The PGA TOUR logo is seen after the game was halted due to severe storms during the third round of THE PLAYERS Championship held at THE PLAYERS Stadium in TPC Sawgrass on May 14, 2011 in Ponte Beach Vedra, Florida.
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The PGA Tour has begun publicly defending its deal with Saudi-backed LIV Golf in advance an important Senate hearing scheduled for Tuesday.
The tour’s CEO Ron Price, who is set to testify on Tuesday, gave a op-ed in The Athletic on Monday defended the deal and explained why it’s the best outcome for the future of golf. He also argued that the deal should not be seen as a merger.
“Given the well-documented legal disputes that already exist between the PGA Tour and the PIF, we understand the fair and valid questions raised by PGA Tour members, Tour partners, the media, fans and now Congress,” Price said in the editorial.
The news comes days after a reshuffle in the PGA Tour’s policy department, which added another wrinkle to the potentially bumpy road to agreement approval.
Former AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson on Saturday resigned from the PGA Tour policy board he has served on since 2012. Stephenson resigned as lawmakers appeared to be starting a broad investigation. about the merger between the PGA Tour and LIV, beginning with Tuesday’s Senate hearing.
Senator Richard Blumenthal and Senator Ron Johnson, chair and senior member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, convened the meeting on Tuesday. The senators asked officials from the tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund to appear before the panel.
While the senators are requesting testimony from PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, policy committee and independent director Jimmy Dunne will appear instead, the tour said in a statement last week. . Monahan was on a on leave due to an unspecified medical situation, but it was recently announced that he will return with his role on July 17.
Jay Monahan, PGA TOUR Commissioner, speaks during the trophy ceremony during the final round of THE PLAYERS Championship at THE PLAYERS Stadium at TPC Sawgrass on March 12, 2023 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
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“We look forward to appearing before the Senate Subcommittee to answer their questions about the framework agreement that keeps the PGA TOUR at the forefront of the future of professional golf and benefits players and fans alike. our football and our sport,” a PGA Tour representative said in a statement. recent statement.
The tour had no comment other than Price’s post on Monday.
The senators had said in an earlier letter that the subcommittee would consider the proposed deal and the Saudi fund’s “US golf course investment, the risks associated with the government investment” foreign countries into American cultural institutions and the impact of this planned agreement on professional golf in the United States in the future.”
It is not known whether representatives of the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund will testify. Representatives for PIF did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Protect the deal
Last month, the PGA Tour and PIF’s LIV Golf, as well as Europe’s DP World Tour, agreed combine. While the specific terms and pricing of the deal have not been announced, a original framework of the proposed deal suggests it would create a for-profit subsidiary of the PGA Tour and that the new organization would manage commercial assets for all tours. The PGA Tour will administer the competitions.
The proposed deal shocked the sports world — including the league’s own players — after months of tension between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, which resulted in both organizations filing anti-toxic complaints mutual rights. All litigation between the two parties was dropped as part of the proposed settlement.
Price, in Monday’s post, acknowledged the deal was a surprise after two years of “unprecedented conflict”.
Negotiations are still ongoing and the framework for ending the dispute between the two entities. Price suggested that due to the confidential nature of the deal, “much of the initial reaction was negative, due to miscommunication or misunderstanding.”
“It’s something we fully own and deeply regret. Going forward, we firmly believe that the more we discuss and understand the facts, the more our voters will be able to support a deal. unequivocally potential — if achievable — and look forward to having a positive and lasting impact on all levels of our game,” Price said in Monday’s op-ed.
The two entities have been embroiled in antitrust lawsuits since last year. LIV sued the tour, alleging anticompetitive practices for banning their players, while the tour protested, alleging that LIV was strangling competition.
Price has defended the bracket deal so far as a favorable outcome not only for the tournament but for professional golf as a whole. He said the agreement “provides clear, unambiguous and lasting safeguards to ensure the PGA Tour will guide the decisions that will shape our future and that we will be in control of our operations, strategy and operations.” strategy and continuity of its mission.”
He added that if the parties reach an agreement, it will allow for further investment in players, events, venues, communities and technology. PIF said it will invest billions of dollars in the new organization.
Price also argued that the deal “is not a merger.” The tour would remain intact, he wrote, and the newly formed subsidiary would include PIF as a minority, non-controlling investor, as in “many other American businesses.” The majority of the PGA Tour Enterprises leadership board will be appointed by the tour and run by Monahan.
Following the announcement, top tennis player Rory McIlroy – who had repeatedly criticized LIV Golf during the years of discord – expressed agitation about the proposed deal known as a merger.
Controversial LIV
Controversy has surrounded LIV since its inception in 2022. The PIF is not publicly held and is a sovereign wealth fund controlled by bin Salman. Critics have accused the fund of “washing sports” or using LIV and other sports investments to improve the oil-rich nation’s image and distract from the kingdom’s history of human rights abuses. .
Stephenson in his resignation letter on Saturday to board members pointed to one of those alleged violations.
The tour informed its members Sunday night of Stephenson’s departure from the policy board, according to a memo seen by CNBC. It notes that “there is no specific timeframe within which a successor independent director must be appointed.” The remaining four independent directors, in consultation with the board’s five director of players and PGA director, will work together to take up the position.
In the memo, he wrote that he had “serious concerns” about the proposed deal and whether he could objectively evaluate or support it due to US intelligence reports. review Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman order to kill by journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. Previous memo report by the Washington Post.
Stephenson’s concerns about accepting Saudi investment were similar to those of others on the trip, along with politicians. Stephenson did not respond to a request for comment.
An American intelligence Report from 2021 shows that the crown prince of Saudi Arabia approved the campaign to capture or kill journalist Khashoggi in 2018. It cites bin Salman’s control of decision-making in Saudi Arabia, as well as his involvement. a key adviser and members of the prince’s guard in the case. operation that killed Khashoggi, a critic of the royal family.
Lawmakers have cast doubt on the merger since Golf Tours announced it. Top Democratic Senators have call out antitrust concerns and has prompted an investigation into the merger.
“Fans, players and concerned citizens have many questions about the planned agreement between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf,” Johnson said in a release last month.
Although the Investigative Subcommittee has broad authority to probe issues including corporate abuse, committee hearings are relatively rare and often mark the beginning of a longer investigation. The merger hearing is the committee’s second this year.
Prior to scheduling the meeting, Blumenthal announced his intention to investigate the agreement in light of Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses.
When the deal was announced, Monahan acknowledged the shock and anger it caused players.
The LIV Golf events were met with outcry, especially from family members of those who were killed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers on the day that day came from Saudi Arabia and Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the attacks, was born in the country. US officials concluded that Saudi nationals helped fund the terrorist group al-Qaeda, although investigations did not find that Saudi officials were complicit in the killings. attack.
Members of the 9/11 group Family United criticized the deal. They also criticized Monahan for remarks in an interview last summer, when he said he discussed the 9/11 connection with PGA Tour players and suggested hosting stands on a higher moral foundation than LIV.
Monahan said in an interview with CBS Sports: “I think you have to live under a rock to not know there are significant impacts. “I would ask any player who has left or any player who is considering leaving, ‘Have you ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA tour?'”
