PGA Tour-PIF Negotiations Will Reportedly Miss Dec. 31 Deadline

As the PGA Tour works to complete its landmark deal with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and the DP World Tour, the likelihood of those talks extending into 2024 is now growing.

With just six weeks to go before the original Dec. 31 deadline to reach a definitive agreement, the Financial Times reported the deadline is now “increasingly unlikely to be met,” with an extension now the more probable outcome.

Not surprisingly, monetary issues remain at the heart of the dragging pace of the talks, with compensation for PGA Tour players who remained loyal and refused huge LIV Golf deals among the key sticking points. 

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said in a memo last week that organization leaders “remain focused” on the ongoing talks, and he, too, acknowledged that the pace of progress was “deliberate.”

If completed, the PIF would invest at least $1 billion — and potentially much more — into a new commercial entity called PGA Tour Enterprises, which would oversee the commercial business of the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and LIV Golf. PGA Tour members will receive equity ownership in that company.

Outside Interest

The PGA Tour, meanwhile, continues to talk to “potential minority investors” that would also come along with the PIF, and that consideration is now reportedly down to five entities.

Perhaps the foremost entity on that short list, Fenway Sports Group, is actually not just the parent organization of the Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Liverpool FC. 

FSG is leading a consortium of partners comprised of some of the biggest names in sports, including New York Mets owner Steve Cohen, Boston Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck, Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts, Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United owner Arthur Blank, San Francisco Giants co-owner Greg Johnson, Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, former Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Larry, Bruin Capital, and Otro Capital.