WASHINGTON — PGA Tour representatives on Tuesday defended their settlement with Saudi-backed LIV Golf as a desperate bid for the tour’s survival rather than the amoral money grab alleged by critics.
“We faced an existential threat,” Ron Price, the tour’s chief operating officer, testified Tuesday before a Senate subcommittee. “Our sole purpose was to . . . preserve our existence so that we could continue to benefit our constituents, our players and charity and our ability to continue to lead professional golf.”
The golf world and many beyond it were shocked by the tour’s announcement last month that it had resolved an acrimonious legal battle with LIV Golf and agreed on a framework for a joint venture with the rival circuit.
The deal represented a 180-degree about-face for the tour, which had harshly criticized LIV and suspended players who opted to play in its events.
Critics of the deal cite human rights abuses by Saudi Arabia and the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. A U.S. intelligence report concluded Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman likely approved the operation to kill or capture Khashoggi, an allegation Saudi Arabia denies.
Former AT&T chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson resigned from the PGA Tour’s policy board over the weekend, citing concerns about the tour’s proposed partnership with Saudi Arabia’s national wealth fund, The Washington Post reported Sunday.
Dallas-based AT&T has been a major sponsor of PGA Tour events for years.
Regulators and lawmakers
The deal quickly attracted the attention of regulators and lawmakers in Washington who see potential antitrust issues at play.
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin, who was a walk-on to the University of Virginia golf team, has spoken out about the merger.
“In the end,it’s always about the money,” he tweeted when news of the deal broke. “Saudi Arabia just bought themselves a one-world golf government.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., announced an investigation, convened Tuesday’s hearing and released documents laying out at least some details behind how the settlement was struck.
“It’s a regime that has reportedly killed journalists, jailed and tortured dissidents, fostered the war in Yemen and supported other terrorist activities, including the 9/11 attack on our nation,” Blumenthal said.
He echoed widespread criticism that Saudi Arabia is engaged in “‘sports washing,” whereby repressive autocracies try to leverage involvement in major sporting events to distract from their human rights abuses.
Price appeared at Tuesday’s hearing alongside Jimmy Dunne, a tour board member who helped negotiate the framework agreement with PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, who has been out of action due to medical issues.
Saudi investment
The framework agreement resolved the litigation between the two parties but a final deal is still being negotiated. The witnesses declined to put a specific number on the potential Saudi investment in the new venture but Price suggested it would be “north of $1 billion.”
Following its acquisition by Irving-based Nexstar in August 2022, the CW Network signed a multiyear exclusive broadcast deal with LIV Golf.
Nexstar has said CW will continue to broadcast LIV Golf events this year although the future of that partnership under the new deal is unclear.
Blumenthal noted the deal between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf followed court victories by the tour that he suggested gave it the upper hand. He questioned why it did not turn to alternative financing to battle the Saudi-backed enterprise, whether that was from an IPO, a private equity firm or the players themselves.
The tour officials came back repeatedly to what they described as a bleak reality facing the tour in its fight against a sovereign wealth fund with hundreds of billions of dollars at its disposal.
They said LIV demonstrated a willingness to spend economically irrational amounts of money to lure top players away from the tour. Over time the departure of top players would likely erode PGA Tour revenues, prompting more players to leave until LIV had taken over professional golf entirely, they said.
Some Republican members of the subcommittee questioned why Congress was meddling in a private business dispute.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., said questions about Saudi Arabia were legitimate but that the tour was stuck between the proverbial rock and hard place. He suggested the agreement being hammered out now could offer a win-win outcome by giving LIV a seat at the table and assuring the PGA Tour retains significant control.
Blumenthal said the sheer volume of Saudi money involved is likely to erode the tour’s control, however, and that he plans to continue probing the deal.
In the audience Tuesday were members of 9/11 Justice, a group pressing to shine a light on evidence of Saudi Arabia’s connections to the 2001 terrorist attacks.
The group’s president Brett Eagleson, whose father Bruce died in the South Tower of the World Trade Center, said after the hearing that he hopes the golf controversy helps raise the profile of Saudi Arabia’s role in 9/11.
“I think they had more staying power,” Eagleson said. “I think they opted to take the pot of money rather than to fight.”
