The PGA Tour this week announced a multibillion dollar merger with Saudi-backed LIV Golf, ending the rivalry between the two groups.
LIV Golf, which is funded by the Saudi Arabia sovereign wealth fund, debuted in 2022 with its invitational series at The Centurion Club in London. LIV positioned itself as an alternative to the PGA Tour and offered multimillion-dollar contracts and big prize money to attract athletes. Some defected and joined the new organization, while many refused because of the Saudi regime's track record of human rights abuses. As the two organizations fought over athletes, the PGA Tour branded itself as the moral option. The PGA now says this merger will “ unify the game of golf on a global basis.”
The decision is leaving players and fans feeling betrayed.
"I recognize that people are going to call me a hypocrite," Jay Monahan, commissioner of the PGA, said after the merger announcement.
Shira Springer, a sports journalist and lecturer at MIT Sloan School of Management, told Greater Boston the PGA Tour felt LIV Golf was enough of a threat that they needed to join forces. Just months before the merger, PGA Tour officials had pushed to disqualify LIV Golf due to Saudi Arabia’s record of human rights violations.
“Really, it all comes down to money,” said Springer. “The Saudi Public Investment Fund agreed to invest an awful lot of money in the PGA. The head of that fund now becomes the chairman of this merged tour, and Monahan ... becomes the CEO. And that's the arrangement.”
By controlling men's professional golf, Springer said Saudi Arabia is trying to change their global image.
"This is not their only attempt at sportswashing. They basically bought Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the most well-known soccer players in the world. He now plays in Saudi Arabia. And another high-profile soccer player, Karim Benzema, is leaving to play in Saudi Arabia for big bucks," said Springer. "The Saudis clearly see sports as a way to put a friendlier face on their authoritarian regime and to basically cover up their human rights violations.”
Families of the 9/11 victims have been fighting an ongoing federal lawsuit against the Saudi government for its alleged involvement in the attacks. The 9/11 Families United has condemned the merger, saying “PGA Tour leaders should be ashamed of their hypocrisy and greed.”
Springer said sportswashing isn't going to go away anytime soon.
“There has to be some systemic change or change in governance of these major international sporting organizations for there to be real change,” she said.
