A PGA TOUR logo is seen after play was suspended as a result of severe storms in the course of the third round of THE PLAYERS Championship held at THE PLAYERS Stadium course at TPC Sawgrass on May 14, 2011 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
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PGA Tour and LIV Golf are working to increase their proposed merger deadline, which was originally set at Dec. 31, Commissioner Jay Monaha told players in a memo on Sunday.
“While we had initially set a deadline of December 31, 2023, to achieve an agreement, we’re working to increase our negotiations into next 12 months based on the progress we’ve got made thus far,” in response to the memo obtained by CNBC.
Monahan told players their goal for 2024 is to achieve agreements with Strategic Sports Group (SSG), the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and DP World Tour, bringing them on board as minority co-investors in PGA Tour Enterprises.
The PGA Tour recently announced that it was in the ultimate round of negotiations with a coalition of U.S. investors, called Strategic Sports Group. The SSG is led by Fenway Sports Group. Monahan said they’ve made “meaningful progress” and have provided SSG with the due diligence information they requested.
“These partnerships will allow us to unify, innovate and spend money on the sport for the advantage of players, fans and sponsors,” he said.
The competing golf leagues are expected to make a proper decision on the mixture ahead of the Masters tournament in April, in response to The Telegraph, which first reported the extension.
The delay is the most recent update in a protracted and tumultuous saga between the PGA Tour and Saudi Public Investment Fund-backed LIV Golf that has divided players and will dramatically change skilled golf if the merger is accomplished.
The 2 entities agreed in June to mix industrial operations, shocking the worldwide golf community and raising questions around competition and human rights considerations. Under the structure of the agreement, PGA Tour would hold a everlasting controlling interest in the brand new entity’s board of directors and PIF could be a noncontrolling minority investor.
If the proposed merger is accomplished, PIF is ready to take a position $1 billion into the brand new industrial business. The agreement also includes the DP World Tour, also generally known as the PGA European Tour.
The deal is subject to likely antitrust scrutiny from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department.
Before the agreement, PGA Tour and LIV were locked in heated litigation as LIV Golf lured Tour players away, offering big contracts. LIV Golf most recently signed world No. 3 player Jon Rahm to a contract price a reported $300 million.
Last month, the Tour told players it might begin offering direct equity ownership in the brand new company after it reaches a take care of investors.
In late November, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan told Andrew Ross Sorkin on the DealBook Summit that he was meeting with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, chairman of LIV Golf and PIF governor, to proceed discussions.
“When this gets finalized, the PGA Tour goes to be ready where the athletes are owners of their sport and you have got not only the PIF, but you’ve got likely got one other co-investor with significant experience in business, in sport and [in] brand that is going to assist take the PGA Tour to a different level,” Monahan said on the time.
