LIV Golf team’s sponsorship deal suggests it’s business as usual despite merger with PGA Tour
- Merger had raised questions over Saudi-funded LIV’s future, but Ian Poulter’s team Majesticks GC announce crypto exchange OKX as their first global sponsor
- LIV CEO Greg Norman had previously been quoted as saying the breakaway circuit was ‘not going anywhere’ and would ‘continue to be a stand-alone enterprise’
The civil war that had torn golf apart was supposed to be over, but LIV Golf continues to offer indications that it will press on into 2024 and perhaps beyond.
A sponsorship deal announced by one of the breakaway circuit’s teams suggests that, regardless of this month’s announcement of a merger with the PGA Tour, the Saudi-funded LIV will be around for a while yet.
That merger, agreed between the Tour, DP World Tour and the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia – LIV’s financial backer – left question marks over the future of LIV’s 48-player, 12-team operation, fronted by former world No 1 Greg Norman.
Norman was quoted by Sports Illustrated as saying after the merger was announced: “LIV is and will continue to be a stand-alone enterprise. Our business model will not change. We changed history and we’re not going anywhere.”
Two-time major winner Dustin Johnson then said last week before the US Open that the PIF had told him LIV Golf would carry on into next year.
And the latest sign that it would do so came through one of its teams, Majesticks GC, acquiring its first official global sponsor, the cryptocurrency exchange and Web3 technology company OKX.
Ian Poulter, co-captain of Majesticks – in which he is joined by Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson, Sam Horsfield and Laurie Canter – said the team and OKX “both have ambitions not only to win but to challenge the status quo”.
LIV Golf’s announcement of the partnership also reiterated the circuit’s stated intention to transform golf “by introducing team competition, faster playing formats and creating an inclusive festival environment”.
Meanwhile, a US Senate panel on Wednesday invited PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan and LIV CEO Norman to testify at a July 11 hearing.
Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, who chairs the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and the panel’s top Republican Ron Johnson invited them to appear.
“Our goal is to uncover the facts about what went into the PGA Tour’s deal with the Saudi [PIF] and what the Saudi takeover means for the future of this cherished American institution and our national interest,” Blumenthal said. “Americans deserve to know what the structure and governance of this new entity will be.”
A PGA Tour spokesman said the Tour looks “forward to appearing before the Senate subcommittee to answer their questions about the framework agreement” but did not specify if Monahan would appear.
They added the Tour held discussions with players on Tuesday and was “working towards negotiating a final agreement that is in their best interest and ensures that the Tour leads any new venture”.
LIV declined to comment, while the PIF did not respond to a request for comment.
Where does Asian Tour stand after PGA and LIV called off golf’s civil war?
Blumenthal this month asked the PGA Tour and LIV Golf for communications and records on their planned merger as part of an investigation, citing concerns about the Saudi government’s role in the deal and risks posed by a foreign government entity assuming control over the sport.
The justice department has also been investigating the PGA Tour for trying to keep its players from defecting to LIV.
Critics have accused LIV of being a vehicle for Saudi Arabia to improve its reputation as it faces criticism of its human rights record.
