Compiled from multiple news sources by Joseph Michael
For the past three years, LIV Golf has taken the world of professional golf by storm. The newly formed professional league has already lured away superstars like Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson with unmatchable salaries and a whole new attitude – turning golf tournaments into open-air parties. But not everyone is on board. Tiger Woods, who reportedly turned down $800 million to join LIV golf, and 24-time PGA Winner Rory McIlroy have been among LIV golf’s most vocal critics.
“What we’re doing here is incredibly additive to the sport,” said Monica Fee, Global Head of Partnerships at LIV Golf. “When you look outside and you see 20-somethings coming out to experience golf for the very first time, 30% of our fans have never come out to a golf event before. And they’re coming out to experience it through LIV. That’s good for the sport of golf.”
The country’s Public Investment Fund, or PIF, has reportedly poured more than $2 billion into LIV Golf, and billions more into other sports ventures as part of its plan to diversify the country’s economy beyond oil. The PIF, which also owns a minority stake in Disney, the parent company of ABC News and Hulu, has been rapidly increasing its investments into sports and entertainment businesses.
According to Global SWF, an organization that tracks sovereign wealth funds, the fund has invested $13.5 billion into sports alone, so all the money in the fund does not belong to the LIV Golf League since its inception. The fund’s expansion has been called out by human rights groups and Congressional leaders who point to the Saudi government’s human rights violations, its ties to the 9/11 attacks and the murder of the Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a vocal critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud.
Although the Saudi government has repeatedly denied allegations of its involvement in the 9/11 attacks, it has faced pushback from families of the victims through an ongoing class action lawsuit. When LIV Golf was first announced in 2021, Terry Strada, chair of 9/11 Families United, said she was outraged as PGA stars started to join the new league. “I wrote the first letter that went to Phil [Mickelson] and a few of the other players, and called them traitors,” she told “Impact.”
Former PGA pro Bubba Watson signed a multi-year contract worth more than $566 million with LIV Golf in 2022, telling “Impact” he has no regrets about joining the organization. “I’m doing something that’s fun, energetic, and new. And if you’re going to grow the game of golf, this is the way, I believe, to do that,” Watson told “Impact”. “And so for me, it’s all about me and my family.”
But in recent months, the investment group Strategic Sports Group, or SSG, announced it would invest upwards of $3 billion and more if needed into the PGA tour, creating a new for profit venture “PGA tour enterprises.” The investment could force PIF to be a minority investor in the PGA, according to experts.
Although the future of the PGA Tour and LIV Golf partnership is still uncertain, Saudi influence in the sports world continues to grow as it invests in profitable clubs, leagues and other sports groups throughout the world. Leaving LIV to turn things around quickly.
Ganji cautioned against letting these investments distract from the Kingdom’s human rights record. “Sportswashing is such an interesting word…the washing part at the end of it is what’s key. It implies that there was something stained, something dirty, fundamentally something problematic and wrong,” he said. “But here’s the thing: When you do something wrong as a political regime, you can’t just get rid of the stain. It’s a forever fact.”
*****
This is not good news…at least not to me. Here’s why:
(Click Image to read about the Tour’s New Leader)
The Head Nut
#0001