The PGA Tour revealed its shocking new agreement with LIV Golf on Tuesday in a bold press release that stated it would “merge the commercial operations under a common ownership.”
The description in the press release and the other details led to news outlets all over the world calling it a merger. But by Tuesday evening, the headline and the word “merge” were removed from the PGA Tour’s website.
Now the PGA Tour says that its deal with the DP World Tour and LIV Golf is not a merger.
Laura Neal, PGA Tour spokesperson, said that the term “merger” was used as a shorthand but it is inaccurate. She wrote this in an email to USA TODAY Sports on Thursday. “PGA TOUR Inc. is still intact, just as it was before as a 501c6 organization (tax-exempt). “We have created a commercial entity, underneath that structure.”
She said that this entity will include all the commercial assets of the Tour, including the European DP World Tour and LIV Golf, as well as other commercial golf businesses owned by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund.
In the same press release, it is still stated that this agreement “combines” these businesses and rights to create a “new collectively-owned for-profit entity.”
Isn’t this still a merger then? What does it really matter?
The answer depends on who is asking the question.
