PGA Tour closing in on major $3bn deal

The PGA Tour is closing in on a seismic investment deal worth up to $3billion. 

The Tour has been negotiating a definitive agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the financiers of LIV Golf, since shaking hands on a shock prospective merger last June.

Uncertainty has reigned in men’s professional golf ever since, with the LIV league continuing its attempts to poach PGA Tour stars for the 2024 season and beyond.

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And while the US circuit still aims to strike a deal with PIF, talks have reached an advanced stage with the Strategic Sports Group (SSG), a US consortium led by Fenway Sports Group.

Bloomberg reports that SSG is ready to infuse $3bn into the PGA Tour, in a separate deal to the framework agreement that remains in flux with the DP World Tour and LIV’s benefactors.

The PGA Tour confirmed last month that it had narrowed down its potential list of investors to SSG, the group which includes Liverpool FC owner John Henry, New York Mets owner Steve Cowen and Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank.

And it now appears that significant progress has been made in discussions, with the consortium now set to invest a huge sum for a minority stake in a new for-profit commercial entity named PGA Tour Enterprises.

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It is claimed that the value of the new entity set to control the elite male game could rise to $12bn with the SSG’s investment.

In a memo announcing its new American investors last month, the PGA Tour revealed it would continue talks with PIF and LIV Golf, despite further risk of hostilities following Jon Rahm’s move to the breakaway league.

“We also anticipate advancing our negotiations with PIF in the weeks to come,” a statement on December 11 read.

It was rumoured that a deadline for the PIF deal had been extended into April, but it is understood that all parties are hoping for a swifter conclusion to the prolonged negotiations.

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.