Confirmed: PGA Tour approves $3bn investment from Strategic Sports Group

The PGA Tour has confirmed a $3bn investment from Strategic Sports Group, with the window open for a further cash injection by the Saudi PIF in the future.

Ben Smith

31 Jan 2024

Confirmed: PGA Tour approves $3bn investment from Strategic Sports Group

The PGA Tour has agreed a $3bn investment deal with Strategic Sports Group.

According to the Financial Times, the deal will be announced on 31 January before the first round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

SSG is a group of US-based investors led by Liverpool FC and Boston Red Sox owner John Henry.

According to the report, which you can read here, the Tour agreed the deal over night. All that is left is to do is dot the i's and cross the t's.

The interesting aspect is that the deal does not involve Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.

The PIF bankrolls the LIV Golf League. It is said the PIF could be brought on as an investor down the line.

On 6 June 2023, the PGA Tour announced their intentions to align their commercial interests with LIV Golf and the DP World Tour under the umbrella of a new for-profit golf company.

That company, named PGA Tour Enterprises, is what SSG are investing in.

The FT reported:

"The deal, which is set to value the entity at roughly $12bn, the people said, is the latest salvo in the high-stakes battle for the future of the sport that has engulfed the Tour since Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund launched its own rival golf group more than two years ago.

"The agreement is set to include an equity participation programme for the players, a win for golfers who remained loyal to the Tour even as others defected to Saudi-backed rival LIV Golf, the people said.

"The SSG deal does not include the $700bn Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund at this stage although it allows for co-investment from the wealth fund in the future.

"The Tour intends to continue its talks with the Saudi wealth fund over a possible deal to allow PIF to take a stake in the entity, according to a person with knowledge of the matter."

The publication has also reported PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan will inform PGA Tour, PGA Tour Champions and Korn Ferry Tour members of the deal in a conference call scheduled for Wednesday morning.

Monahan has come under heavy fire from his own members having previously implored golfers not to join LIV over the league's ties to Saudi Arabia amid accusations of sportswashing.

Several high-profile golfers have called for his resignation, stating he broke their trust after the about-face turn.

Monahan even took a leave of absence from his role last year, owing to stress and anxiety, after the 6 June deal was announced.

When he returned, he is said to have apologised to Tour members and owned his mistakes.

It should also be noted that Monahan's power was diminished after Tiger Woods joined the Tour's policy board, shifting the balance of decision-making in favour of the players.

His European counterpart, Keith Pelley, has resigned from the DP World Tour to take up a dream job in Canada.

But Pelley stated he would stay on as the DP World Tour chief executive for three more months as he believed a deal between the establishment and PIF could be agreed.

Update: The PGA Tour have officially announced the news: