Sen. Richard Blumenthal announced Monday he has opened an inquiry into the merger of PGA Tour and Saudi-backed LIV Golf. In letters to PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan and LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman, Blumenthal, D-Conn., requested details of the agreement between the two organizations, including how the new combined entity will operate. Blumenthal also called for the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to give this subcommittee all communications and records between the two regarding the merger. He also asked if the PGA Tour plans to keep its tax-exempt status.
Blumenthal said he was concerned by Saudi Arabia’s human rights record around the world and how he said the nation uses sports and the PGA Tour to whitewash its activities. The Saudi government has been accused of wide-reaching human rights violations, including the orchestration of the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
Blumenthal wrote to the PGA Tour: “PGA Tour’s agreement with [Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund] regarding LIV Golf raises concerns about the Saudi government’s role in influencing this effort and the risks posed by a foreign government entity assuming control over a cherished American institution … critics have cast such Saudi investments in sports as a means of ‘sports washing’ — an attempt to soften the country’s image around the world — given Saudi Arabia’s deeply disturbing human rights record at home and abroad. In fact, prior to this agreement, PGA Tour was one of the loudest critics of LIV Golf’s affiliation with Saudi Arabia.”
Last Tuesday, the PGA Tour and LIV Golf stunned the sports world in announcing their merger, combining its golf-related commercial businesses and rights with those of the other tours. Before the agreement to merge, PGA’s rivalry with LIV included legal action between the two. The entities agreed to squash all pending litigation as part of their plan to combine commercial businesses and rights into a yet-unnamed for-profit company. Europe’s DP World Tour is also part of the merger.
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