The Future. The PGA Tour has lined up a VIP roster of investors in a bid to expand the league’s appeal and keep players from defecting to Saudi-backed LIV Golf. As golf grows in popularity with young people, the headline-grabbing names and billions in investment now involved with the PGA could put pressure on the tour’s leadership to nix its proposed merger with LIV.
Club GolfDrake, LeBron James, Chris Pratt, UTA CEO Jeremy Zimmer, and billionaires Steven Cohen and Marc Lasry are joining Fenway Sports Group to pump $3 billion into the PGA.
LeBron and Drake (who invested in the Italian soccer team A.C. Milan together, as well) are “strategic investors” who will provide “marketing power” to broaden the tour’s audience, per NYT. (We’re calling a LeBron vs. Drake caddy showdown.)
The group of investors are forming under the umbrella Strategic Sports Group, with the investment kickstarting the tour’s creation of a new venture dubbed “PGA Tour Enterprises” that will allow pro players to become equity holders.
The formation of this new golfing super-company is a play at pushing back against the influence (and pocketbook) of LIV Golf. The PGA announced that it would merge with LIV last summer, but that deal hasn’t materialized yet… although, it’s supposed to close this year.
Maybe the PGA has purposely been avoiding the dotted line.
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