The most disruptive year in golf ended Tuesday when the PGA Tour and European tour agreed to a merger with Saudi Arabia's golf interests, creating a commercial operation designed to unify professional golf around the world.
As part of the deal, the sides are dropping all lawsuits involving LIV Golf against each other effective immediately.
Still to be determined is how players like Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson, who defected to Saudi-funded LIV Golf for nine-figure bonuses, can rejoin the PGA Tour after this year.
Also unclear was what form the LIV Golf League would take in 2024. Commissioner Jay Monahan said in a memo to players that a thorough evaluation would determine how to integrate team golf into the game.
The agreement combines the Public Investment Fund's golf-related commercial businesses and rights — including LIV Golf — with those of the PGA and European tours. The new entity has not been named.
“They were going down their path, we were going down ours, and after a lot of introspection you realize all this tension in the game is not a good thing,” Monahan said in a phone interview with The Associated Press.
“We have a responsibility to our tour and to the game, and we felt like the time was right to have that conversation.”
Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, will join the board of the PGA Tour, which continues to operates its tournaments. Al-Rumayyan will be chairman of the new commercial group, with Monahan as the CEO and the PGA Tour having a majority stake in the new venture.
The PIF will invest in the commercial venture.
Monahan said the decision came together over the last seven weeks.
LeBron James will serve his first-ever NBA suspension tonight against the New York Knicks after getting into an on-court squabble with Detroit Pistons center Isaiah Stewart. Stewart will also serve a two-game suspension for escalating the fight.
Jill and Carlo are a bit delayed today on account of Carlo's internet not working. Better late than never, they discuss what we know about the suspect in the Christmas parade crash, closing arguments in the Arbery killing trial, and more.
Special Olympics and WWE are announcing a three-year partnership extension of their global partnership to help create inclusion through sports. Mary Davis, CEO of Special Olympics and WWE superstar and Special Olympics Global Ambassador, Drew McIntyre join Cheddar News to talk about the announcement.
NFL Hall of Famer Jerry Rice and his daughter/business partner Jaqui Rice Gold joined Cheddar's "Between Bells" to talk about their energy drink G.O.A.T. Fuel. The pair talked about launching the brand during the height of the pandemic and what makes it different from competing brands. "The thing that separates us from the other energy drinks is we have cordyceps mushrooms in the drink," he said. "You're not going to have the jitters or anything like that." The duo also discussed the Los Angeles Lakers making it the official energy drink of its organization and what that means for the growth of the brand.
Jill and Carlo cover the developing story out of suburban Milwaukee, where a speeding SUV careened through a Christmas parade. Looters get more brazen in San Francisco, the missing Chinese tennis star resurfaces, and more.
Alternative asset, sports cards-focused platform Alt recently raised $75 million in a Series B round. Alt's platform lets users research, trade, and securely store sports cards and other high-value assets. Right now, the company has more than $70 million worth of cards in its vault. The company is also hoping to get into other assets, including NFTs. Alt CEO Leore Avidar joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Ameeth Sankaran, CEO of the emmy-winning media company Religion of Sports, joined Cheddar to talk about the "Man in the Arena: Tom Brady" docuseries that premiered on ESPN+ earlier this week. Sankaran noted Brady and former NFL star Michael Strahan as co-founders and discussed the origin of the company and its goal to tell stories about sports figures beyond their roles on the court or field.
A former live-in-chef for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Antonio Brown has claimed the NFL star lied about his COVID vaccination status and obtained a fake proof of vaccination card. Brown and the Bucs have since come out denying the claims.
Jill and Carlo are back to cover the latest in the Rittenhouse trial, new information on the origins of Covid, return-to-office and more.
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Ben Stinar, NBA reporter for Fastbreak on FanNation, joins Cheddar Bets to provide some one-month-in overreactions and underreactions to some of the NBA betting lines.
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