PGA Tour chief operating officer Ron Price penned an op-ed in The Athletic Monday asserting the Tour’s deal with the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund to house commercial operations under a new for-profit entity is in the best interest of the tour and the future landscape of the game.
“Fundamentally, there are two reasons that the framework agreement with the PIF and DP World Tour marks not just a highly favorable outcome for the PGA Tour, but also the clear, best path forward for professional golf broadly,” Price wrote. “First, the agreement provides clear, explicit and permanent safeguards that ensure the PGA Tour will lead the decisions that shape our future, and that we’ll have control over our operations, strategy and continuity of our mission.
“Second, if we get a final agreement, it will allow us to further invest in the players who define our sport, and the events, venues, communities and technology that bring it to life. Working in partnership with the membership and Policy Board, we are stewards of the organization’s long-term health and leadership. Weighed against the prospect of a continued, unsustainable battle that threatened our very existence, given the safeguards that guarantee our self-determination and the possibilities afforded by new investments, ‘yes’ was the clear answer to the framework agreement.”
The deal between the PGA Tour and Saudi PIF put an end to all litigation between the two parties with prejudice, meaning the lawsuits cannot be reinitiated even if the deal does not materialize. However, the legal apparatus continues to churn as the U.S. government has taken an interest in the agreement.
Price is set to testify at a U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearing on July 11: “The PGA-LIV Deal: Implications for the Future of Golf and Saudi Arabia’s Influence in the United States.” PGA Tour policy board member, and who many are calling the deal architect, Jimmy Dunne, will join Price. These two will serve as PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan’s replacements as he continues to recover from his medical situation. Monahan will return to his leadership role effective July 17.
Both LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman and PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan were invited to testify at the hearing but cited scheduling conflicts for their absences.
“It’s also important to set the record straight: This is not a merger,” Price continued. “The PGA Tour remains intact. The subsidiary — PGA Tour Enterprises — will include PIF as a non-controlling, minority investor, as they are in many other American businesses. PGA Tour Enterprises will be led by a board of directors. The majority of that board will be appointed by the PGA Tour and that entity will be run by a CEO. That CEO will be PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan. The PGA Tour’s controlling interest on that board of directors will remain constant going forward, regardless of the size of the PIF’s initial or any future incremental investments. The board of directors will also have the ability to decline any unwanted investment.
“For two years, the question has been, who would lead professional golf forward? The answer provided by this work toward a definitive agreement is now clear: the PGA Tour.”
The PGA Tour and PIF have until the end of the calendar year to come to said definitive agreement. If terms are not finalized by then, the tour and the sovereign wealth fund can return to their businesses as they were.