Merge or Split: PGA Tour and LIV Golf

Over the years, the PGA Tour has held names such as Phil Mickelson, Arnold Palmer, Greg Norman, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods. Upheld as the gold standard within the sport of professional golfing, reviews and ratings for the PGA Tour are at an all time high. CBS reported an average of 2.59 million viewers for PGA Tour events in 2023 which was a 4% increase YoY, according to Josh Sim with SportsPro Media. Recently, the organization has found itself a part of one of the most controversial topics nationwide as news of a merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf came to light in June of 2023.

Since 1968, the PGA Tour has held as the dominant league and organization for professional golf. The idea of competing golf leagues arose in 2019 with the announcement of the Premier Golf League (PGL) which had its inaugural launch in the 2023 season. An additional competing organization, LIV Golf, was founded in 2021 and held its inaugural season in 2022. LIV Golf has been known to persuade players to leave the PGA Tour and join their new organization that is primarily funded by the Saudi Arabia government’s sovereign wealth fund: the Public Investment Fund (PFI). With the creation of these alternate organizations, players became trading pawns as they were encouraged to change alliances and at times be banned from leagues, events, and tournaments. Prior to June 2023, many antitrust claims/lawsuits had been filed between PGA Tour and LIV Golf and additionally, letters of disapproval were sent from PGL to both PGA Tour and LIV Golf.

Social Media conversations surrounding this new merger have been controversial for many different reasons. Collectively, the topic had over 235.31K mentions and an overall negative sentiment among users. The conversation on the topic peaked on June 6th, with the announcement of an agreement between PGA Tour and LIV Golf which would combine the two organizations’ commercial businesses and rights into a new for-profit entity. 

Conversations entailed criticism for the PGA Tour/ Commissioner, Jay Monahan, for the insensitivity of the merger to the 9/11 community, commentary on former President Donald Trump’s predictions on the merger, and overall thoughts on the deal.

In light of the news of a merger that would drastically change golf’s current governance structure, several other implications came about. The merger announcement implied all prior litigation between the two organizations would end, player recruitment would end, the PIF would be making capital investments in the new for-profit entity, and new (unequal) governance structures would take place for the board of directors. The announcement resulted in bipartisan scrutiny among legislators as they brought up Saudi Arabia’s poor human rights and antitrust issues that would emerge if it came to fruition. Players also retaliated upon hearing of the deal and now argue for more power in the new entity. A senate subcommittee hearing was held on July 11th, 2023 regarding the matter. 

Most recently, PGA Tour commissioner, Jay Monahan has admitted miscalculations in the announcement and taken responsibility for the misinformation and issues with the rollout of the merger to LIV Golf. However, he stated “But ultimately the move that we made is the right move for the PGA Tour and I firmly believe that. As we go forward, time will bear that out. It was the right move”. 

According to Bloomberg News, the merger deal will be delayed past its anticipated deadline of December 31st, 2023. Many publics remain eager to see the implications of the new entity, should it come to pass. 

Author: Lexi Merriman