PGA and Saudi's LIV Golf Decide To Join, Finishing Bitter Legal Feud

June 7, 2023: The PGA has decided to join with Saudi competitor LIV Golf in a deal to see the candidates squash pending litigation and move forward as a larger golf enterprise.

The two entities signed an agreement combining the PGA Tour and LIV Golf’s commercial businesses and rights into a new, yet-to-be-named for-profit company. The deal has DP World Tour, also known as the European PGA Tour.

LIV Golf is backed by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Money, an entity controlled by the Saudi crown prince, and has been embroiled in antitrust lawsuits with the PGA Tour in the last year. The deal announced Tuesday would end all pending litigation.

On Tuesday, PIF is prepared to support billions of new capital into the entity. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

The agreement, the second stunning sports deal in just months, following World Wrestling Entertainment’s merger with Endeavor Group’s UFC, will require the support of the PGA Tour policy board, Commissioner Jay Monahan said in a memo to players obtained by CNBC.

“There is work to get it done from a framework agreement to a definitive agreement, but one item is obvious: through this transformational agreement and with PIF’s collaborative investment, the immeasurable strength of the PGA Tour’s history, legacy, and pro-competitive model not only remains intact but is supercharged for the future,” he wrote in the memo.

On Tuesday, PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan said that after the merger is finalized, which he expects to be “in a week matter,” the new board will evaluate every suggestion presented. Al-Rumayyan is slated to serve as chairman of the board.