It is evident now that the deadline has come and gone that the end resolution to the PGA/LIV debacle is still a ways away.

Not being one to predict anything with all these circling vultures involved, I would guess that a menage a trois between the SSG, LIV/PIF, and the PGA Tour is the likely outcome.

The addition of the rich American sport franchise owners gives the Tour executives and players some cover that it is not just the evil foreign money taking control of the sport but rather the typical rich corporate guys who run the NFL, MLB, and NBA who will be holding some of the levers.

A number of things are not clear to me.

-How is this influx of big money into a sport that only garners 10 million viewers on a Major Sunday going to be financially viable?

They are going to have to add huge sources of regular income to support this and the corporate sponsors have made it clear so far that they are not willing to pony up much more ransom then they already have.

-How do they resolve the return of the good players they want and payoff to the patient players who stayed?

Offering the players minority ownership in the Tour seems pretty hollow to me-especially if the long term annual returns are not obvious.

-The team concept in golf, outside of true rivalry occurrences like the Ryder Cup or Solheim Cup, just does not seem viable.

Especially if they try to run them in parallel to individual competitions. LIV has proven that they do not work side by side.

-The essence of a vibrant and viable Tour requires vertical mobility of young up and coming talent as well as some degree of security for those veterans who have paid their dues.

Reconciling these two counter forces requires a sea change in the rules and regulations of the various tour entities. I do not think Jay and his tour bureaucrats are open-minded enough to make these kind of seminal changes.

-In the end the dominant theme of charitable benefit from Tour Events has to take a major hit.

With big time owners expecting return on investment this is likely something that will have to take a major step backwards.

-The real elephant in the room is the available TV money that has bailed out every major sport.

Golf Channel, NBC, and CBS have proven over the last decade that golf cannot provide the massive viewership of the other major sports that can justify the liberal underwriting of the rich incomes of top players (and now investors to boot). I love all the programming the Golf Channel has provided but the truth is that there is not sufficient interest across all viewership age groups to support all this TV golf content.

What a long strange trip this continues to be.

January 1, 2024