(L-R) U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) speak to reporters a few corporate minimum tax plan on the U.S. Capitol October 26, 2021 in Washington, DC.
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WASHINGTON — Two top Senate Democrats with a track record of scrutinizing business and antitrust activity have called for a Justice Department investigation into the merger agreement between the PGA Tour and Saudi-owned LIV Golf.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Ron Wyden of Oregon asked the Justice Department to find out whether the deal to mix the 2 entities’ industrial businesses violated the Sherman Antitrust Act.
The deal “would make a U.S. organization complicit – and force American golfers and their fans to affix this complicity – within the Saudi regime’s latest try to sanitize its abuses by pouring funds into major sports leagues,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter Tuesday to Attorney General Merrick Garland and the DOJ’s antitrust chief, Jonathan Kanter.
“Significantly, the deal appears to have a considerable opposed impact on competition, violating several provisions of U.S. antitrust law, no matter whether the deal is structured as a merger or some kind of three way partnership,” they added.
The DOJ, the PGA Tour and LIV Golf didn’t immediately reply to requests for comment from CNBC.
The deal between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf would put an end to pending antitrust litigation between the 2 golf organizations. The 2 sides have agreed to merge business operations to form a bigger, yet-unnamed enterprise chaired by Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. The deal immediately triggered antitrust concerns and questions on sponsorships and player compensation.
LIV Golf, which is funded by the PIF, was capable of lure a few of golf’s biggest stars away from the PGA Tour shortly after its founding in 2021, sparking several lawsuits between the businesses.
The merger shocked LIV Golf’s critics in light of Saudi Arabia’s documented human rights abuses. Relations of 9/11 victims have protested the Saudi golf league attributable to the terrorists’ ties to the country. Osama Bin Laden, who planned the attack, was also born in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who controls the PIF’s purse strings, can be accused of orchestrating the 2018 murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Within the letter, the lawmakers pointed to the PGA Tour’s comments from a 2022 lawsuit, by which the organization said the Saudi entity is “not a rational economic actor,” and is “prepared to lose billions of dollars to leverage [U.S. golfers] and the game of golf to ‘sportswash’ the Saudi government’s deplorable repute for human rights abuses.”
Warren, sits on the Senate Banking Committee, while Wyden chairs the Senate Finance Committee. The DOJ should “allocate sufficient resources to closely scrutinize the proposed deal” including the potential consequences for skilled golf within the U.S., the lawmakers said.
The letter follows Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s inquiries to PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman for details on the merger. The PIF has previously stated intentions to make use of its influence in sports to further the Saudi government’s objectives, in line with Blumenthal’s letter.
Monahan has taken a leave of absence to get well from an undisclosed medical condition.
–CNBC’s Jessica Golden contributed to this text.
