PGA Tour’s rejection of Endeavor amid Saudi LIV deal prompts wild Phil Mickelson rant
The PGA Tour decided against an investment from Endeavor, which led LIV golfer Phil Mickelson to rant on social media.
Late Friday, a report emerged from Sportico in which the PGA Tour is no longer interested in partnering with Endeavor, the multi-billion dollar holding company for talent and media agencies.
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Ulitmate Fighting Championships (UFC), and International Management Group (IMG) are a few of the companies owned by Endeavor.
The two sides held talks about Endeavor investing in the PGA Tour, potentially providing an alternative deal outside of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF). But those discussions broke down, meaning the tour will head in a different direction.
“They’ve officially turned it down,” Mark Shapiro, Endeavor’s Chief Operating Officer, told Sportico.
“We’re big fans of golf, and we’ll continue to champion the PGA Tour, but we’re not going to be an investor at any level.”
The PGA Tour likely has its eyes set on the Saudi PIF, the beneficiary of LIV Golf. Yet, it is unknown whether the PIF’s involvement with the tour led to Endeavor’s rejection.
Back in June, the PIF and the PGA Tour settled on a framework agreement, which essentially dropped all lawsuits between the two rival tours.
The two sides also set a deadline for a detailed agreement on what the future of professional golf will look like. That may or may not include player suspensions and reinstatements, schedules, logistics, and incomes for players. Dec. 31, 2023, is the current date to finalize that agreement, but an extension of that deadline is reportedly possible.
The framework agreement also gave the PIF a right of first refusal to any outside investment, such as this potential partnership from Endeavor. Still, again, it is not known if the PIF played a role in this denial.
Yet, according to six-time major champion Phil Mickelson, who has also championed the LIV Golf cause, this all could have been avoided if PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan considered alternative investments two years ago:
For clarity’s sake, Endeavor didn’t try to invest 2 years ago, SilverLake did. Ari and Endeavor were to run 8 elevated events and the players and SilverLake would own the new elevated events 50/50 in a separate entity. October 30,2021 Ed Herlihy said the Tour would take a hostile… https://t.co/OhDwfCnaLD
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) October 28, 2023
Part of Mickelson’s post on X, formerly known as Twitter, included the following:
“Jay [Monahan] and Ed [Herlihy] had 3 opportunities to have elevated events that would be fully funded and could prevent division, but their need to control everything (obnoxious greed) blinded their judgment. Let’s get the facts straight. All of this is in discovery of the civil case if it can be obtained. If not, I have it too.”
It is not publicly known if these are the facts, but according to Mickelson, they are.
The following two months will undoubtedly be interesting as the two sides work to establish a finalized agreement.
Whether more facts are presented within that period remains to be seen. But Mickelson insists he has the discovery from the civil cases between the rival tours. Should those become public viewing, the golf world will have a much better understanding of what has transpired behind the scenes.
And if the Jul. 11 Senate hearing that featured Herlily and Jimmy Dunne gave any indication, there is an abundance of information and communications that remain behind closed doors.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.