United States
United Kingdom
Summary
- The PGA Tour announced a merger with LIV Golf last week
- US Senate has now opened an investigation into the on-going merger
- US Senate has requested for specific documentation to be handed over
The merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf last week surprised everyone as the two parties managed to keep this mega deal a secret.
The two rival leagues decided to drop all lawsuits and move forward with a merger in the best interests of the game. The merger upset a lot of players and fans; and has now caught the interest of the US Senate.
US Senate Launches Investigation Into Merger
LIV Golf is a Saudi backed golf league that spent billions of dollars to launch the league while the PGA is an American based league. The US Senate decided to launch an investigation into the merger and has requested documentation from both parties to be submitted no later than June 26.
LIV Golf Tour has been asked to submit documentation regarding its corporate structure while the PGA Tour will need to submit documentation regarding its Section 510(c)(6) tax exemption status and how the merger will impact this standing.
The PGA Tour released a statement in response to the Senate investigation and said that they remained confidence once Congress has more information about the potential merger they will realize that American golf will remain protected and that the PGA Tour will remain in control of the company similar reports of the same with LIV Golf.
The statement also said Congress will learn more about the opportunities the merger will create for players and communities that support the sport of golf. LIV Golf declined to comment if they received a letter from Congress requesting for documentation.
US Senators Not Happy With Merger
A number of US Senators said that they were both unhappy and uncomfortable with the PGA-LIV Golf merger. The concerns include sports washing being done by Saudi Arabia where they engage in big sports deals in order to deflect attention away from the human rights and government abuse in the country.
In a statement, Sen. Chris Murphy said:
I think it’s a really serious thing to have a foreign dictatorship in charge of a major US sports league. This is a watershed moment and I think we need to treat it as such.
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal has called for the Department of Justice to launch its own investigation and has called for PGA Chairman Monahan to resign.
