The PGA Tour and LIV Golf are participating in an arms race for the way forward for golf, with the previous getting a $3 billion injection of cash from the Strategic Sports Group this week, whereas the latter is content material luring defectors with large contracts. The endgame for the PGA Tour? Attempt to hold golf as near its conventional self as attainable.
The PGA Tour’s cope with SSG will fund event purses for the subsequent 5 years, give gamers $1.5 billion in fairness shares, in addition to seven seats on the 13-member board, and a elaborate new title: PGA Tour Enterprises. The deal is a short lived life preserver for Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, and one other shrewd funding by famous sports activities franchise house owners John Henry and Tom Werner (Fenway Sports activities Group), Mark Attanasio (Milwaukee Brewers), Steve Cohen (New York Mets), Wyc Grousbeck (Boston Celtics), Arthur Clean (Atlanta Falcons) and Tom Ricketts (Chicago Cubs).
The Fenway Sports activities Group, which owns the Boston Purple Sox, Liverpool FC and the Pittsburgh Penguins, headed up the deal and provides one other piece to its rising portfolio. For the opposite billionaires concerned, it is a no-brainer. As an alternative of shopping for Park Place or Pennsylvania Avenue, they received a whole facet of the Monopoly board at a stable worth.
Apparently, including buyers will assist with the regulatory scrutiny that the PGA Tour-LIV merger is receiving, but I’m not good sufficient to understand how more cash/energy allays that concern. (My guess is that extra cash makes it simpler to bribe authorities officers, however don’t quote me on that.)
This transfer possible received’t expedite the pending deal, and if something, could extend the talks that had been supposed to finish on Dec. 31. Had the PGA Tour been extra proactive when these defections started, $3 billion may’ve been sufficient to take care of its autonomy. The elevated prize cash and fairness are definitely good, but it surely’s too little too late as Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Cameron Smith, Brooks Koepka and Bryson Dechambeau obtained LIV contracts worth $950 million in all. And that’s earlier than factoring in prize cash.
The PIF spent nearly $1 billion on six gamers. Whereas they’re six of the largest names in golf, I doubt the highest six PGA Tour gamers will obtain two-thirds of the $1.5 billion in fairness sharing. The Tour did say the allotments might be weighted primarily based on rating, but with the anomaly surrounding who’s and isn’t a member — the highest 125 golfers within the FedEx standings are given a card for the next season — divvying up the fairness might be fascinating.
Talking of which, Tiger Woods completed 228th within the FedEx Cup rankings a season in the past, so in concept, he’ll get fractions of pennies in contrast with what he may’ve made off a soar to LIV. Not that Woods cares or wants the cash, however a participant’s worth isn’t at all times on par along with his rating. The final season Mickelson certified for the FedEx rankings (2020-21), he completed seventieth. Solely Rahm ($300-plus million) obtained extra blood from the Saudis than Lefty ($200 million).
Of Monahan’s many errors, considering he can skew the bargaining course of by including a bunch of billionaire backers — when he’s negotiating with individuals who possess an nearly bottomless fund — may be the dumbest. The one excessive floor the PGA Tour had was ethical, and that vanished as soon as they opted to merge.
Making wealthy individuals even richer isn’t going to win the PGA Tour any brownie factors. Pissing off the Saudis may regain some respect — up till the Tour is so anemic it wants a blood transfusion. The longer golf followers’ favourite gamers are working in obscurity (aka on the CW) and never teeing it up at their second- and third-favorite stops, the upper the chance of dropping informal viewers and the income they supply.
Certain, all of us find it irresistible when defectors invade the majors and everyone side-eyes everyone, however these tournaments in between are rapidly changing into irrelevant. Longtime sponsors like Wells Fargo, Honda and Farmers Insurance coverage have already severed ties. It’s time for Monahan and the PGA Tour to face their destiny as a result of these final grasp Succession-esque ploys solely work if Logan Roy is useless, and the Saudis aren’t going anyplace anytime quickly.
