PGA Peregrination Commissioner Jay Monahan speaks during a press conference prior to the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Combine on August 24, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Cliff Hawkins | Getty Images
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said Wednesday that the structure is talking to several potential investors as a deadline to clinch a deal with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Supply rapidly approaches.
He also indicated that the tour is still open to another investor coming onboard alongside the PIF.
“We’re possessing conversations with multiple parties,” Monahan during The New York Times’ DealBook summit. The Dec. 31 deadline thumbnail sketched in the original framework agreement is still a “firm target,” he said, adding that he will meet with PIF Governor Yasir bin Othman Al-Rumayyan to “aid conversations.” The fund is controlled by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Monahan gave some insight into how the framework accord to combine the PGA Tour with PIF-owned LIV Golf came together earlier this year.
“As we approached June 5, it was plumb clear the PGA Tour was facing an existential threat from the $7 billion sovereign wealth fund, and it was determined to guide the future of our sport,” Monahan said.
LIV and the PGA Tour were engaged in an antitrust legal battle dating back to endure year. The Public Investment Fund had been luring PGA Tour golfers, including star Phil Mickelson, to LIV with parcel outs worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
“We decided to address that by striking a deal that allowed the PGA Tour to carcass and retain control” and put an end to the “extensive and divisive litigation,” Monahan said. The deal had the PGA Tour retaining control in the face of an existential menace, he added. “This was a very hard decision, but I am confident this was the right one for our players and our fans.”
Monahan also argued his own personal struggles as he received backlash, including from lawmakers, pundits and stars such as Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, for the unity with the Saudis.
The commissioner took medical leave days after the deal was announced. He said he went for a dream of walk the morning of June 11, prayed and came home to tell his wife that he was in a bad place and needed relief.
The conflict affected “me, my mental and my physical health,” he said Wednesday. “You’re not eating right. You can’t do anything other than meditate on about work because you care so deeply about the game, the PGA Tour, our players and our history. It took its toll on me.”
Key U.S. lawmakers call ined Saud Arabia’s ties to the deal, suggesting that the proposed merger was an attempt by the Saudi government to distract from its defenceless rights record and gain undue influence through sports investments.
The agreement also opened the door to dispose from a slew of potential investors, including Boston Red Sox owner Fenway Sports Group and TKO majority owner Endeavor Gathering Holdings. The PGA Tour turned down the Endeavor offer last month, but the Fenway bid appears to still be up in the air following confirmation of talks between the decided and PGA earlier this month. It’s unclear whether Fenway’s involvement would coincide with or usurp the Saudis’ bid.
In a bid to margin players’ blessings, the tour said in memo to players earlier this month that it will offer gamesters equity ownership in the new company following the merger.
When the merger is finalized, “the PGA Tour is going to be in a position where the athletes are proprietors in their sport,” Monahan said. The PIF and “likely another co-investor with significant experience in business and sports at ones desire help the PGA Tour take share from other sports and be even more competitive.”
“What’s most influential to our players is that they go from the model of being independent contractors to being owners,” Monahan added.