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Mark Schlabach
CloseMark Schlabach
Senior writer at ESPN
- Senior college football writer
- Author of seven books about college football
- Graduate of the University of Georgia
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Don Van Natta Jr
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Don Van Natta Jr
Senior writer at ESPN
- Host and co-executive producer of the new ESPN series “Backstory”
- Member of three Pulitzer Prize-winning teams for national, explanatory, and public service journalism
- Author of three books, including the New York Times bestseller First Off the Tee: Presidential Hackers, Duffers, Cheats from Taft to Bush.
- He worked as a journalist for 24 years at the New York Times and the Miami Herald
A multibillion-dollar deal between a group of famous American sports team owners and the PGA Tour is imminent, sources told ESPN on Friday, with the tour still hoping to reach a similar agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
The agreement with Strategy Sports Group, a consortium of billionaire team owners that includes Tom Werner, John Henry (Boston Red Sox), Arthur Blank (Atlanta Falcons) and Wyke Groesbeck (Boston Celtics), would pump more than $3 billion into a new soccer venture. Foot. The for-profit entity is PGA Tour Enterprises, sources said.
The PGA Tour is also continuing talks with officials from the Public Investment Fund, which funds the rival LIV golf league. If an agreement is reached with both the Strategic Sports Group and PIF, more than $7 billion could be pumped into PGA Tour Enterprises, which would combine the business assets of the PGA Tour, PIF and the DP World Tour.
A deal with Strategy Sports Group could be announced before the end of the year. The PGA Tour, DP World Tour and PIF signed a framework agreement to form a partnership on June 6. The agreement is set to expire on December 31, although sources told ESPN that it will likely be extended if progress is made.
Under the terms of the agreements, the PGA Tour will retain control of the new for-profit entity; The Strategic Sports Group and the Public Investment Fund will be minority shareholders.
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and PIF Governor Yasser Al-Rumayyan are scheduled to meet next week, after previously scheduled meetings were postponed.
There is an increased urgency to get deals done, after the LIV Golf League signed another PGA Tour star, Spain’s Jon Rahm, on December 7. $300 million to move to the LIV Golf League.
“It was nothing more than a shot across the bow,” said a source familiar with the negotiations. “The PIF was happy to attract anyone, even someone who was adamant not to join. Three hundred million dollars is a rounding error for the Saudis. Their message was: ‘You want to keep fighting with us, really?’ You want to keep fighting.” “Talk to everyone and get us fired? Good luck with that.” This is their message.”
The original framework agreement between the PIF and the Tour included a clause prohibiting the parties from recruiting each other’s players. It was removed due to concerns raised by regulators from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, which was already investigating the PGA Tour’s alleged monopolistic business practices.
Sources told ESPN last week that the LIV Golf League is recruiting other PGA Tour players to fill spots on the team Rahm will captain.
“Yasser held off for a while, but as he kept reading about all these other suitors, I think he just decided, let’s go after the Masters champion, the guy who said he wouldn’t be bought at any price, and give him a title.” “A price he couldn’t refuse,” the source said. “The lesson here is that if you have enough money, you can do whatever you want in America. The Saudis have discovered that. Yasser understands that.”
The potential deals would stabilize a fractured sport that has been plagued by player defections, a federal antitrust lawsuit and rising operational costs as rival circuits vie for the world’s best golfers over the past two years.
On Sunday, the PGA Tour Policy Board, which includes six player directors and five independent directors, sent an email to players, informing them that the board had voted unanimously to continue negotiations with the strategic sports group.
The Policy Board also considered offers from other US-based equity groups, including Endeavor, the parent company of WWE; Ultimate Fighting Championship. And the sports agency IMG. A multibillion-dollar bid from Acorn Growth Company, an Oklahoma City-based private equity investment firm working in the aerospace, defense, intelligence and space industries, was also considered.
“The biggest benefit of making a deal with the Public Investment Fund is that they are not Jon Rahm attacking you to death,” the source said. “It’s not as if the tour can’t get billions elsewhere. There are very deep pockets that want to get in. The tour doesn’t really want to be in bed with the Saudis, but they have a lot of money, a lot of power – they can still destroy you.” . “This is what Ram’s signature indicated.”
The Saudis were initially reluctant to be part of a deal with the PGA Tour that included other US-based investors. But becoming partners with high-profile franchisees like Henry, Blanc and others was attractive. The Strategic Sports Group also includes Mark Attanasio (Milwaukee Brewers), Cohen Private Ventures (New York Mets), Tom Ricketts (Chicago Cubs), and Marc Lasry (Milwaukee Bucks, former co-owner).
“They’re dealing with all these billionaire American sports moguls,” a source said. “It’s a long game for them. They never stop golfing. They want a piece of everything.”
Even if deals with the Strategic Sports Group and PIF are reached before the end of the year, it could be several months before top golfers play in the same tournaments again. The deals are expected to come under intense scrutiny by the US Department of Justice’s antitrust division, which has expanded its investigation to include the proposed alliance between the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and the Public Investment Fund once the framework agreement is announced.
The PGA Tour is also still grappling with how to punish its members who have signed with LIV Golf and may want to return. Monahan has suspended more than 30 players who participated in LIV Golf tournaments without issuing conflicting events. One committee is trying to devise a tiered system of potential discipline.
The future of the LIV Golf League and the golf team in the men’s professional golf ecosystem remains a sticking point for PIF officials, sources said. Greg Norman, CEO and commissioner of LIV Golf, told ESPN this week that his department “will always remain an independent entity,” whether or not the PIF reaches an agreement with the PGA Tour.
While the LIV Golf League has attracted several former major champions, including Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, and Bryson DeChambeau, with guaranteed contracts worth more than $100 million and the richest purses in the history of the sport, it has struggled to obtain foothold. With golf fans in the United States, with average television ratings and few sponsors.
However, the LIV Golf League, with its unique format of 54 holes, a shotgun start, and team and individual competitions running simultaneously, has forced massive changes to both tours and pumped billions of dollars into the sport.
“Golf has been stuck in a box for 53 years and has been looked at the same way all the time,” Norman said. “We realized there were other opportunities. Our investor realized there was an opportunity to invest in golf, which is the team model, the franchise model. And now we see equity funds looking to invest in the PGA Tour with the opportunity to grow that as well.”
“So I applaud the LIV platform and LIV for opening up and then disclosing that and putting more money back into golf, which is so important for players and for stakeholders and all the other organizations in golf.”
Norman said he hopes the PGA Tour and PIF can reach an agreement. Norman said PIF tried to invest in the PGA Tour and DP World Tour two years ago but was rejected.
“The department has come from where we were two years ago to where it is today,” Norman said.
“I’ll just say this: the narrative coming out of LIV has been consistent and we haven’t changed,” he added. “The narrative from the other side of the golf world has fluctuated dramatically from players to institutions. And that narrative is now going backwards.
“So you can see the pure truth that competition is a great thing in golf. It’s a great thing in life and business and sports. So we’ve been consistent. We’re going to remain consistent. And my responsibility, as I’ve told you before, is to continue to grow and make sure LIV gets More and more value is built into it every tournament and every year.
PGA Tour players will receive a share of the multibillion-dollar investment. In a memo to players dated Nov. 14, Monahan said the PGA Tour would provide its members with direct ownership in PGA Tour Enterprises.
“At the point where we secure outside investment, this will be a unique offering in professional sports, as no other league gives its players/members direct equity ownership in the league’s business,” Monahan wrote. “We recognize – as do all potential minority investors who engage in dialogue with us – that the PGA Tour will be stronger with our players more closely aligned with the commercial success of the business.”
The world of sports is abuzz with the news that a US sports team ownership group is on the cusp of finalizing a deal with the PGA Tour. The specifics of the agreement are shrouded in secrecy, but sources close to the negotiations have revealed that both parties are in advanced talks and that an announcement could come in the near future. This potential partnership has sent shockwaves through the sports industry, with many speculating about the potential implications and benefits for both the PGA Tour and the US sports team ownership group. As the details continue to unfold, the excitement and anticipation surrounding this development only continue to grow.