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PGA Tour, LIV Golf extending merger talks into 2024 after ‘active and productive’ discussions

  • Nishadil
  • January 02, 2024
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PGA Tour, LIV Golf extending merger talks into 2024 after ‘active and productive’ discussions

Before the curtain closed on 2023, the PGA Tour informed its players in a memo that negotiations with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia would continue into the new year over the planned merger with LIV Golf. The sides had set a Dec. 31 deadline for the talks when the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, which is financed by the PIF, announced a framework agreement that shocked the sports world back in June.

In a memo sent to players on Sunday, commissioner Jay Monahan said they were making an effort to extend the deadline based on the progress that had been made and categorized the talks with the PIF as “active and productive,” according to a brief report on the PGA’s website. It also addressed the PGA Tour’s ongoing negotiations with Strategic Sports Group (SSG), a consortium of billionaire sports team owners, over a potential investment.

Monahan said that the two sides were close to finalizing a deal. “I am pleased to report that we have made meaningful progress and have provided SSG with the due diligence information they requested,” Monahan wrote, according to ESPN. “As we move forward in our discussions, we are focused on the finalization of terms and drafts of necessary documents.” A deal with SSG would infuse more than $3 billion into PGA Tour Enterprises, the new for profit being set up to combine the commercial operations of the PGA Tour, PIF and DP World Tour.

The PGA Tour is hoping that SSG, the PIF and DP World Tour will all be minority investors when the dust settles. Investments from both the PIF and SSG would bring in more than $7 billion to PGA Tour Enterprises. “These partnerships will allow us to unify, innovate and invest in the game for the benefit of players, fans and sponsors,” the PGA Tour commissioner wrote.

While Monahan presented positive developments to PGA Tour players in his memo, murmurs had begun to pop up last week that the sides wouldn’t be able to come to an agreement by the New Year’s Eve deadline. The Telegraph reported last Thursday that an announcement was expected that the PGA Tour would push the deadline into 2024, with hopes of coming to an agreement before the Masters in April.

Talks between the PGA Tour and PIF have had plenty of hurdles to go through since the announcement back in June. The news drew particular interest from U.S. regulators and led to hearings being held on Capitol Hill. A report also suggested that the Saudis have not been happy about the fact that pros on the PGA Tour’s policy board had veto power that could nix any deal.

LIV Golf chairman Yasir Al Rumayyan was not thrilled with the involvement of private equity money since it felt like LIV Golf was no longer at the center of the talks, according to CBS Sports. Al Rumayyan and Monahan were scheduled to sit down with one another before Christmas, but there have been no details that have emerged about any conversation.

An agreement with the PIF would end the long running battle between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. LIV poached world No. 3 Jon Rahm on a deal worth more than $300 million in early December and the rebel golf league has been actively recruiting PGA Tour players to fill out a new team, according to ESPN..