PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan updated a fractured golf world about the state of Tour's framework deal with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia during his media availability on Tuesday ahead of this week's Players Championship. The deal was struck on June 6 with a deadline to complete the merger set for Dec. 31, though that date has since passed. The update was that there isn't much of an update at all.
This is not a surprising development. Following its deal with Strategic Sports Group, which invested up to $3 billion recently, the Tour has turned its attention back to the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, which funds LIV Golf. There has been dissenting opinion over whether the Tour needs to do this deal, even among the players, but Monahan seemed both excited and optimistic about the future.
"As I've said on a number of occasions, you can't negotiate a deal like this in public, so I will be brief," said Monahan. "I recently met with the governor of the PIF, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, and our negotiations are accelerating as we spend time together. While we have several key issues that we still need to work through, we have a shared vision to quiet the noise and unlock golf's worldwide potential.
"It's going to take time, but I reiterate what I said at the Tour Championship in August. I see a positive outcome for the PGA Tour and the sport as a whole. Most importantly, I see a positive outcome for our great fans. Despite the distractions over the last two years, fans, sponsors and communities continue to value and engage with the PGA Tour, and I am more confident than ever in the fundamental strength of our organization."
Monahan disclosed that he flew to Saudi Arabia in January with some of the members of the Strategic Sports Group -- a collection of wealthy professional sports team owners -- to hear out the PIF before the Tour and SSG closed its $3 billion deal.
"It was important for SSG and it was important for the Tour to engage directly with the PIF prior to finalizing any deal, which is why I joined principals from SSG on a trip to Saudi Arabia to meet with Yasir and members of PIF, and that's why we continue to have productive discussions. There's a mutual respect there that I think is helpful towards ultimately getting a deal done, and I think it is that level of discussion that has helped accelerate the conversations."
Star players, notably Jordan Spieth and Tiger Woods, have highlighted the Tour's position with the $3 billion from SSG. While Monahan noted his appreciation for the leverage SSG provides, he was seemingly more open to a future with the PIF.
"I do believe that negotiating a deal with PIF is the best outcome," said Monahan. "Obviously it has to be the right deal for both sides, like any situation or negotiation. The conversations with SSG, for the reasons I just said, I think have enhanced the likelihood of us reaching a successful conclusion. When you bring in a group of investors in that consortium that combined have over 200 years of managing professional sports franchises in the U.S. and internationally, and you bring in that level of expertise, I think that that is attractive to the PIF.
"When you step back from it and you just look at where we are, and for some of the reasons I stated earlier, with the game booming, becoming cooler, becoming more mainstream, it's truly global. There are a finite number of athletes, and this is a point in time, a unique point in time where unification ultimately puts the sport in the best possible position to take advantage of this growth on a go-forward basis.
"The PGA Tour has been limited in our ability to invest back into some of those growth opportunities. We no longer are with the formation of PGA Tour Enterprises, and I think an ultimate deal would be in the best interest of the game and ultimately would be in the best interest of the Tour, if it can be done. That's the spirit with which we approach the conversations and the negotiations, and I think that that goes both ways."
As for what could happen if the Tour and PIF don't merge their assets?
"You always have to be open to not doing something while you're trying to do something," he said. "In this case, it's trying to negotiate a deal. So if we don't negotiate a deal, then I think ultimately we're back in the same posture that we're in, and we haven't unified our game and taken advantage of this unique point in time. But I don't have anything further to add about what happens in we don't. I'm focused on trying to see if we can."
