The PGA Tour’s uncertain financial future is gaining some clarity — to the tune of potentially $3 billion — just over two weeks before a crucial deadline approaches.

Under the terms of a framework agreement (announced on June 6) with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, a new, for-profit company called PGA Tour Enterprises would oversee the commercial business operations of the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and LIV Golf. After backlash from players and even the U.S. government, the PGA Tour ultimately ended up in negotiations with a high-profile group of U.S.-based investors to accompany a potential investment from the PIF, which has a Dec. 31 deadline for completion.

Now, ESPN is reporting that an investment pact with Strategic Sports Group, a consortium of American professional sports team owners led by Fenway Sports Group (parent company of the Boston Red Sox), is imminent. SSG would inject more than $3 billion into PGA Tour Enterprises, and additional funding from the PIF could bring the total investment past $7 billion. That company could be valued at roughly $12 billion, according to The New York Times, which pegged SSG’s investment at $3.5 billion. The PGA Tour would have control over that new entity, with SSG and the PIF as minority investors.

The PIF has already shelled out billions of dollars to back the launch of LIV, which has given hundred-million-dollar-plus contracts to the likes of Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, and most recently Jon Rahm.

Any new funding for the PGA Tour will be crucial as it looks to continue offering huge tournament purses, like the $20 million to be offered at its eight signature events in 2024, even as some top sponsors, such as Wells Fargo, stop backing those tournaments.

For a brief moment, Tampa Bay Rays fans faced the prospect of another name change. 

As the Rays ask the city of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County to cover roughly half the costs of a new $1.3 billion ballpark, a city council member proposed that the MLB franchise be rebranded as the St. Petersburg Rays – which would have given the team its third name since entering the league in 1998 as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays before dropping “Devil” from its name in 2007. The Rays have always played at Tropicana Field, which, in fairness to said city council member, is in St. Petersburg.

On Thursday, that council member, Gina Driscoll, softened her proposal, simply asking for more details about how the Rays could “elevate St. Petersburg” after receiving stiff pushback from city and team officials. 

“There will not be a new ballpark nor a redevelopment project if there’s a requirement to change our franchise’s name,” Rays co-president Brian Auld said. St. Petersburg mayor Ken Welch chimed in, saying that asking the team to change its name “undermines our progress” and “distracts from our goal.” 

Naming Rights

The Rays aren’t the only professional sports team to struggle with the branding of their locale:

• MLB’s Los Angeles Angels have previously been known as – deep breath – the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the Anaheim Angels, and the California Angels. They’ve played in Anaheim since 1966.
• Before moving to Sacramento in 1985, the NBA’s Kings were known as the Kansas City–Omaha Kings while splitting home games between the two cities, then simply the Kansas City Kings after that city built a new arena.
• The Golden State Warriors were known as the San Francisco Warriors from 1962-1971.
• And, of course, the New York Giants haven’t played home games in New York since 1975. The Jets, too, have resided in New Jersey since 1983. Which means that Buffalo Bills fans can call themselves the only NFL team in New York.

As noted above, the Rays rebranded in 2007. But what’s also notable is the fact that the Rays’ jerseys have not featured “Tampa Bay” on them since.

Nebraska and Texas will battle for the 2023 NCAA Division I women’s volleyball championship in front of a national TV audience on Sunday, capping a breakthrough year for the sport.

Thursday’s semifinal matches at Amalie Arena, home of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning, set an attendance record for indoor volleyball as 19,598 fans gathered to watch the tournament’s final four play out. The Cornhuskers swept fellow No. 1 seed Pittsburgh, and the No.2 Longhorns defeated No. 1 Wisconsin, 3-1. Nebraska-Texas will take place Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on ABC.

At the start of this year’s season, Nebraska set the all-time record for any women’s sport by packing 90,003 fans into the school’s football stadium for Volleyball Day on Aug. 30.

Bump, Set, Spike

Next fall, the sport will have another new national stage to promote itself. 

Fox Sports is backing a new two-day volleyball event on Labor Day Weekend at Fiserv Forum, home of the Milwaukee Bucks. The showcase will bring together the Wisconsin, Texas, Stanford, and Minnesota women’s volleyball teams, and also has the support of Intersport, a Chicago-based agency that has worked with the PGA Tour and Under Armour. The main Fox broadcast channel will carry two of the four matches, while the other two will be on FS1.

No financial terms of the event’s creation have been made available, but future editions will see the annual event rotate teams and locations. Organizers told Front Office Sports there has been interest from many top volleyball programs like Nebraska and others.