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Negotiations between the PGA Tour and Saudi Public Funding Fund (PIF) to agree on a merger and create a brand new for-profit entity are wanting prone to drag into the spring of 2024.
Information that the PGA Tour plans to announce an extension of its self-imposed December 31 deadline to finish merger negotiations with the PIF emerged shortly after Christmas, and whereas no official statements have been issued by any of the events concerned, it has been broadly reported that any potential alliance goes to require additional negotiations that would presumably take till the top of March.
The way forward for a PGA Tour-Saudi deal has additionally been clouded by the PGA Tour getting into negotiations with a consortium of US-based skilled sports activities house owners known as Strategic Sports activities Group (SSG), led by Fenway Sports activities Group and together with figures just like the New York Mets’ Steve Cohen and the Atlanta Falcons’ Arthur Clean. Fenway Sports activities Group is the proprietor of Main League Baseball’s Boston Crimson Sox and in addition English Premier League membership Liverpool. It’s understood that SSG is ready to inject greater than $3 billion into the PGA Tour’s new for-profit entity.
It’s understood that the Saudi PIF, lead by governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, have turn into pissed off with the progress and by the truth that the variety of tour professionals on the PGA Tour’s coverage board – which incorporates Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth and Patrick Cantlay – meant that the gamers had gained management of veto powers that would nonetheless stop any deal from going forward.
Talking earlier than information of a possible delay emerged, Tiger Woods stated: “We’re making an attempt to get a deal performed with the entire completely different entities that we now have occurring right here. SSG has come into the combination now. They clearly have loads of fairness and loads of buyers which have the identical alignment that we now have, and we’re all on course.”
The announcement of world no.3 Jon Rahm’s $300m transfer to the PIF-backed LIV Golf League simply two weeks in the past can be prone to have had a major affect within the timing of any potential deal. The unique framework settlement introduced in June between the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and the PIF contained an settlement through which LIV Golf wouldn’t be allowed to poach any gamers away from these Excursions throughout negotiations. That clause was later voided by the US Division of Justice as a result of antitrust considerations, permitting the Saudi-backed circuit to barter with and signal new gamers. Both method, luring Rahm away from the PGA Tour is not going to have helped soften relations between the respective negotiating groups.
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