I don't think more money is going to get people to watch women's sportsI'm kinda melancholy that the NWSL and the WNBA players have zero chance to see this Saudi money. They could use it more than the PGA players.
I don't think more money is going to get people to watch women's sportsI'm kinda melancholy that the NWSL and the WNBA players have zero chance to see this Saudi money. They could use it more than the PGA players.
I think you nail itI have no doubt there is fraught money throughout sports, but to be so overt about it seems icky (to use a formal term). A good day for the product of professional golf, but a terrible day for humanity is how I'd put it.
Oddly enough, the PIF comes off as the "good cop" in this playing off the "bad cop" of LIV. 'You've had enough of Norman and the litigation coming from the LIV tour and its players? If you let us buy into the PGA as a minority partner we can make that all go away.'
That assumes the LIV players even want their cards back and don't just want to keep playing the LIV events.Figuring out how to integrate LIV players back onto the PGA Tour is going to be a massive undertaking. Whatever they come up with needs to be approved by the current PGA Tour players, if I'm understanding the letter correctly.
First there's these players getting their cards back. Some resigned, others are suspended. What's the process for these players to get reinstated or earn/buy their cards back? It's easy enough to hand one to someone like Brooks who just won a major or DJ and Phil who had previously earned lifetime status (and of course Phil being the guy who spearheaded LIV players a role) but then what do you do with middle class players like Ancer and Good and also the lower tier players? Then, once they have their cards where do they re-integrate? With the new short field designated structure event, I'm sure the current Tour players won't be happy if 20 LIV guys are suddently eligible.
That's fair. I guess we need to see the schedule and how it's all going to work with LIv and the Tour before crossing that bridge.That assumes the LIV players even want their cards back and don't just want to keep playing the LIV events.
Jimmy Dunne was announced as a board member for the new LLC entity. As someone familiar with his connection to 9/11, his presence on the new board is the most stunning aspect of this merger.Jay Monahan had a nice speech a year ago about honoring the families of 9/11. So much for that.
Also the chair of Saudi Aramco (THE Saudi oil company). I guess they're doing this in the grossest way possible. The money must be mind blowing.View: https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1666110218365698048
From @TheAthleticFC: Yasir Al-Rumayyan will be chairman of the new golf organization following PGA and LIV's agreement to merge. This is the story of golf's most powerful man — and his ties with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. https://nyti.ms/3OSGkOJ
So that's one plus, then.Norman has to be cut out at this point, right? If LIV is absorbed into the PGA Tour, what role does he have?
What recourse do the players have other than filing lawsuits for getting absolutely porked by the PGA? The Saudis can wave their hands and pay the players whatever they want to make that go away.Some player comments starting to trickle. Here's Theegala:
I disagree they are getting porked by Monahan. I'm sure the financial benefit the players gain from this is going to be substantial.What recourse do the players have other than filing lawsuits for getting absolutely porked by the PGA? The Saudis can wave their hands and pay the players whatever they want to make that go away.
At the very least there needs to be guaranteed money - a lot - for those who were loyal. Upping the purses to ridiculous sums won't benefit middle to bottom tier players.I disagree they are getting porked by Monahan. I'm sure the financial benefit the players gain from this is going to be substantial.
Some will have moral objections, the majority are miffed about being kept in the dark, but I think when they see the money/structure they will probably be OK.
Some guys turned down tens and maybe even hundreds of millions of dollars (Rory) to stay with the tour.I disagree they are getting porked by Monahan. I'm sure the financial benefit the players gain from this is going to be substantial.
Some will have moral objections, the majority are miffed about being kept in the dark, but I think when they see the money/structure they will probably be OK.
Those purses are going to have to be pretty fucking high to make a player ranked ~30th feel good about having given up $35 million or more out of loyalty that wasn’t particularly reciprocated.Once they see the new purses I'm guessing they won't care.
That's certainly something they're going to have to figure out. Now that they are a for-profit organization they may be able to pay them out in some fashion beyond dumping money into tournament purses.Some guys turned down tens and maybe even hundreds of millions of dollars (Rory) to stay with the tour.
No fluffing of event prize pools is ever going to make that sum up unless LIV guys are forfeiting the money they signed on for, which seems highly unlikely.
What about this one?Wonder how this meeting goes.
View: https://twitter.com/LeslieAnneWade/status/1666099867683258369
Players’ meeting with commissioner at 4pm.
Not sure which is which in this analogy.
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How does that even work?At the very least there needs to be guaranteed money - a lot - for those who were loyal.
Ha, yeah that works better.
Right. Is Rory going to produce texts that show he turned down 300 million and they just write him a check?How does that even work?
"Rory you're a top 10 player and didn't leave here's a check for 20 million. Guy who's ranked 33rd on the tour you didn't leave here's a check for $100k. Thanks everyone!" ?
Monahan did exactly what Rory (and others) were calling for. There are probably some financial things to iron out but the path back from LIV to the Tour will be key for most of the players.“I don't want a fractured game, McIlroy said. "The game of golf is ripping itself apart and that's no good for anyone. It's not good for the guys on the traditional system or the guys on the other side either.
"Right now, with where everything is, it's probably not the right time but we probably can't leave it too much longer. I'm all for getting around the table and sorting things out.’’
I think that has to be part of this. There's probably an NFL-sized out-hole in those contracts that "going out of business" fits right into. And probably a "and you also agree *never* to sue us for anything ever" clause or a choice-of law provision that directs to Saudi law. Or at least I hope so.I’m really curious about the contracts the LIV guys signed. We know they didn’t get the money up front and the guarantees are pulled from event winnings so PIFs investment is really just in the commitments. Those commitments seem like a tough pill to swallow for PGA. What if PIF saw this coming and was the end goal all along. I could see a scenario where they built in change of control language that largely invalidates the guarantees. It would make sense on why PIF was willing to give such big guarantees and why savvy people like Tiger turned them down and why PGA was willing to take them on.
I’m of the opposite mind.I think that has to be part of this. There's probably an NFL-sized out-hole in those contracts that "going out of business" fits right into. And probably a "and you also agree *never* to sue us for anything ever" clause or a choice-of law provision that directs to Saudi law. Or at least I hope so.
You’re no idiot, @IdiotKicker. Great post and I agree with it all.I have so many different thoughts about this that aren’t necessarily coherent or unified:
Basically this ends up with the conclusion that everyone wins financially and everyone looks horrible doing it. It’s like we compressed the last 40 years of global corporatism into a nice two-season arc centered around…golf? And it all comes back to PGA management, which I didn’t really think was a thing, given how involved the players are in running the thing, but for some reason, they took the bag from the Saudis without checking to see if there was another bag somewhere else. Because the fact that no one knew about this means they didn’t shop the offer or couldn’t shop the offer.
- I think this is a horribly unsuccessful sports-washing. Yes, the Saudis end up getting a stake in the PGA, but fuck, all people have been talking about with LIV is how shitty the Saudi regime is. It was more like the Streisand effect to me, and the PIF doesn’t need sports to generate good investments, given their ties to SoftBank and the Vision Fund and the companies under that umbrella (Uber, DoorDash, Nvidia, Slack, Fanatics, etc).
- If the PGA wanted a large check, there are tons of billionaires out there who want to be associated with owning sports-related anything (see: every team owner). You’re telling me that Lebron James wants to own a pickleball team but you couldn’t have him heading up a 20% minority ownership stake in the PGA with Tom Brady? Shit, give Brian Davis a piece on his way to prison so Bank of America can be a partner too. If you need funding, you could get it elsewhere.
- Likewise, I don’t like how this feels because I like to think that I care about these things, but how many PIF-funded companies do I or many of us use on a daily basis without know they’re PIF-funded? Like, if you invest in the S&P 500, your success is the PIF’s success. Sort’ve, because the Vision Fund is also a cluster, but that’s a different issue. The point is that as much as I may hate this, it’s not like I’ve taken any drastic actions to avoid all PIF-funded companies in the past. I don’t know that my behavior necessarily changes here as well.
- The players who stayed should be pissed. You told us that there was no amnesty and that loyalty mattered over money, but that was just for us? Fuck off.
I dunno, this blows. But I watch the World Cup, I watch the Olympics, I watch the NCAA - I don’t exactly have a stellar track record of doing shit when sports organizations are awful to their members or do awful things in the name of sportswashing. I think the best I can do with stuff like this is try to exist in this world without becoming part of this world. I’m cool with things being about the money, I just don’t want it to be their money. Shit.
You might be right. I guess my starting position in all of this is that people who are that rich/successful in a narrow field like golf also think they're pretty smart beyond the golf course. Some are, I suppose. But I'm just a cynical prick who thinks that most aren't. In general, as much as I liked watching Phil play golf (I was kinda sorry to see him go), he seemed like an idiot who would be perfectly happy to "bet" on something like this. On the other, these guys all have lawyers and agents who *usually* keep them from going over a cliff. So I'm certainly far from certain. The public never really got a solid read on the LIV contracts before all this. Unlikely to happen now. (Further digging into my deep hole --- the LIV contracts probably have broad non-disparagement clauses, too.)I’m of the opposite mind.
I don’t think that guys like Phil and Brooks would have staked their careers on contracts that weren’t absolutely iron-clad bulletproof so if all else failed, they were getting paid no matter what. There was a chance that they could have been completely blacklisted from PGA events for life.
That money is an easy write off as the acquisition cost of getting your foot in the door to buying an ownership stake in the PGA.
Yes, but the amoral people would like you to believe there is no one trying to do the right thing.I don't follow golf as a sport and even I find this story beyond fascinating. I still won't watch, but man, I feel like this is one of those stories where all the amoral people won big and everyone trying to do the right thing got screwed.
You're assuming that money is already in Phil and Brooks' bank accounts.I’m of the opposite mind.
I don’t think that guys like Phil and Brooks would have staked their careers on contracts that weren’t absolutely iron-clad bulletproof so if all else failed, they were getting paid no matter what. There was a chance that they could have been completely blacklisted from PGA events for life.
That money is an easy write off as the acquisition cost of getting your foot in the door to buying an ownership stake in the PGA.
You and I are clearly on the same page but to take it further I think as sports fans we are quick to think that these people that are superior athletes that make lots of money must be smart enough to make the right decisions off the respective sporting field but more often than not they make very flawed decisions. With the allure of all that “guaranteed” money I’m sure they were willing to overlook some contractual red flags, potentially even against the behest of their advisors.You might be right. I guess my starting position in all of this is that people who are that rich/successful in a narrow field like golf also think they're pretty smart beyond the golf course. Some are, I suppose. But I'm just a cynical prick who thinks that most aren't. In general, as much as I liked watching Phil play golf (I was kinda sorry to see him go), he seemed like an idiot who would be perfectly happy to "bet" on something like this. On the other, these guys all have lawyers and agents who *usually* keep them from going over a cliff. So I'm certainly far from certain. The public never really got a solid read on the LIV contracts before all this. Unlikely to happen now. (Further digging into my deep hole --- the LIV contracts probably have broad non-disparagement clauses, too.)