Report: PGA Tour Close to Securing $3 Billion Apart From Saudi Talks

While we await the result of the negotiations among the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which are currently in overtime after a set deadline of Dec. 31, 2023, passed, it appears that the PGA Tour is ready to finalize a separate deal for a cash infusion.

Mets owner Steve Cohen is part of US group investing billions in the PGA Tour, sources say https://t.co/p9i3QaN9N9

— Bloomberg (@business) January 29, 2024

Bloomberg is reporting that Strategic Sports Group (SSG) is close to a deal that will see it provide $3 billion as an initial investment into the for-profit entity known as PGA Tour Enterprises.

That’s the name of the group that will be formed with the PIF if a final deal on the framework agreement from last June can be agreed upon.

.@Sportico is reporting the PGA TOUR will begin getting its investment from the Fenway Sports Group-led Strategic Sports Group as soon as next week.

PGA TOUR-DP World Tour-PIF negotiations remain ongoing. https://t.co/wqqYj2HI3Q

— Jeff Eisenband (@JeffEisenband) January 26, 2024

If it goes through, this adds another layer of questions over an already unclear future for the professional golf world. As the PGA Tour, DPWT, and PIF negotiate, LIV Golf is moving along like it’s business as usual – spending hundreds of millions to bring in Masters champion Jon Rahm and another reported $50 million for one of his Ryder Cup teammates, Tyrrell Hatton.

LIV’s third season gets underway Friday in Mexico.

Last fall, the PGA Tour told players in a memo that it was negotiating with SSG for the deal that’s being reported. The group is headed up by Fenway Sports Group – owners of the Boston Red Sox, Liverpool FC of the Premier League, and the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, among others – and counts Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank and New York Mets owner Steve Cohen as members of the consortium.

Cover Image via PGA Tour