The players who stayed loyal to the PGA Tour are reportedly set to find out how much equity they will receive in the tour’s newly-created commercial entity this week.
The PGA Tour announced in January that it had reached a $3 billion deal with Strategic Sports Group (SSG), an investment consortium including Liverpool FC and Boston Red Sox owners Fenway Sports Group, to establish a new commercial venture called PGA Tour Enterprises designed to give players an opportunity to hold equity in the tour.
The tour said at the time that players “will have the opportunity to receive over $1.5 billion in immediate and future equity.”
“By making PGA Tour members owners of their league, we strengthen the collective investment of our players in the success of the PGA Tour,” said Jay Monahan, the PGA Tour’s commissioner and CEO of PGA Tour Enterprises.
According to a report by Golf.com, 193 eligible players will receive a letter from Monahan on Wednesday outlining the number of equity units they will receive in PGA Tour Enterprises, as well as the value of their equity. The Tour will reportedly keep the list of players receiving equity in the company confidential.
The PGA Tour is said to have told players in an informational video that equity was a way of rewarding them for staying loyal to the tour.
“It’s really about making sure that our players know the PGA Tour is the best place to compete and showing them how much the Tour appreciates them being loyal,” PGA Tour chief player officer Jason Gore is quoted as saying by Golf.com.
The report claims that an initial $930m will be handed out to the 193 players, although they will not be shared equally, with more grants coming down the line.
Players will reportedly be divided up into four separate groups, based on a range of factors like career performance and Player Impact Program results, with top players like Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy in line to gain the largest amount.
The equity, which is similar to a stake in a company, will be granted over a specific amount of time, with room for players to be added in the future.
Peter Malnati, who is one of the PGA Tour's six player directors, said he supported the player equity plan at the Players Championship last month.
"This player equity plan, I don’t understand it, it’s a little bit above my head, but I certainly know enough to say that I really do support it. It’s going to make players owners of the Tour, and guys who violated our policies aren’t ever going to be eligible for that. That’s a big deal. Like, that’s a big, big deal."
It comes as the PGA Tour remains locked in prolonged negotiations with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), which bankrolls LIV Golf. The Tour has said that the deal with SSG and the creation of PGA Tour Enterprises will not prevent a potential deal with PIF.
