June 6, 2023

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Good afternoon! Front Office Sports newsletter co-author Eric Fisher [[link removed]] here. A strong candidate for the sports business story of the year dropped out of nowhere Tuesday with the massive and unexpected news of the PGA Tour’s merger with former rival LIV Golf and the DP World Tour.

Doug Greenberg [[link removed]], Mike McCarthy [[link removed]], and I are breaking down key elements of the agreement including deal components, media rights implications, and how this affects competition. Golf will never be the same.

PGA Tour Merges With Saudi-Backed LIV Golf [[link removed]]

Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

The PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and LIV Golf are merging their operations into a single commercial entity, according to the former. Saudi Arabia’s PIF is partnering with the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour on the move.

The newly formed business — name to be determined — will be collectively owned and for-profit, and will focus on team golf and growing the game globally.

The merger allows an “end to all pending litigation [[link removed]] between the participating parties” and opens the door for LIV players to reapply to the PGA Tour and DP World Tour following the end of the 2023 season.

Sources told Front Office Sports that all three tours are expected to finish their current seasons under the status quo.

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said the goal was to “create an organization that will benefit golf’s players, commercial and charitable partners, and fans.”

“We are proud to partner with the PGA Tour to leverage PIF’s unparalleled success and track record of unlocking value and bringing innovation and global best practices to business and sectors worldwide,” PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan said.

Al-Rumayyan will be the new entity’s chairman of the board of directors, while Monahan will be CEO and also sit on the board. LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman was not mentioned in the release.

Golf journalist Dan Rapaport says [[link removed]] that several PGA Tour players were “shocked … confused” and “disgusted” at the absence of communication from Tour brass regarding plans. Meanwhile, LIV’s Phil Mickelson [[link removed]] and 2023 PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka [[link removed]] took to social media to laud the move.

Bombshell PGA Tour-LIV Merger Leaves Unanswered Competitive Questions [[link removed]]

Barbara Perenic / USA TODAY NETWORK

The stunning PGA Tour-LIV Golf-DP World Tour merger [[link removed]] represents a most unlikely pairing of competing personalities, ideologies, and business models.

But the deal has raised another fundamental question: How is the golf going to work?

The union theoretically brings together the traditional large-field, cut-based competition of the PGA Tour and the small-field, no-cut tournaments of LIV Golf. Details of the future competitive format are scarce, but several key elements are in place:

The team-based concept championed by LIV Golf will transfer to the new entity. Players who left the PGA Tour or DP World Tour to join LIV Golf can reapply to those tours after the 2023 season. The PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and DP Tour will collaborate on a “fair and objective process” for player reapplication, with existing PGA Tour rules guiding that effort. The remaining 2023 LIV Golf schedule is unchanged. Majors already allowing all qualifying players — such as the Masters — have predictably cheered the deal.

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan insisted in a letter to players that the organization’s “pro-competitive model remains intact” in the new structure.

Another undetermined element is the future compensation structure. LIV Golf transformed the sport with its nine-figure player signing bonuses and $25 million tournament purses, forcing the PGA Tour to respond with unprecedented hikes [[link removed]] in prize money, reaching $20 million for top 2023 events.

Impact To Women’s Game

The merger could also make a seismic impact on the women’s game, as LIV Golf recently expressed [[link removed]] interest in forming its own circuit to rival the LPGA.

LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan said “a fractured ecosystem is not good for the game, and we look forward to learning what today’s announcement means.”

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PGA Tour’s Media Partners Blindsided By LIV Merger [[link removed]]

Syndication: The Clarion-Ledger

“Nobody had a f—-ing clue,” one sports media executive said.

The PGA Tour’s U.S. media partners — NBC Sports/Golf Channel, CBS Sports, and ESPN — were as blindsided as everybody else by Tuesday’s stunning news of the PGA Tour-LIV Golf-DP World Tour merger, scrambling for answers from Tour headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

“We are still learning more about the PGA Tour-LIV-DP World Tour announcement and look forward to discussing the announcement and its implications with our partners at the PGA Tour and DIP World Tour,” a spokesman for NBC Sports told Front Office Sports.

As of midday, there were far more questions than answers about the media implications of the shocking merger — especially as to whether golf’s new entity will seek to renegotiate the PGA Tour’s long-term media rights deals.

Front Office Sports heard from multiple media executives and for now, the PGA Tour and LIV will remain separate brands. The PGA Tour’s current media rights deals with NBC/Golf Channel and CBS Sports ($700 million annually) and ESPN ($75 million) won’t be impacted. ESPN also has deals with The Masters and PGA Championship.

Those rights should be even more valuable now that former PGA Tour superstars and LIV defectors like Phil Mickelson, PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka, and Dustin Johnson, will be part of coverage.

The CW, which has a multiyear TV/streaming deal with LIV, said there would be no changes to its schedule this year.

Conversation Starters Producers for Netflix’s docuseries “Full Swing” say they captured [[link removed]] the news of the PGA Tour-LIV merger. Season 2 will stream in 2024. Is this awkward? Several golfers famously turned down [[link removed]] what were reported to be massive offers from LIV Golf to stay with the PGA Tour. Now, the two leagues will merge. Do you think the PGA Tour-LIV merger will be good or bad for golf? Vote in our poll [[link removed]]. Some monumental deals are shaping up all over the world — and Front Office Sports Today has you covered. From Karim Benzema’s $643 million contract in Saudi Arabia to a potential sale of the Portland Trail Blazers, we take a spin through each one — then talk to Commonwealth co-founder and CEO Brian Doxtator on the world of fractional sports investment and player earnings. Listen and subscribe on Apple [[link removed]], Google [[link removed]], and Spotify [[link removed]].

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Editor's Picks PGA Tour-LIV Golf Merger Likely to Face Regulator Scrutiny [[link removed]]by A.J. Perez [[link removed]]

The PGA-LIV merger may have to endure legal obstacles.

How Five Iron Golf is Pioneering the Modern Golf Movement [[link removed]]by Front Office Sports [[link removed]]

How Five Iron Golf is Pioneering the Modern Golf Movement

LeSean McCoy Could Replace Shannon Sharpe As Skip Bayless’ Partner [[link removed]]by Michael McCarthy [[link removed]] and A.J. Perez [[link removed]]

McCoy is poised to land audition as Shannon Sharpe's replacement.

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