The PGA Tour is close to finalizing a historic investment that includes money from Saudi Arabia, Bloomberg reported Monday.
Strategic Sports Group (SSG) will invest about $3 billion, with additional money from the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), sources told Bloomberg.
Sports Illustrated reported Sunday that a long-discussed deal between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and PIF was near, if not already completed.
Bloomberg said the deal may not initially include the Saudi-backed LIV Golf, with talks continuing on how to include the rival league.
Critics have accused the Saudis of using LIV Golf to improve their tarnished reputations internationally.
The Wall Street Journal reported in June that the Justice Department was investigating the PGA Tour's plan to merge with Saudi-backed LIV Golf to determine if it violates antitrust law.
The SSG deal could value PGA Tour Enterprises at about $12 billion.
PGA Tour Enterprises is a for-profit company under the PGA Tour banner while leaving the nonprofit tour as it was constructed decades ago.
The SSG consortium includes the Fenway Sports Group, New York Mets owner Steve Cohen's family office Cohen Private Ventures, and Marc Lasry, a former co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks.
Any potential investment and valuation could still change, Bloomberg said.
Issues including how much control PGA Tour players would have within the new league, broadcast and sponsorship contracts, and the role of the Public Investment Fund have delayed finalization of the deal.
LIV Golf, which launched in 2022, lured star golfers such as Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka for contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
The upstart league then sued the PGA Tour for antitrust violations after it banned several LIV players from major tournaments.
The PGA Tour in June agreed to a merger with PIF and the DP World Tour, Europe's professional league.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., chair of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), then asked the PGA Tour and LIV Golf for communications and records related to their planned merger.
In letters to the PGA Tour and LIV Golf today, Blumenthal noted Saudi Arabia's "deeply disturbing human rights record at home and abroad" and its stated intention to "use investments in sports to further the Saudi government's strategic objectives."
LIV has continued to entice high-profile golfers, with defending Masters champion and 2021 U.S. Open winner Jon Rahm joining in December.
The Telegraph reported Monday that English Ryder Cup veteran Tyrrell Hatton left the PGA Tour and made the jump to LIV Golf, signing for $63 million.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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