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May 05, 2023

PGA Tour

The "specter" of the PGA Tour's ongoing antitrust lawsuit with LIV Golf and the "financial realities of the new designated-event model appeared to factor significantly" in the Tour's announced merger with the PIF, according to Ryan Lavner of GOLFCHANNEL.com. In order to keep pace with LIV Golf's $25M purses, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said that the Tour has "needed to dip into its reserves to cover the increased costs of the designated events." Monahan said that those "mounting fees, as well as the ongoing lawsuit (which would stretch into at least 2024)" and the Tour's "commitment to the European tour, have been ‘significant.’" Lavner noted another factor was "more strategic." Monahan said that the merger "was an opportunity to ‘take the competitor off the board.’" Monahan said, "We were competing against LIV, I felt very good about the changes we’ve made and the position we were in." He added, "But to take the competitor off the board, to have them exist as a partner, not an owner, and for us to be able to control the direction going forward put us in a … productive position for the game at large" (GOLFCHANNEL.com, 6/6).

PIECE OF THE PIE: GLOBAL GOLF POST's Ron Green Jr. writes "if perception is reality, at least in the short term, Tuesday did not look like a good day for the PGA Tour and Monahan." It "appears" as if the PGA Tour "made a financial decision in the face of mounting fiscal challenges." Green: "The PGA Tour had won the battle in terms of golf." It does not "take a cynic to believe it happened because of Saudi Arabia's money." If it "wasn't going away," the PGA Tour "found a way to get a share of it" (GLOBAL GOLF POST, 6/7).

THE ALMIGHTY DOLLAR: The N.Y. Post's Mark Cannizzaro notes it was "getting very expensive" for the PGA Tour to continue raising tournament purses to counter the purses LIV Golf had been offering. Cannizzaro said, "They wouldn't be able to sustain that and they're not going to be able to fight the LIV money the whole way. ... The Tou realized they couldn't sustain this financially" ("Boomer & Gio," WFAN, 6/7). THE ATHLETIC's Brendan Quinn writes the PGA Tour "needed money. Lots of it." Money to "boost tournament purses and bonus money to compete with what the PIF pumped into LIV for its players’ guaranteed contracts." Money to "employ an army of lawyers to battle LIV in court and counter an ongoing DOJ investigation." Money to "subsidize its partners at the DP World Tour and their legal fees." As things stood, after "tapping into reserve funds to survive the pandemic, then rebuilding those funds," Monahan said the Tour "had to invest back in our business through our reserves" in 2023 and "was set to do so again in 2024 to survive." Quinn: "A precarious situation" (THE AHLETIC, 6/7).

INVESTING IN THE RIGHT SPOTS: GOLFWEEK's Eamon Lynch noted for Monahan and DP World Tour CEO Keith Pelley, the "problem has always been where the money was going, not where it was coming from." The Saudis were "eager to dump billions of dollars into golf," and "no matter what disputes arose between the establishment and the upstart, there was a desire to ensure the money be redirected rather than rejected." Thus Saudi money "stays in the game" and both sides "position it as an equitable resolution" (GOLFWEEK, 6/6).

BLINK FIRST: In Newark, Steve Politi asked: "Why did Monahan blink now?" The answer "likely lies in whatever his PGA Tour didn't want to surface during discovery." Monahan "makes the lawsuits go away, and for all intents and purposes, he makes LIV disappear along with them" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 6/6).

A WIN IS A WIN: GLOBAL GOLF POST's Jim Nugent writes at the "30,000-foot level, the stunning announcement" is a "clear win for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, short- and long-term." The "big immediate win" for the Saudis is the "cessation of legal hostilities." Nugent: "How important was this in the agreement? It was highlighted near the very top of the official communique about the deal." Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund "wanted nothing to do with the U.S. jurisprudence system." To do so was to "risk precedents that could effect the numerous other investments the kingdom has made in America." Transparency is "not something of which the Saudis are fond." Being "forced to disclose texts or other written communication through the discovery process was simply too big of a risk" (GLOBAL GOLF POST, 6/7).

The many unanswered questions after an historic day in sports business.

SBJ I Factor presented by Allied Sports features an interview with Danita Johnson, president of business operations for D.C. United and a member of Sports Business Journal's Forty Under 40 class of 2023. Johnson talks with SBJ's Abe Madkour about learning how to sell and to not fear change, becoming an effective manager, the importance of empathy as a leadership trait, and what to look for when evaluating job candidates. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine's awards, such as Forty Under 40, Game Changers and others.

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PGA Tour-PIF Deal PIECE OF THE PIE THE ALMIGHTY DOLLAR INVESTING IN THE RIGHT SPOTS BLINK FIRST A WIN IS A WIN MORE TO COME Small group of power players negotiated PGA Tour's PIF deal Sportswashing a major claim in PGA Tour's merger with PIF SPONSORED CONTENT ADDITIONAL SECTIONS PODCASTS SBJ TV
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