If you wager on golf at online sports betting sites, you’re probably well aware by now that PGA TOUR executives and the financial backer of LIV Golf have squashed their beef, but does that mean your future bet on Smash GC to win the LIV team title this year is squashed too?
In short: probably not. While the PGA TOUR, DP World Tour, and the Public Investment Fund (PIF) — the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund that owns LIV — announced Tuesday they are proposing to join forces, it doesn't look like the union will take effect until next season at the earliest.
“The new entity (name TBD) will implement a plan to grow these combined commercial businesses, drive greater fan engagement and accelerate growth initiatives already underway,” Tuesday’s press release stated. “With LIV Golf in the midst of its second, groundbreaking season, the PGA TOUR, DP World Tour, and PIF will work together to best feature and grow team golf going forward.”
The press release is out and this seems like the key bit of information in it, which is that the PGA Tour will have control of the new DPWT/LIV/PGAT entity:https://t.co/Yvtj1GyAWl pic.twitter.com/CzWWS1kNV7
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) June 6, 2023
There’s no guarantee the deal gets done. If anything, regulators, lawmakers, or maybe even the players themselves could try to block the merger.
It could also be that LIV Golf is a dead tour walking and that the merged company announced Tuesday will phase out the team concept. That, however, won’t happen until after this season, according to the release, when LIV rebels who want to return to the European or PGA tours can reapply for membership.
“[T]he three organizations will work cooperatively and in good faith to establish a fair and objective process for any players who desire to re-apply for membership with the PGA TOUR or the DP World Tour following the completion of the 2023 season and for determining fair criteria and terms of re-admission, consistent with each Tour’s policies,” the release noted.
Whither the FedExCup ?
Tuesday’s news is huge for the world of golf as it could start to heal the rift that opened up when LIV began play last June with several players poached from the ranks of the PGA TOUR. Since then, additional names have joined the upstart tour, including Brooks Koepka, who parlayed his past successes into a victory at the 2023 PGA Championship.
Koepka played well at the Masters earlier in the year, so a PGA win was slightly less surprising than it would have been under other circumstances.
Still, one of the challenges facing golf bettors this year is trying to determine how sharp the LIV contingent would be in majors given their more leisurely schedule and competition. The walls between the PGA TOUR and LIV could now come tumbling down, which should make it much easier to see how players stack up against each other.
The PGA TOUR also has partnerships with several sportsbook operators and sees legal sports betting as a way to attract new fans. The recent overhaul of the tour's mobile app was partly done with the growing community of golf bettors in mind.
Wagering on LIV has been much lighter than PGA Tour events “but it’s not nothing,” according to Jay Kornegay, vice president of race and sportsbook operations for SuperBook at the Westgate Las Vegas. Kornegay said younger fans like to follow LIV, including his son.
LIV fans will still be able to back their favorite golfers at LIV events and golf majors, such as the upcoming U.S. Open. Overall, though, the proposed merger doesn’t change much for SuperBook, which offers outright and match-up markets for LIV events.
“We don’t have to do anything currently,” Kornegay said in an email. “We’ll continue to post the LIV tour players for the remaining majors accordingly. That doesn’t change. Currently, LIV tour players are not eligible for the [PGA TOUR's] FedEx championship, so nothing needs to be updated with those odds.”
Reading the fine print
The transaction unveiled on Tuesday would combine LIV Golf with the commercial businesses and rights of the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour in a new for-profit entity. While PIF will pump some cash into the new venture, the PGA TOUR will appoint most of its board of directors and have a majority voting interest in the merged entity.
Terms of the agreement still need to be finalized and the PGA TOUR’s policy board must approve the deal, but if everything passes muster and everyone says yes, then the LIV rebellion could be at an end and the world of golf could become one big family again (levels of happiness with that may vary, though).
Exactly why this is happening will be hotly discussed for days, weeks, and maybe even years. It’s worth noting that all of the pending litigation between the golf tours will be put to rest as a result of the deal, and the press release announcing the transaction does go out of its way to note that fact.
“After two years of disruption and distraction, this is a historic day for the game we all know and love,” PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan said in the press release. “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.”
