LIV was claiming sovereign immunity. They lost that argument so now must produce contracts for PGA to examine in PGA lawsuit claiming that LIV interfered int heir business by offering extravagant contracts to entice players to break their contracts with the PGA. Saudi Fund Ordered to Provide Evidence in PGA-LIV Golf Suit (msn.com) The PGA Tour Inc. won a court ruling directing Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund to provide evidence in an acrimonious antitrust battle with LIV Golf, the rival upstart backed by the oil-rich kingdom. US Magistrate Judge Susan Van Keulen granted PGA’s request to force the Public Investment Fund and its governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, to testify under oath and produce documents. With a subpoena, the PGA will be able to gather additional material to bolster its claims that LIV unlawfully pushed players to break contracts with the US-based tour by offering them exorbitant sums of money. Attorneys for the Saudi fund had argued that sovereign immunity shields PIF and Al-Rumayyan from providing evidence in US courts. Van Keulen rejected that argument. A federal district judge in San Jose, California, has set a hearing in May on a separate request by the PGA to allow it to revise its claims to include the fund and its chief as defendants.
Many products are bought and sold to the highest bidder. NCAA coaches are often enticed to coach at a rival school willing to pay more money. Some elite HS recruits are rumored to sign with the highest bidder. I guess the Tour has some contract language that was violated by the LIV org.
To be clear, LIV sued PGA Tour and the PGA Tour then counter sued LIV. LIV has its own claims against the Tour. Personally I think both are trash.
From context, I am guessing tortious interference. Very simplistically, you can induce those that are not contractually bound (or if their contract has certain terms that make it “breakable”), but you can’t simply induce them to breach. That’s very simplistic, many qualifications, but that is what it sounds like
PGA Tour, LIV Golf agree to merge in historic end to golf hostilities Really weird. Not sure what to make of this.
Saw a piece (maybe 60 Minutes) awhile back about how much money the Saudis are pouring into sports. Suggestion that all the spending is a loss-leader intended to soften public opinion and distract from their authoritarian and civil rights issues.
According to someone I know that knows these things, no players were aware this was happening. I thought LIV was floundering, there must he massive amounts of money being moved around here.
Sounds like PGA Tour caved for some of that sweet, sweet Saudi $$$$. Of course the tour wouldn’t have had an issue in the first place if LIV wasn’t created as a direct competitor - buying off individual players. The issue is those individual players were effectively taking $$$ straight from a foreign government. That borderline makes them agents of a foreign government in my eyes, especially with so much of the commentary resulting from it. The very definition of “sports washing” when the athletes are literally paid agents of a government. It was quite sad to see them do that. Just shows it wasn’t much of a principled stand by the PGA tour, especially with how much control they apparently gave up to the Saudi’s. On the surface it seems the PGA caved, but it’s also true that LIV itself couldn’t have been sustainable for very long (it was an endless cash sink at the rate it was going). But at least the LIV players shouldn’t have to beclown themselves in the same way anymore. Now they can all sportswash together!
That's nuts if true. Bet there's some heated convos right now. Some speculation that the PGA tours non profit status may have come into question if discovery had continued in the lawsuits.