This weekend’s PGA Championship could mark a comeback moment for golf’s top earning athlete of all time, and potentially establish a new precedent for how the tournament selects its venues.

The Championship usually selects its hosts years in advance to allow ample time to develop sponsorships, event marketing, and to field course adjustments. 

However, the 2022 edition at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was put together in a relatively hasty 16 months after the tour voted to remove it from Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster N.J., following the violent rally at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

• The prize purse for the PGA Championship will be $12 million. 
• The course was lengthened to 7,635 yards from 6,968 yards to fit tournament standards.
• Concession prices, namely the $18 beers, have turned heads, including golfer Justin Thomas, who tweeted, “Gotta treat the fans better than that.”

Tour officials said that around 30 venues sought to host the Championship, and the experience has made them reconsider if such long lead times are necessary going forward.

Lurking Tiger

Tiger Woods, 46 years old and 14 months removed from a serious car accident that nearly cost him a leg, is projecting confidence that he can win the Championship.

His $1.7 billion in earnings, including $121 million in prize money, is second among all athletes, behind only Michael Jordan.

The controversial sale of Angel Stadium to a company controlled by club owner Arte Moreno is on hold after a judge issued a 60-day stay on Tuesday amid a corruption investigation of Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu.

The $320 million sale spearheaded by Sidhu was originally agreed to in 2019 before objections from community leaders and California regulators over allegations the plan violated affordable housing law. 

Anaheim’s city council was scheduled to vote on a reworked plan meant to address the housing concerns next month. 

Sidhu sought to push the sale through “with the expectation of receiving a sizeable contribution to his reelection campaign from a prominent Angels representative,” according to Monday’s court filing by the California Attorney’s General’s Office. 

Allegations from FBI Agent

The 55-page filing’s most troublesome accusations came from FBI Special Agent Brian Adkins, who used information gleaned from unnamed cooperating witnesses and electronic communications. 

• While he was unknowingly recorded in December, Sidhu said that he wanted a “minimum of a million dollars” for his reelection campaign in a conversation with an unnamed senior employee of the Angels. 
• Sidhu shared “privileged and confidential information” with the Angels, a potential violation of a state open-government law. 
• Sidhu attempted to delete emails and text messages related to his attempt to hinder a grand jury investigation of the transaction. 

Sidhu has not been charged, although former Anaheim Chamber of Commerce President Todd Ament — a major player in city politics — was indicted in federal court Tuesday for lying to a mortgage lender.

For the past few months, a bill has been brewing in the California legislature that would force local athletic departments to share revenue with players.

The bill, called the “College Athlete Race and Gender Equity Act,” was written by Sen. Steven Bradford and sponsored by the National College Players Association. On Thursday, it’s up for yet another vote in its journey through state bureaucracy.

• The bill says each athlete would receive an equal share of 50% of a sport’s revenue, minus the amount they already receive in aid packages.
• The money would go in a degree completion fund, where athletes would have access to up to $25,000 a year.
• Athletes would receive the rest as long as they finish their degree within six years of enrolling.

The bill specifically says, however, that the payments would not mean athletes would be classified as employees.

California’s NCAA Reform Dynasty

In 2019, the California state legislature passed the nation’s first law making it illegal for the NCAA to prohibit athletes from making money off their name, image, and likeness. Bradford was a co-author, and the NCPA a co-sponsor.

When the bill was passed, the NCAA was forced to change NIL rules to prevent a vastly unequal recruiting landscape, where only athletes in California could participate.

NCPA executive director Ramogi Huma told Front Office Sports the strategy is similar for this new pay-for-play bill. “We’re breaking the cartel,” he said.

UEFA has been working on a $6.3 billion rescue fund for the past year to assist European soccer clubs in recovering from pandemic-related financial woes, but has reportedly paused the plans.

Problems have surfaced over details about how the fund would sit within UEFA and be distributed to clubs. It was set to include an emergency funding facility, a separate amount for future crises, and new rules regarding financial fair play.

Citigroup was hired to arrange the package, but will only get its full fee if the fund is a success.

While the fund could materialize in the future, UEFA is reportedly looking at other options including a separate board or a joint venture with another governing body. 

Financial Funnel

No matter the option UEFA ends up choosing, it’s clear that most European clubs need the assistance.

• Deloitte reported that the European soccer market contracted (13%) for the first time since the global financial crisis in 2008/09.
• The same report found that the “big five” European leagues saw revenue decline 11% in 2019/20 to around $16.4 billion from $18.6 billion the season prior.

Previous reports said clubs would be able to restructure existing debt and have access to funds at lower borrowing rates as part of the package.