• Loading stock data...
Friday, July 18, 2025

PGA Tour Taps Into Deep Base of Team Owners With SSG Deal

  • New investor group boasts more than 200 years of combined team leadership.
  • Strategic Sports Group is also comprised heavily by TMRW Sports investors.
Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

Call it the new Jay Monahan brain trust. 

After weeks of anticipation, the PGA Tour has at last completed an investment deal of up to $3 billion with Strategic Sports Group to form a new for-profit commercial entity, PGA Tour Enterprises, that includes equity participation by players. 

The deal, valuing PGA Tour Enterprises at about $12 billion, undoubtedly represents a major financial jolt for men’s pro golf. Though a separate pact between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf remains incomplete, the new group carries a combined net worth of about $50 billion. But what’s potentially just as impactful for PGA Tour commissioner Monahan, and maybe more so, is the deep well of operational experience within the new investor group, involving nearly every U.S. major sports property, as well as the Premier League. 

The Fenway Sports Group-led SSG includes: 

  • FSG’s John Henry (above), Tom Werner, Mike Gordon, and Sam Kennedy, whose group oversees the Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Penguins, Liverpool FC, and New England Sports Network
  • Linda Henry, John’s wife and an investor in the WNBA and League One Volleyball
  • New York Mets owner Steve Cohen
  • Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United owner Arthur Blank
  • Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio
  • Boston Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck
  • Former Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry
  • Former Cleveland Browns president Alec Scheiner

Collectively, the group has more than 200 years of sports team leadership, and FSG will serve as the commercial advisor to PGA Tour Enterprises. Monahan will also be CEO of PGA Tour Enterprises. 

“There are all kinds of things happening across the business. There are big changes unfolding in the TV model, how you engage with fans. And [SSG] has been in the businesses you need to be in,” LeslieAnne Wade, founder of White Tee Partners and a former CBS Sports executive, tells Front Office Sports.

There is also an extensive base of existing relationships as FSG, Henry, Werner, Blank, and Scheiner are all investors in TMRW Sports, which operates TGL, the new high-tech golf league operating in partnership with the PGA Tour, while Cohen also has TGL’s New York team and Lasry owns the one in San Francisco. Blank and his AMBSE company additionally own TGL’s Atlanta Drive GC, and FSG owns the league’s Boston Common Golf.

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

Golf’s Prize Money Boom Is Slowing Down

There is no purse increase at The Open Championship.
Jul 21, 2024; Ayrshire, SCT; Xander Schauffele celebrates with Claret Jug after winning the Open Championship golf tournament at Royal Troon.

The Boozy History and Traditions of The Open’s Claret Jug

The Open awards the world’s most famous wine decanter.
Wyndham Clark

Oakmont Bans Golfer Wyndham Clark After Locker Room Rampage

He’ll have to donate and seek treatment to get reinstated.
The 153rd Open Championship at the Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland

Open Championship Considers Ireland: Portrush ‘Will Open’ Gates

Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland is hosting this week’s tournament.

Featured Today

2025 PDC World Darts Championship Final - Luke Littler vs Michael Van Gerwen

A Teen Darts Prodigy Is Becoming Bigger Than the Game Itself

Luke ‘The Nuke’ Littler is cashing in on his devastatingly accurate shot.
May 31, 2025; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Sydney McLaughin-Levrone (USA) reacts before the women's 100m hurdles during the Grand Slam Track Philadelphia at Franklin Field
exclusive
July 13, 2025

Track’s New Money Is Running Into Old Problems

The sport’s big-money era has hit some speed bumps in 2025.
Bobbleheads are seen at Vintage Indy Sports, Tuesday, April 29, 2025 in Speedway. The local sports memorabilia store opened recently.
July 12, 2025

Baseball’s Bobbleheads Are the Center of the Collectibles Universe

Baseball’s most important keepsake drives long lines—and big business.
Rimouski, QC - JUNE 1: Final Game of the 2025 Memorial Cup between the Medicine Hats Tigers and the London Knights on June 1, 2025, at the Colisée Financière Sun Life in Rimouski, Qc.
July 11, 2025

CHL Is Facing a ‘Pandora’s Box’ of Questions Amid NCAA Talent Departure

As players defect to college, the Canadian Hockey League won’t cede ground.
Apr 26, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Houston Rockets guard Fred VanVleet (5) before game three of first round for the 2024 NBA Playoffs against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center.

Rockets Get $20 Million in Wiggle Room From New VanVleet Deal

VanVleet first signed with the Rockets in 2023.
April 20, 2025

Max Verstappen Linked to $300M Aston Martin Deal Ahead of Miami GP

Aston Martin is currently seventh in the constructors championship.
June 24, 2025

Timberwolves’ 4-Year Ownership Saga Ends As A-Rod, Lore Take Over

The unanimous approval brought a clean end to a long-disputed transaction.
Sponsored

Game On: Portfolio Players Stories, Brought to You by E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley

Dealmaker Jeffrey Kaplan maps the evolution of sports as an asset class
March 27, 2025

Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions Gets PE Boost

The Hall of Famer’s company gains another prominent backer.
March 20, 2025

High School Sports Power Signs Eight-Figure Rights Deal in First

The deal pays roughly $1 million annually, FOS has learned.
March 20, 2025

Maxx Crosby’s Agent: Edge Rushers Set to Dominate NFL’s Non-QB Market

Maxx Crosby just signed a three-year, $106.5 million extension.
March 4, 2025

Eagles Make Saquon Barkley NFL’s Highest-Paid Running Back Ever

Barkley is coming off a historic 2024 season with the Eagles.