LIV Golf Now Closed?

[Rick Graham]

I dont care why monahan did 180, all i know is i agree with Norman, lets get the worlds best playing against each other on an elite world tour

[Elmer]

13 minutes ago, Rick Graham said:

I dont care why monahan did 180, all i know is i agree with Norman, lets get the worlds best playing against each other on an elite world tour

Didn't we have that before, and bunch of the best went to grow the game by playing less golf against trash players?

[GolfLug]

4 hours ago, iacas said:

And I'm saying that they don't just get to do that whenever they want. They can be asked to increase their investment, and get the first right of refusal should the new entity want/need/seek more capital.

Furthermore, that doesn't necessarily increase their ownership stake.

Correct. An owner can force an action like tear down the building or fire the staff or whatever, but an investor (even if majority) can only threaten to pull or actually pull funding as the most severe action, at which point the owner can seek another investor. There is a significant difference. 

Edited June 7, 2023 by GolfLug

[Hardluckster]

6 hours ago, saevel25 said:

Broker a truce does not mean knowledge of merger. That article clearly lacks statements or other facts to say that Rory knew of the merger. 

Rory knew that talks were occurring, by his own admission. You are correct though in that this article, nor others that I have read, give specific facts to show that he knew of the merger/acquisition. I would guess that he (along with a select few other players) was privy to that knowledge but I don’t know that. 

[iacas]

2 hours ago, Rick Graham said:

Greg Norman has been pushing this since the early 90s.  Norman started this idea long ago and has been chastised for a long time-'he wins, fans win!

No, man. It’s still not a world tour. It’s still the PGA Tour and the DPWT. And the Korn Ferry Tour.

Norman is a loser today. He didn’t even find out before the rest of the world did.

[GolfLug]

9 minutes ago, iacas said:

Norman is a loser today. He didn’t even find out before the rest of the world did.

If I were Norman, I would wonder if I am about to be unemployed. 

[mdl]

This is such a bummer. The Saudis won. They own all pro golf now. The whole investor/owner distinction is BS. The money gets to make the calls at the end of the day. I wish Rory and Tiger would go start a player-owned tour. Let the PGA be LIV: a few greedy top 20 guys, some has-beens, and a bunch of minor leaguers.

[jbishop15]

Rory's comments are such a bummer, and such unbelievable spin. As a "golf league" it wasn't that interesting or noteworthy -- a bunch of guys took a golden parachute into retirement golf. The issue is that the Saudi's were the only source of funding, which meant getting into bed with their vile politicians. Rory knows that, or at least I hope he does. Though, I guess, it's worse -- knowing better and still doing the wrong thing. 

I hate this so much. 

[chspeed]

1 hour ago, DeadMan said:

I agree with everything in your post, but I think this should say "for now." If the PIF pumps in $5 billion initially and the PGA Tour comes back in 2 years asking for more, they're not just getting that money for nothing in return.

And yes, I will keep making this point over and over. 

Right. Private equity deals are filled with endless terms related to additional investments, changes of control scenarios, etc. I don't think the entire deal terms are public yet, and I'm not sure they'll ever be. We don't even know if they've worked out all those details yet.

[chspeed]

I know we're not supposed to talk politics in a vacuum, but this really relates to the PGAT.

If He Who Shall Not Be Named is in any way significant way involved in the PGAT, I personally will stop watching. For me, that's a bigger issue than Saudi blood money.

[boogielicious]

25 minutes ago, chspeed said:

I know we're not supposed to talk politics in a vacuum, but this really relates to the PGAT.

If He Who Shall Not Be Named is in any way significant way involved in the PGAT, I personally will stop watching. For me, that's a bigger issue than Saudi blood money.

I don’t think he is at all. Also, I don’t think this deal would have happened if Greggy was involved either. They kicked him aside. He will try and claim he helped and got what he wanted, but the reality is the opposite. SA used his ego to start this thing and they have sponsorship now of the PGAT and DP world league. It was never Greggy’s intention to build a great world league. He just wanted to stick it to the PGAT. I think the PGAT came out on top but had to take money from SA, which is what saddens me the most.

[klineka]

30 minutes ago, chspeed said:

I know we're not supposed to talk politics in a vacuum, but this really relates to the PGAT.

If He Who Shall Not Be Named is in any way significant way involved in the PGAT, I personally will stop watching. For me, that's a bigger issue than Saudi blood money.

Him? 🤣

[iacas]

1 hour ago, jbishop15 said:

Rory's comments are such a bummer, and such unbelievable spin. As a "golf league" it wasn't that interesting or noteworthy -- a bunch of guys took a golden parachute into retirement golf. The issue is that the Saudi's were the only source of funding, which meant getting into bed with their vile politicians. Rory knows that, or at least I hope he does. Though, I guess, it's worse -- knowing better and still doing the wrong thing. 

I hate this so much. 

I do as well, but at the same time if you are Rory, what are your options? Retire? I mean, he could. But it’s basically retire, playing only the majors, or continue to play golf.

[Beastie]

1 hour ago, chspeed said:

I know we're not supposed to talk politics in a vacuum, but this really relates to the PGAT.

If He Who Shall Not Be Named is in any way significant way involved in the PGAT, I personally will stop watching. For me, that's a bigger issue than Saudi blood money.

Voldemort??

40 minutes ago, klineka said:

Him? 🤣

Well now I have egg on my face, late to the party again

[boogielicious]

58 minutes ago, klineka said:

Him? 🤣

Big Hitter Tom Riddle.

[iacas]

This reminds me of how Formula One works. In racing, the FIA owns the F1 series and determines the rules, and U.S.-based Liberty Media owns the commercial rights, and sets the schedule, sells TV rights, sponsorships and the like under a franchise granted by the FIA, which gets a percentage of the revenue.

The New Company (maybe they'll come up with a name soon) will own the commercial rights to the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf. The still-existing PGA Tour Inc. will run tournaments, etc., as will the DP World (European) Tour. LIV, I'm not sure, nor am I sure if current TV rights will be transferred to the New Company, but it seems so. The Saudis (PIF) will own a chunk of it, along with PGA Tour Inc. and the Euros, and pour money in to get that chunk, percentage unannounced.

The tricky part is the foreign ownership, whether Saudis or not. Will companies working with the Tour (from TV outlets to tournament owners) have to register under the Foreign Agent Registration Act? The phrase in the act: “any of whose activities are directly or indirectly supervised, directed, controlled, financed, or subsidized in whole or in major part by a 'foreign principal.'  An individual or entity can become an “agent” even without a contractual relationship or formal agreement with a 'foreign principal.'

[iacas]

[StuM]

19 hours ago, turtleback said:

Monahan pledged that he would be completely transparent, in his first presser as Tour Commissioner, and now I'm hearing that this has been the works for 7 weeks without any players knowing about.  I don't see how he survives.

I have a sense some LIV players may have known something.  Some pulled out of the cases against the PGAT in the last few weeks.  I find that curious.