OT All you golfers out there, PGA and LIV merger -OT

lousubcap

Please offer any comments as there are a few big names on the PGA tour who declined upwards of $100 M guaranteed to each to jump to LIV.  I am having a tough time processing the speed with which this happened and the downstream impact.

Just goes to show- "Follow the Money!!"

HeavyG

I think it's pretty outrageous. The Saudis' are not our friends but so people really can't turn away their money.

TechsasJim

Yes sir.   Greatest SS on earth.   Pandering to the Saudis or…?    The guys that got in early on LIV are laughing at those that abstained.   

Rory shouldn’t be wearing white trousers anytime soon, has to be sh*tting himself.   

I guess as most things, time will tell how it fleshes out.   

ColbyLang

LIV dropped the litigation. The Americans need a handful of the LIV guys for the Ryder Cup. This is the way it shoulda been done all along. Tiger foolish for turning down nearly 1B!!!

ksmyrl

I think the PGA decided not to go broke fighting the law suits. I'm an avid golfer and fan but the PGA has been a monopoly for a generation and been more worried about money than players. The fact that the PGA had their ass handed to them is something I feel like was long overdue. The fact that it's the Saudi government that did it...well that sucks but it is what it is. 

We should all be careful virtue signaling too. Many phones, clothes, computers, BBQ accessories etc. are made in countries that hate us, are built using child and slave labor. That want to see America's demise. 

ColbyLang

The PGA got pissed cus someone figured out how to bring free agency to pro golf. You can bet LIV 15 different ways like NFL and college football. 

The the PGA can kiss my ass blaming the Saudis. Blood money. Check who the number two corporate sponsor of the LPGA is……hint, it’s the Saudis. And has been 

WeberWho

ksmyrl said:

I think the PGA decided not to go broke fighting the law suits. I'm an avid golfer and fan but the PGA has been a monopoly for a generation and been more worried about money than players. The fact that the PGA had their ass handed to them is something I feel like was long overdue. The fact that it's the Saudi government that did it...well that sucks but it is what it is. 

We should all be careful virtue signaling too. Many phones, clothes, computers, BBQ accessories etc. are made in countries that hate us, are built using child and slave labor. That want to see America's demise. 

Perfectly said. 

HeavyG

https://twitter.com/Martina/status/1666192056262205440

So replacing the existing monopoly with an even more powerful monopoly.  
Wonder if the feds should take a look from an antitrust perspective.

HeavyG

https://twitter.com/JamesHesky/status/1666112128703406081

Acn

Ozzie_Isaac

HeavyG said:

https://twitter.com/JamesHesky/status/1666112128703406081

Too soon

Botch

No.  No it isn't.  
 
Maybe this should be my retirement job: write down every sponsor/TV commercial purchase of either league and publish that list, even if its just on forums and facebook.  A mass boycott is the only way to shut this blood money **** down; although, given recent popular opinions/votes, it may already be too late.  

pgprescott

Botch said:

No.  No it isn't.  
 
Maybe this should be my retirement job: write down every sponsor/TV commercial purchase of either league and publish that list, even if it’s just on forums and facebook.  A mass boycott is the only way to shut this blood money **** down; although, given recent popular opinions/votes, it may already be too late.  

Don’t disagree with the basis of your sentiments but you better get a really thick notebook. It’s not just golf. Not by a long shot. How about Chinese investment etc? 

ColbyLang

Eggdicted_Dawgfan

@ColbyLang I think what you are missing is when you stand up for what you believe is the right thing to do, it is priceless. I highly doubt tiger is saying, damn I should have joined LIV, I’d have an extra 800 mil. It’s about morals and doing what’s right for the fans and the people who got these players to where the are today. Simply my opinion. 

pgprescott

Eggdicted_Dawgfan said:

@ColbyLang I think what you are missing is when you stand up for what you believe is the right thing to do, it is priceless. I highly doubt tiger is saying, damn I should have joined LIV, I’d have an extra 800 mil. It’s about morals and doing what’s right for the fans and the people who got these players to where the are today. Simply my opinion. 

Sooo, they are all going to resign from the tours as they are agreeing to take billions in investment money? Is it ok now? Are the media personalities going to resign their lucrative gigs covering the tour and working in lockstep with the tour? Funny thing about taking the moral high ground is it is totally rigid or it’s an illusion. We shall see. I assume people won’t watch, standing their moral ground. That goes for the auto racing and many other worldwide sports leagues. I applaud those who have that level of conviction to their stated position and dismiss those who don’t. It’s just not that easy to display true fidelity to their position. 

Gulfcoastguy

ColbyLang said:

LIV dropped the litigation. The Americans need a handful of the LIV guys for the Ryder Cup. This is the way it shoulda been done all along. Tiger foolish for turning down nearly 1B!!!

Of which his ex wife might have gotten half ?

TechsasJim

On a Geo-Political level this looks pretty weak.   The West caving.   The Euro and PGA Tours are the penultimate, LIV is too new and based on a poor economic model (while being a general weak/gimmicky format).

Regardless, seems like there was some caving to avoid litigation - or perhaps (as mentioned above) the desire for certain players in certain international events.   

In the end golf is golf but those that got in early capitalized.   Let’s hope none of us are journalists in Turkey (this is just a forum right)?

HeavyG

https://twitter.com/SRuhle/status/1666232789899804673

stlcharcoal

Reminds me of when IRL took over the Indy 500, then held 25 of the 33 spots for their league drivers.  CART had their went out on their own, had a 500 the same weekend, and then 10 years later ended up merging with IRL.  Bunch of BS when it's all "for the love of [whatever sport]".....no it's the love of money through a monopoly (and somehow most of these billion dollar governing bodies are registered as non-profit companies).

StillH2OEgger

ColbyLang said:

LIV dropped the litigation. The Americans need a handful of the LIV guys for the Ryder Cup. This is the way it shoulda been done all along. Tiger foolish for turning down nearly 1B!!!

Disagree. The Ryder Cup is bigger than the individual players who would not have played in this year's event.

Ozzie_Isaac

This is worse than Trevor Chappel delivering the last ball underarm to Brian McKechnie in 1981.  Truly against the spirit of the game.

StillH2OEgger

There's a lot more to learn about this, but I don't see anything on the horizon that could possibly justify the PGA Tour's hypocrisy with this agreement. I'm sure the money is absolutely obscene in order for Monahan and the Tour to make this deal with the devil. I'm surely naive, but still holding out slim hope that the Tour Policy Board or the justice department will find a way to squash this whole thing.

HeavyG

StillH2OEgger said:

There's a lot more to learn about this, but I don't see anything on the horizon that could possibly justify the PGA Tour's hypocrisy with this agreement. I'm sure the money is absolutely obscene in order for Monahan and the Tour to make this deal with the devil. I'm surely naive, but still holding out slim hope that the Tour Policy Board or the justice department will find a way to squash this whole thing.

I read Monahan's salary is going from 9 to 25 million/year. So I'm sure that was some incentive (if that number is in fact true).

Ozzie_Isaac

HeavyG said:

StillH2OEgger said:

There's a lot more to learn about this, but I don't see anything on the horizon that could possibly justify the PGA Tour's hypocrisy with this agreement. I'm sure the money is absolutely obscene in order for Monahan and the Tour to make this deal with the devil. I'm surely naive, but still holding out slim hope that the Tour Policy Board or the justice department will find a way to squash this whole thing.

I read Monahan's salary is going from 9 to 25 million/year. So I'm sure that was some incentive (if that number is in fact true).

How is there this much profit to be had in golf?  I usually put it on Sunday afternoon when I am ready for nap.  I do look at the magazines though, but only for the pictures, not the articles.  I like to see the watches the players are wearing.

HeavyG

https://twitter.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1666111578242990080?s=20

ColbyLang

The PGA’s hypocrisy on this whole thing is absolutely humorous. None of them guys are gonna sit out tournaments. I like how the tour, run by players, kept the players in the dark on the entire thing 

MJG

I’d just like to see the best of the best competing against each other. The money is crazy…dudes play golf well, they’re not curing cancer!  

Mark_B_Good

Do not pay attention to what people say, pay attention to what they do ... they cannot hide their motives when you pay attention to what they do.  This saying applies here ... they don't care that Saudis are running this ... it's all about money ... period.

StillH2OEgger

I think it's pretty clear that the financial hit from Covid and with the increased money spent for PIP, purses and huge legal fees due to LIV, the PGA Tour was literally running out of money.

StillH2OEgger

MJG said:

I’d just like to see the best of the best competing against each other. The money is crazy…dudes play golf well, they’re not curing cancer!  

They used to raises boatloads of money that goes towards trying to cure cancer. Curious how all of this will impact the charitable efforts of the Tour now that it will be a for-profit venture.