PGA Tour Lands $3 Billion Investment Deal With Strategic Sports Group: What Does It Mean For Golf's Future?

The professional golf landscape has been everchanging over the last two-plus years and another major shift came this week with the announcement that the PGA Tour had agreed to an investment deal with Strategic Sports Group that's believed to be worth in the neighborhood of $3 billion. The deal will give SSG an ownership stake in a new, for-profit entity called PGA Tour Enterprises. Current PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan will serve as the CEO of the new venture.

While the news isn't exactly shocking to those who follow professional golf, it is surprising that this announcement didn't involve the Public Investment Fund, the Saudi-backed sovereign wealth entity that finances pro golf's newest league, LIV Golf. The PGA Tour announced a framework agreement with the PIF and the DP World Tour in June of last year, though further details and a finalized structure have yet to be realized.

What we do know is that the PGA Tour is set to receive a huge injection of cash from the agreement with SSG. What does that mean for the Tour and golf fans? Let's dive in.

What Is The Strategic Sports Group?

The Strategic Sports Group is made up of billionaire investors who have ties to both the private equity world, as well as professional sports. SSG is led by Fenway Sports Group, owners of the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool FC, among other sports endeavors.

In addition to the Fenway contingent, SSG's partnership is made up of multiple successful billionaires, many of whom own professional sports franchises. This group includes Atlanta Falcons owner and Home Depot tycoon, Arthur Blank, as well as hedge-fund billionaire Steve Cohen, owner of the New York Mets, and others.

Strategic Sports Group has principals worth more than $60 billion combined. 💰

Here are the names that make it up: https://t.co/797RIGKWgz pic.twitter.com/BLoPE0wVjt

— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) January 31, 2024

What Does This Mean For The PGA Tour?

For the first time in its history, the PGA Tour will not be completely player-owned and operated. While the Tour will continue to operate its charitable efforts to some degree, the new PGA Tour Enterprises will be a for-profit organization.

While the players will retain a slim voting majority on the new 13-person board - of which Jay Monahan will serve as chairman - their power and control of the Tour will be greatly diminished, as SSG reps will have both voting rights and sizeable input to all aspects of the Tour's business decisions going forward.

Strategic Sports Group will have a presence on board. 4 quadrants of equity classifications. Roughly $700 million to the top 36 players.

SSG is onboard with Saudi investment but there are very, very real regulatory issues. PGA Tour purses fully funded for next 5 years. https://t.co/Y9oCJKlVBG

— Dan Rapaport (@Daniel_Rapaport) January 31, 2024

Though the players on the PGA Tour will certainly give up some control in this deal, they will gain an absurd amount of money as a result of the agreement. Lots and lots of money. It's believed that around 200 players currently on Tour will receive equity in PGA Tour Enterprises, meaning they will receive pieces of nearly $1 billion immediately.

Where Is LIV and the PIF In All This?

It's a legitimate question and one there's no clear answer for as of yet, though it is safe to say that LIV is currently operating at full capacity with its season-opening event set to take place in Mayakoba this week. Many insiders have thought that a merger between the PGA Tour and LIV was imminent following last year's "framework agreement" between the Tour and the Saudi-based PIF.

However, a December 31st deadline at the end of 2023 came and went with no news from either side, while LIV's offseason signing of Spanish superstar Jon Rahm signaled that perhaps negotiations between the Tour and the upstart league had hit rocky waters.

LIV Golf Chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan updates players on potential future investment in PGA Tour Enterprises https://t.co/aWsZyjsmKQ pic.twitter.com/hJj0QiqXrF

— Golfweek (@golfweek) February 1, 2024

Despite the new agreement with SSG, negotiations with the PIF reportedly continue to be ongoing. It's possible that the Saudi sovereign wealth fund - that's estimated to have assets worth a staggering $776 billion - will still be part of the PGA Tour's future in some capacity, though the infusion of capital from SSG has undoubtedly made the Tour less reliant on a deal with the PIF.

How Does This Impact Golf Fans?

The short answer is... we don't know. The immediate impact is that PGA Tour players will likely get much richer, which means will probably see fewer defectors headed to LIV. SSG will certainly have some input for the billions of investment dollars, which should mean fresh and energetic ideas for the sport that's long been considered to be stuck in the mud.

Here’s Collin Morikawa talking about golf on TV:

“We need to make golf more intriguing to the viewers. How do we make broadcasting more approachable. How do we see more golf shots?” pic.twitter.com/BsqwGNZJUo

— Dylan Dethier (@dylan_dethier) January 31, 2024

The optimistic outlook is that this deal puts the Tour on solid footing for the first time in a few years. Now a for-profit organization, PGA Tour Enterprises will hopefully be looking at ways to improve the fan experience both on-site at tournaments, as well as through television and media outlets. In a perfect world, this agreement would simply let golf fans have more access to the sport they love by showing more shots on TV broadcasts and expanding coverage to include early-week action.

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