{"id":6809,"date":"2023-07-10T13:10:07","date_gmt":"2023-07-10T17:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/?p=6809"},"modified":"2023-07-10T14:02:04","modified_gmt":"2023-07-10T18:02:04","slug":"pga-and-saudi-backed-liv-golf-announce-historic-merger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/pga-and-saudi-backed-liv-golf-announce-historic-merger\/","title":{"rendered":"PGA and Saudi-backed LIV Golf Announce Historic Merger"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In a move that has sent shockwaves around the golfing world, the PGA and Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf announced Tuesday that the two entities have agreed to a merger. Prior to the announcement, neither players nor sponsors were made aware of the agreement &#8211; with a number waking up to read the news on Twitter. The deal, the final details of which have yet to be worked out, was struck by PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of Saudi Arabia\u2019s Public Investment Fund. The move was so secretive that now outgoing LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman was notified only minutes before Monahan and Al-Rumayyan made the announcement in an interview (Monahan will be taking over Norman\u2019s position as part of the merger).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/LIV-golf.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-6810 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/LIV-golf-300x123.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"123\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/LIV-golf-300x123.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/LIV-golf.jpg 553w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>This historic announcement comes after the two sides have fought viciously, in and out of the courtroom, over the last year. LIV had previously accused the PGA of antitrust behavior, and indeed, the Justice Department launched an antitrust investigation into the PGA\u2019s dealings last year. The PGA countered by decrying Saudi Arabia\u2019s abhorrent human rights record and accusing them of attempting to \u201cbuy the game of golf.\u201d The irony of Tuesday\u2019s announcement has not been lost on critics of the Saudis or even Monahan himself.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI recognize that people are going to call me a hypocrite. Anytime I said anything, I said it with the information that I had at that moment, and I said it based on someone that\u2019s trying to compete for the PGA Tour and our players,\u201d he said. \u201cI accept those criticisms. But circumstances do change.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Texas Republican congressman Chip Roy, who had partnered with 9\/11 families and the PGA in criticizing the Saudi government, said \u201cI wonder if the PGA Tour\u2014having wrapped itself in the flag\u2014invited 9\/11 families to the big announcement? I guess not, because money was worth more than principle, apparently.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy said that Monahan \u201ccame to my office and told me it would be a moral outrage for Saudi Arabia to have an ownership stake in a major American sport. The announcement speaks for itself as to what really matters. It\u2019s all about the money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/LIV-merger-gavel.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-6829 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/LIV-merger-gavel-300x116.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"116\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/LIV-merger-gavel-300x116.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/LIV-merger-gavel.jpg 554w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Though the acrimony between the two sides has abated, their legal issues may yet persist. The Justice Department\u2019s investigation into potentially anti-competitive behavior on the part of the PGA remains ongoing, and the announcement of the merger may serve to add fuel to the fire. LIV has, for the past year, been engaged in intense litigation against the PGA claiming antitrust abuses. Now, even though LIV will be dropping all litigation, the Justice Department investigation rolls on.<\/p>\n<p>Author bio: Steve Balmer is a rising 3<sup>rd<\/sup> year law student at Temple University Beasley School of Law, studying sports and entertainment law. He is an avid sports fan, with a particular interest in American and European soccer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After a period of harsh fighting and even harsher litigation between the PGA and LIV Golf, the two sides have announced a shock merger.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[90],"tags":[],"audience":[],"coauthors":[1050],"class_list":["post-6809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-student-commentary"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\r\n<title>PGA and Saudi-backed LIV Golf Announce Historic Merger - Voices at Temple<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After a period of harsh fighting and even harsher litigation between the PGA and LIV Golf, the two sides have announced a shock merger.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/voices\/pga-and-saudi-backed-liv-golf-announce-historic-merger\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PGA and Saudi-backed LIV Golf Announce Historic Merger - 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