What I read was that the PGA tour, the DP tour (Europe) and LIV have merged. PGA Tour gets to appoint a majority of the board members.
Yeah, he really bristles when he sees a fat, juicy scam unfolding without him getting a cut (or is he)...
Meh, watching golf is like watching paint dry. But, if someone is willing to pay more for your services and then pay any fees for breaking your contract, then that's the free market system at work. Screw the PGA, they should have come up with more money for their players.
That’s the thing. It isn’t exactly a free market when a govt is 100% bankrolling it. The PGA tour is constrained by corporate advertisers who expect a financial ROI on their advertising. The Saudi’s aren’t doing it for a financial ROI. There is no way the math was adding up in any traditional sense. It’s 100% government image. China apparently tried this a few years back in soccer/football. They created a super league and started drastically overpaying some top players (more than any real club with normal real world financial constraints would pay). Unsurprisingly, it didn’t work out. That tends to happen when nobody is watching the sport. LIV was doomed (imo), so the PGA could have just waited them out, until the Saudi’s got bored burning cash for a product nobody watched. But instead of watching that $2billion evaporate the PGA decided they wanted a piece of that action. That puts them in league with the likes of FIFA and Formula 1 as far as taking that dirty money. Of course other leagues do business with China (NBA) and that isn’t much different either. I don’t think people care if it’s hidden behind sponsorships or isn’t disrupting the normal flow of the sport, the only reason this one was different is the Saudi Govt tried to actually create a direct competitor, and it involved directly hiring players. Imagine if they did that with something like NBA or NFL, tried to set up a league funded by their govt. It would be ludicrous.
Yep, it's funded by government. But, not our government. If anyone should be pissed it would be the people of SA (or China) for providing the funding. Oh, wait a minute, they can't or else they will get disappeared. I don't think our government is going to get in the business of legislating how these sports associations operate. Who cares if another country wants to spend trillions to by the NFL. The Owners and the league (or the golfers) could always refuse the money. That would fix it too.
To those that have followed this saga I find this amusing. All we heard was about the immorality of LIV. How they were ruining golf and how horrible of a choice the golfers who went with LIV were making. So now they merge. Guess their oil blood money still Spends the same
Well, I've quit watching horse racing. I don't need to quit watching golf because I've never watched it anyway. I try not to watch the NFL, but I watch part of some games anyway simply because they're there. I mean, it's football, like it or not. And at least I don't think the ridiculous NFL salaries involve any blood money. Wait, maybe that's a good idea for a movie. "The NFL Murders," starring... are William Powell and Myrna Loy still around?
PGA just sold their souls. Wow. wonder if they were in financial straits? Reached out to a relative who is an exec at a Big advertiser. A giant “no comment, what a ahit show” In world of FU money where you just buy everyone, they are Princes
The guys that left for LIV are laughing all the way to the bank. They have their big money contracts and will get to play on the PGA as well.
I've heard the opposite. LIV was in financial straits. Hemorrhaging money, obviously. And going nowhere/gaining no traction. PGA had the chance to expand its global brand and decided to sell its soul for more loot. They're thinking they can be global like F1
SVP nails it.. 9/11 Families United: 'PGA Tour leaders should be ashamed of their hypocrisy' | Golf Channel