PGA Tour make biggest admission yet that LIV Golf merger is in doubt
A source close to the PGA Tour has admitted that the framework agreement that will see them work side-by-side with LIV Golf is set to miss its December 31 deadline.
On June 6 the PGA Tour announced it had reached a shock agreement with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF), which would allow them to join forces with both the DP World Tour and their LIV Golf rivals under one entity named 'NewCo'. Five months on though, doubt surrounding the peace deal has started to creep in.
On Wednesday, Bunkered reported that a source close to the ongoing framework negotiations had revealed that the end-of-year deadline is now expected to be missed due to 'complications' surrounding the deal.
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It was claimed that missing the deadline would not be a 'bad thing', with both sides attempting to sign of a deal that benefits all involved. This is not the first hurdle both the Tour and their new-found PIF allies have come across in the months following their June announcement.
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In October it was revealed that the Saudi setup faced competition to be part of the PGA Tour's new for-profit entity. Per ESPN, a leaked memo to the Tour's players confirmed that the American-based circuit had received interest from investors based in the United States to be part of the organisation.
"We remain focused on reaching a Definitive Agreement with PIF and the DP World Tour," the memo read. "But not surprisingly, these negotiations have resulted in unsolicited outreach and proposals from a number of other interested investors.
Jay Monahan is in charge of the PGA Tour (Getty Images)"All of this activity reinforces the Tour's strong position and our potential for growth." It was later revealed that one of the interested parties was U.S. based entertainment company Endeavour, who have experience in sport having owning both the UFC and WWE.
Their deal to strike up a partnership with the PGA Tour though was rejected last week, with Endeavour president Mark Shapiro telling Sportico that the Tour have 'a lot of bidders' and 'a lot of attractive offers' when it comes to their new product. In August Tour commissioner Jay Monahan muted any doubts surrounding a potential deal with PIF.
Speaking at the season-ending Tour Championship, Monahan reiterated that the intent of both sides was to finalise an agreement by the December deadline. “If we were going to end the litigation, we would have just announced that we were ending the litigation," he said.
"If you saw the amount of conversation and the time that the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and PIF are spending working forward from a framework to a definitive, I think would you see the sincerity of the efforts there. There’s an intensity and there’s an urgency and there’s a lot of work, good work, that’s being done.”
It is expected than any real change to both the PGA Tour and LIV Golf setup will not come into effect until 2025, with both set to play out their 2024 schedule as normal. There had been doubt cast over the future of the Saudi-backed league, but an announcement on its third season plans are expected following its inaugural LIV Promotions event later this winter.
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