by our players, tournaments and partners.’’
What Monahan didn’t address was exactly how the fans “win’’ with this deal since they still don’t get to see the top players in the world compete against each other.
On the call, Monahan described the negotiations with the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) that oversees LIV Golf as “active” and “frequent.” Monahan was in Saudi Arabia earlier this month to meet in person with PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, and he said there were some from the SSG group there with him as well doing their “due diligence.’
“This deal with SSG has no impact on our ongoing negotiations with PIF,’’ Monahan said on the call. “SSG is aware of our ongoing dialogue with PIF and is in support of it.’’
There are antitrust regulations that need to be addressed if the PGA Tour and LIV are going to come to an ultimate agreement. Congress announced this week that its investigation into PIF and its investments in American businesses will continue.
Meanwhile, as the PGA Tour hosts the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am this week in its second signature event of 2024 with a $20 million overall purse, LIV Golf launches its third season in Mexico.
So, the player divide carries on as the two tours carry on and the fans continue to lose along the way.
Webb Simpson, one of six players on the PGA Tour’s policy board, called the news of the SSG’s investment “exciting for us players,’’ in an interview on Golf Channel.
Asked about hope for an agreement with PIF and LIV Golf, Simpson said, “We see a future where they can be a partner as well, but today we just want to be excited about our new partner and the ongoing growth of the PGA Tour. We’re not sure yet [about a LIV agreement], but we’re optimistic that there can be a place for everyone to be happy with this deal.’’
The question is whether golf fans are included in that “everyone.”
