PGA TOUR, DP World Tour and PIF announce newly formed commercial entity (*** NO POLITICS ***)

[MaineMariner]

So today is a very good day for the "shut up and dribble" crowd. We get a unified professional golf league again!

 

But like, genuinely horrible on a geopolitical front. Although we don't know the full details yet, I think it's safe to say that a foreign government now owns a top-tier professional sports league. And a pretty awful foreign government, at that.

 

Yikes. Just... yikes. I feel kinda sick. This feels monumental. 

[Double Dodger]

19 minutes ago, caniac6 said:

Hope PGA tournaments don’t turn into the circus that LIV tournaments are.

You mean like Phoenix?

[grm24]

3 minutes ago, 1t2golf said:

 

They're part of the merger.

Yep. There will still be the PGA Tour, DP Tour and LIV Tours all under the same umbrella. 

[cassel191919]

11 minutes ago, N8dogg2669 said:

 

Sorry to see you lose a sport, I'm guessing if you put aside the media propaganda behind it you could bear to watch again. I'm sure you use 20 different services or products on a daily basis that are being funded by the same PIF fund and you manage just fine. No real difference here. 

where the money comes from wasn't a big deal honestly, it was the payment even if you suck part. I liked that you had to play great and work hard at your game to make a living, that is gone now from the sounds of it.

[GolfinDave]

If it opens a path to a better team event setup, Team Titleist, TaylorMade, etc., or US / EU / Rest of World, that would be fun. I don't get the current LIV team setup. Hopefully they can create a better overall product for the game. I wonder if the entity will seek anti-trust immunity like other US-based leagues. Also, what will happen with worldwide events. So many questions, but hopeful it turns into a great viewing product. 

[Cincy_Ken]

1 minute ago, mbb86 said:

So how in the ever living hell did LIV manage to strong arm the PGA tour into a truce out of all this?! 

Seems like they were terrified of losing the antitrust case.  Loyal PGA guys are going to be infuriated but early guess is the PGA lawyers told them to settle.  

[hunterdog]

I was opposed to LIV Golf because of the Saudis, sportswashing, 9/11, and human rights. With the merger, is there any way that I can watch televised golf in the future, without accepting that there are no morals that money cannot buy?

[tbowles411]

1 minute ago, N8dogg2669 said:

 

I could be wrong, but didn't LIV try to merge or be aligned with from the start of all this? In my opinion the PGAT brass looks like a bunch of morons. If I'm a player, I'm not happy with the leadership. Sure seems like the dirty laundry was enough to change some tunes. 

But now their words are going to come back to haunt them.  If they're not happy, where are they going to play?  They'll go along with it and take more money in the process.

[FuzzyKnuckles]

Wonder what the reaction would be if the Saudis bought the NFL?

[wildcatden]

3 minutes ago, mbb86 said:

The most interesting part of this, by far, is going to be the story of how we got here. 

 

Cam Smith and Bryson were legitimate losses for the PGA tour. Brooksie only cared about the majors anyway, so we didn't even really lose seeing Brooksie. I mean Harold Varner, Mito Pereira, and Joaquin Niemann, and Marc Leishman are also wonderful people, I'm sure, but let's be honest I didn't lose any sleep watching them post T15th at the Waste Management open. 

 

So how in the ever living hell did LIV manage to strong arm the PGA tour into a truce out of all this?! 

Im guessing Phil knew some stuff. 

[mbb86]

8 minutes ago, tgoodspe1991 said:

It's most likely this. LIV could've continued to invest billions into their own Tour with declining revenue, or merge with the PGAT to invest their money under the PGAT infrastructure. The players will all unite under one roof again, and there will be a handful of new events per year that bring all the Tours together and offer OWGR points, similar to WGC events.

 

This was the part that always baffled the hell out of me about this entire thing. The Saudis already had their huge a** European tour event that a lot of US guys went over to play anyway. How was the solution of "let's have the Saudis fund a few pseudo-majors a year with such ridiculous prize money that everyone will show up" not the Nash equilibrium from Day 1?! 

 

Instead we got all the bull**** from the last 2 years only for that to be the solution anyway. And it's even worse for the PGA tour because now they are a part of the same entity explicitly! If they just let the Saudis create their own pseudo-majors from Day 1, then everyone could have just gone on their lovely way from the get go. 

 

PGA tour leadership is so incredibly incompetent. It's truly amazing. 

Edited June 6, 2023 by mbb86

[03trdblack]

So basically the lawsuit was going to make both sides show all of their dirty secrets from both tours to the public and they decided merging was better than letting that happen.  

[jonsnow]

 

[KarstenK]

Lol Norman “just got the call about this a few moments ago” 

[MichaelGFox]

Just now, Cincy_Ken said:

Seems like they were terrified of losing the antitrust case.  Loyal PGA guys are going to be infuriated but early guess is the PGA lawyers told them to settle.  

it was obvious the tour was going to have to settle eventually. their only saving grace was Saudi withdraw to avoid discovery but im sure law stuff made it clear that wasnt going to happen so they settled considering they know they were fukced 

[krob]

Done…I guess now I won’t be watching golf..Jay needs to be fired wait Saudis bought him and the PGA tour it’s not a merger

[IH82BOGEY]

Winners:  Players that took the bag of cash, Norman

 

Losers:  Brandel, golf channel, Rory

[larciel]

1 minute ago, tbowles411 said:

Re-ignite is a strange word....hmmm....

Dp world tour was heavily involved with Saudi before.

Since pga took stand of 'PIF is blood money' , DPWT was shaking in its pants unable to do anything behind big PGA tour.

[tbowles411]

1 minute ago, FuzzyKnuckles said:

Wonder what the reaction would be if the Saudis bought the NFL?

Roger Goodell and the rest of the owners would take the money and run.

[MichaelGFox]

Just now, wildcatden said:

Im guessing Phil knew some stuff. 

obviously. anyone with a functioning brain knew phil had basis the last 2 years. if you didnt pull your head out of the sand because this stuff is happening more places then golf

[Yanki01]

3 minutes ago, Double Dodger said:

You mean like Phoenix?

That’s an exception. 

[MattyO1984]

2 minutes ago, hunterdog said:

I was opposed to LIV Golf because of the Saudis, sportswashing, 9/11, and human rights. With the merger, is there any way that I can watch televised golf in the future, without accepting that there are no morals that money cannot buy?

 

Majors and...not a lot else. Is the Hooters Tour still a thing?

[J_Tizzle]

If they bring the whole team stuff into the new tour, maybe this is where they had those rumors of "Team Nike" and $2B..  That makes a bit more sense now.

[wildcatden]

1 minute ago, hunterdog said:

I was opposed to LIV Golf because of the Saudis, sportswashing, 9/11, and human rights. With the merger, is there any way that I can watch televised golf in the future, without accepting that there are no morals that money cannot buy?

I don’t disagree that the Saudi’s did horrible things. But at what point do you invite them into civil society to move on? If their draconian society can be moved forward into the modern age, is that not a good thing? 

[tbowles411]

Just now, larciel said:

Dp world tour was heavily involved with Saudi before.

Since pga took stand of 'PIF is blood money' , DPWT was shaking in its pants unable to do anything behind big PGA tour.

I thought so!  I knew they were playing in Saudi Arabia for years before that.  DPWT has apparently been saved by Saudi money after all.

[JungleJimbo]

 

 

[larciel]

1 minute ago, 03trdblack said:

So basically the lawsuit was going to make both sides show all of their dirty secrets from both tours to the public and they decided merging was better than letting that happen.  

Yep.

 

How about the traditions of Players association of PGA!!!! 

'Be loyal !'.....and don't ask any f*cking questions' was what they want us to do.

[subrew]

43 minutes ago, AdmiralPicard said:

They’re going to have to try even harder to convince me to watch the FedEx Cup Exhibitions. 

 

Maybe the FedEx Cup final can be held in Saudi, next to the giant FedEx corporate offices.

[PJE]

Terrible news. 

Now let's roll the ball back so golf can be totally f---d. 

 

[BlackDiamondPar5]

3 minutes ago, hunterdog said:

I was opposed to LIV Golf because of the Saudis, sportswashing, 9/11, and human rights. With the merger, is there any way that I can watch televised golf in the future, without accepting that there are no morals that money cannot buy?

It depends on how much influence the  Saudi's will have, if any on promotional propaganda.