Jump to content
IGNORED

LIV Golf (Saudi PIF), "Mergers," and More


iacas

Recommended Posts

The real mind-blowing thing is they way the Saudis are absolutely setting money on fire here. It's one thing when markets exist to pay athletes these amounts. This is different. 

I know the whole deal was never really about making money, but I'd be a bit upset if I were a citizen of Saudi Arabia. Three-years worth of John Rahm could have helped accomplish a lot of the nonsense that PIF puts on its webpage. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

  • Administrator
8 hours ago, saevel25 said:

Just looked this up, he's made 434.9 million over his career. He made 44 million last year.  Unless Rahm signed a 20 year deal or something, this is just stupid money that LIV is throwing around. I am not sure what else in the contract, how much is guaranteed, or maybe a lot of that is pro-rated winnings. Still, just stupid.

Okay, so the $600M (or $567 or $500 or whatever) is more than Lebron will make, but not the $300M.

50 minutes ago, mcanadiens said:

I know the whole deal was never really about making money, but I'd be a bit upset if I were a citizen of Saudi Arabia.

It is eventually. It's an investment fund.

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

LIV will do to golf what Elon has done for Twitter.

  • Upvote 2

:ping: G25 Driver Stiff :ping: G20 3W, 5W :ping: S55 4-W (aerotech steel fiber 110g shafts) :ping: Tour Wedges 50*, 54*, 58* :nike: Method Putter Floating clubs: :edel: 54* trapper wedge

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

  • Administrator

 

  • Like 1

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

1 hour ago, iacas said:

Okay, so the $600M (or $567 or $500 or whatever) is more than Lebron will make, but not the $300M.

Yea, I posted the Lebron money because I thought he would have made more over his career. 

For more context. 

Patrick Mahomes has a 450 million contract. 

Forbes has a top-10 highest paid athlete (which includes off the field earnings, but they split it). 

Ronaldo: 45 million / year
Messi: 65 million / year
Mbappe': 100 million / year
Lebron: 44.5 million / year
Dustin Johnson: 102 million / year
Phil Mickelson: 104 million / year

If Rahm's deal is 567 million, it is probably for 5 years. Which would put him at 113 million / year. Which makes sense if the market value for him is more than DJ and Phil. Which makes absolutely no sense in terms of sports popularity and actual sport athlete value. 

Football "Soccer" is the most popular sport in the world, so that makes more sense. 

 

Matt Dougherty, P.E.
 fasdfa dfdsaf 

What's in My Bag
Driver; :pxg: 0311 Gen 5,  3-Wood: 
:titleist: 917h3 ,  Hybrid:  :titleist: 915 2-Hybrid,  Irons: Sub 70 TAIII Fordged
Wedges: :edel: (52, 56, 60),  Putter: :edel:,  Ball: :snell: MTB,  Shoe: :true_linkswear:,  Rangfinder: :leupold:
Bag: :ping:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

  • Administrator
16 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

If Rahm's deal is 567 million, it is probably for 5 years.

Supposedly three.

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

It will be mildly interesting to see how the ratings numbers will be after spending a bucket of cash for Rahm.  LIV ratings weren't all that great last year and will Rahm really move the needle that much upwards. 

I'm not sure I'd even watch an LIV event if it had the top 48 players in the world rankings every couple of weeks. Watching the same guys, play for buckets of cash, in a goofy golf format, that has no cut, is just not that interesting.

-Jerry

Driver: Titleist 913 D3 (9.5 degree) – Aldila RIP 60-2.9-Stiff; Callaway Mini-Driver Kura Kage 60g shaft - 12 degree Hybrids: Callway X2 Hot Pro - 16 degree & 23 degree – Pro-Shaft; Callway X2 Hot – 5H & 6H Irons: Titleist 714 AP2 7 thru AW with S300 Dynamic Gold Wedges: Titleist Vokey GW (54 degree), Callaway MackDaddy PM Grind SW (58 degree) Putter: Ping Cadence TR Ketsch Heavy Balls: Titleist Pro V1x & Snell MyTourBall

"Golf is the closest game to the game we call life. You get bad breaks from good shots; you get good breaks from bad shots but you have to play the ball where it lies."- Bobby Jones

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

2 hours ago, mcanadiens said:

The real mind-blowing thing is they way the Saudis are absolutely setting money on fire here. It's one thing when markets exist to pay athletes these amounts. This is different. 

I know the whole deal was never really about making money, but I'd be a bit upset if I were a citizen of Saudi Arabia. Three-years worth of John Rahm could have helped accomplish a lot of the nonsense that PIF puts on its webpage. 

 

This is money well spent. From my perspective, when an individual of Rahm's image thinks it is fine to collude with the Saudis, it is hard to overstate the severity of the blow to our collective psyche. 

It doesn't matter how lame the actual golf is. They continue being in the news. They continue winning players we deem to have conscience. This is how normalizing of what was once unacceptable works IMHO.

Edited by GolfLug

Vishal S.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

I'm just waiting on the LIV flagsticks to be replaced with stripper poles, then I'll watch.

  • Funny 2

 :tmade: Stealth2 driver, 3 Fairway  :titleist: TSR 4 Hy. T-300 5-PW  :vokey: 52/56/60 SM9

:scotty_cameron: Newport Select 2 (2022 model) 

:snell: MTB Prime 3.0, :adidas: Tour360 22

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

4 hours ago, GolfLug said:

This is money well spent. From my perspective, when an individual of Rahm's image thinks it is fine to collude with the Saudis, it is hard to overstate the severity of the blow to our collective psyche. 

It doesn't matter how lame the actual golf is. They continue being in the news. They continue winning players we deem to have conscience. This is how normalizing of what was once unacceptable works IMHO.

Is it really though?

Surely it sucks for pro golf fans to watch these guys sign with LIV, but if spending all this money is purely sportswashing, is it really producing results?  Rahm takes his money and plays on the has-been team circuit. May as well of retired and taken up shuffleboard. It's big news in the golf world, but did anyone else even notice? 

I guess it is hard to quantify whether people's attitudes toward Saudi Arabia have actually softened. I'm not really seeing it here. 

 

 

Edited by mcanadiens
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

5 hours ago, jsgolfer said:

I'm not sure I'd even watch an LIV event if it had the top 48 players in the world rankings every couple of weeks. Watching the same guys, play for buckets of cash, in a goofy golf format, that has no cut, is just not that interesting.

I agree the current format isn't great. But if it weren't so poisoned by being like the Leni Riefenstahl content for the rulers of Saudi with their medieval values, I could totally get into the team aspect of it. Like, imagine a new PGA with teams where, say, half the tournaments each year are team only – as in no individual prizes – with 4 rounds and cuts and varying formats: total team score, best ball team score, team match play brackets, alternate shot, hell even a scramble or shamble! And then the other half of the tournaments are of the traditional, current PGAT format. That would be super fun!

Matt

Mid-Weight Heavy Putter
Cleveland Tour Action 60˚
Cleveland CG15 54˚
Nike Vapor Pro Combo, 4i-GW
Titleist 585h 19˚
Tour Edge Exotics XCG 15˚ 3 Wood
Taylormade R7 Quad 9.5˚

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

"Wells Fargo, which has sponsored the PGA Tour’s annual event in Charlotte, North Carolina, since 2011, will discontinue its partnership with the tour after the 2024 season, according to Erik Spanberg of the Charlotte Business Journal.

The Financial Services company wanted to stay on as a sponsor beyond 2024, but did not want to commit to the rising financial costs that the PGA Tour demanded, per Josh Carpenter of Sports Business Journal.

That, of course, is a direct result of LIV Golf, and the endless sum of money that the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) has in its vaults.

The PIF has over $700 billion in assets, whereas the PGA Tour is a $1 billion not-for-profit."

 

 

The  best  course  of action for the  PGA now  is to make a  deal with LIV and  move  on.

Same dumb schtick since joining.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


bad choice.gif

Craig
What's in the :ogio: Silencer bag (on the :clicgear: cart)
Driver: :callaway: Razr Fit 10.5°  
5 Wood: :tmade: Burner  
Hybrid: :cobra: Baffler DWS 20°
Irons: :ping: G400 
Wedge: :ping: Glide 2.0 54° ES grind 
Putter: :heavyputter:  midweight CX2
:aimpoint:,  :bushnell: Tour V4

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

I have to admit to never having been a big fan of Rahm's and I wasn't really sure why.....until now.

  • Clubs: Ping, Edison, Maltby, Callaway, SeeMore
  • Other: Maxfli Tour or Vice Pro; Callaway ORG 7 bag; Shot Scope X5; True Linkswear 
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

2 hours ago, jxdama said:

That, of course, is a direct result of LIV Golf, and the endless sum of money that the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) has in its vaults

I did read an article stating this is actually over assumed. It mentioned how many previous investments in the billions have come up short. That ‘Utopia’ deal, IIRC, was one that was mentioned. Apparently the PIF has been quite liberal in pouring out large sums of money to where SA was starting to tighten the reins a bit on this outpouring.

:ping: G25 Driver Stiff :ping: G20 3W, 5W :ping: S55 4-W (aerotech steel fiber 110g shafts) :ping: Tour Wedges 50*, 54*, 58* :nike: Method Putter Floating clubs: :edel: 54* trapper wedge

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

9 hours ago, iacas said:

Okay, so the $600M (or $567 or $500 or whatever) is more than Lebron will make, but not the $300M.

It is eventually. It's an investment fund.

How does a guy have $57 million in career earnings, plus endorsements, and only have an estimated net worth of $25 million?

But then again, what the hell do I know?

Rich - in name only

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

10 hours ago, mcanadiens said:

but I'd be a bit upset if I were a citizen of Saudi Arabia

Their public face is a joke. PIF is basically a private fund for the royal family and its friends. Citizens of SA have no say nor the freedom to complain about its investments.

 

9 hours ago, iacas said:

It is eventually. It's an investment fund.

Right. And I wouldn't be surprised if ten years down the road, it will end up being a very good investment. Say what you want about PIF (I do 😉 ), they're not dumb.

 

9 hours ago, Vinsk said:

LIV will do to golf what Elon has done for Twitter.

Hope not! Golf is stronger than Twitter. 💪

7 hours ago, GolfLug said:

This is money well spent.

Agreed. Especially if you buy the argument that they did this for negotiation leverage. One of the strategies discussed in this good Athletic article:


Rahm, the 2023 Masters champion, will reportedly receive more than a half-billion dollars to leave the PGA Tour.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Want to join this community?

    We'd love to have you!

    Sign Up
  • TST Partners

    TourStriker PlaneMate
    Golfer's Journal
    ShotScope
    The Stack System
    FlightScope Mevo
    Direct: Mevo, Mevo+, and Pro Package.

    Coupon Codes (save 10-15%): "IACAS" for Mevo/Stack, "IACASPLUS" for Mevo+/Pro Package, and "THESANDTRAP" for ShotScope. 15% off TourStriker (no code).
  • Posts

    • Wordle 1,205 5/6 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟨🟩⬜🟩⬜ ⬜🟩🟨🟩🟩 🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
    • I know the camera angle is terrible but I wasn't to be bothered by anything. This a straight up caveman hit. No structural or dynamic positional thoughts. Wanted to clean up my palate of too many competing thoughts. Still committed to getting my pelvis and trail elbow moving correctly but I'm just fighting myself a bit too much at the moment.
    • Wordle 1,205 X/6* 🟨🟨⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟨🟨⬜⬜ 🟩🟩⬜🟩⬜ 🟩🟩⬜🟩⬜ 🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩 Two in a row - a first of the worst kind…
    • Wordle 1,205 4/6 ⬜🟨🟨⬜🟨 ⬜🟩⬜🟩🟨 ⬜🟩🟨🟩⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
    • Wordle 1,205 2/6 ⬜🟨🟨⬜🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Welcome to TST! Signing up is free, and you'll see fewer ads and can talk with fellow golf enthusiasts! By using TST, you agree to our Terms of Use, our Privacy Policy, and our Guidelines.

The popup will be closed in 10 seconds...