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PGA, LIV merger overview:
- Who: The PGA Tour announced a merger with the DP World Tour and the Public Investment Fund, which includes the LIV Golf Tour.
- Why: The PGA/LIV merger ends litigation between the golf tours as LIV players made antitrust claims against the PGA.
- Where: The case had been pending in federal district court in California.
- What are my options: Shop like a pro at Worldwide Golf Shops.
The PGA Tour, DP World Tour and the Public Investment Fund (PIF) that includes the LIV Tour announced a merger that will end litigation between the golf tours. The merger will create a new, for-profit entity.
The lawsuit came after the PGA Tour previously banned LIV players from events and allegedly encouraged the Open Championship in Britain to do the same. Athletes Matt Jones, Bryson DeChambeau, Peter Uihlein and the LIV Golf Tour filed the complaint, claiming the PGA Tour violated the Sherman Antitrust Act by attempting to monopolize golf events.
The PGA Tour’s announcement of the merger says the entities agreed to work together in good faith to allow players to apply for membership in both tours after the 2023 season.
“This transformational partnership recognizes the immeasurable strength of the PGA TOUR’s history, legacy and pro-competitive model and combines with it the DP World Tour and LIV – including the team golf concept – to create an organization that will benefit golf’s players, commercial and charitable partners and fans,” PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan says in the announcement. “Going forward, fans can be confident that we will, collectively, deliver on the promise we’ve always made – to promote competition of the best in professional golf and that we are committed to securing and driving the game’s future.”
New collective entity remains unnamed for PGA/LIV merger
There is not a name yet for the new entity, which will include both Monahan and PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan in leadership roles with a yet-to-be-named board and future schedule. The PGA Tour will remain as a separate non-profit entity.
In other golf news, San Diego’s Torrey Pines Golf Course faces a lawsuit claiming the course is not accessible to people who use a wheelchair.
What do you think of the PGA/LIV merger? Let us know in the comments.
The plaintiffs were represented by Rachel S. Brass, Lauren D. Dansey, Russell H. Falconer, Scott K. Hvidt, Joshua Lipton and Kristen C. Limarzi of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP; Robert C. Walters of Robert C. Walters PC; and John B. Quinn, Dominic Surprenant, Kevin Y. Teruya and Robert P. Feldman of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP.
The PGA Tour was represented by Elliot R. Peters, David J. Silbert, R. Adam Lauridsen, Nicholas S. Goldberg and Sophie Hood of Keker Van Nest & Peters LLP and Anthony J. Dreyer, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, Karen M. Lent and Matthew M. Martino of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP.
The LIV/PGA antitrust case is Matt Jones, et al. v. PGA Tour Inc., Case No. 5:22-cv-04486, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
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