It’s been several weeks since the PGA Tour announced an intention to partner together with the Saudi Arabian government to reshape American professional golf. It was a stunning move given the controversy surrounding the Saudi effort to disrupt the sport with the breakaway LIV Tour and the blistering comments made by PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan about LIV. However, the proposed arrangement still faces a heavy amount of scrutiny before it ever becomes reality, especially where the United States government is concerned.
But it’s not just the Saudis that want to get a slice of the new for-profit PGA Tour pie. Bloomberg reported last month that there are several groups that are interested in investing or partnering with the tour. Included in that group is Endeavor, which most notably bought WWE from Vince McMahon, merging it together with UFC under the new TKO Holdings.
This week while speaking at the Bloomberg Screentime conference, Emanuel commented on his interest in the PGA Tour and the possibility of adding golf to Endeavor’s growing sports portfolio.
“They created a profit investment opportunity for the PGA. We put in a bid I think a week ago, Friday. We are in, in TKO, the sports business. I’m an avid golfer,” Emanuel said. “It’s one of the great sports, I love it, I think we can add to it what we’ve added to all of our sports based on the flywheel.”
When Emanuel was asked whether the Endeavor bid for the for-profit portion of the PGA Tour was in addition to the Saudi bid or in place of the Saudi bid, he was very coy about his position.
Given Endeavor’s position in the sports world, they would make a strong partner for the PGA Tour. Of course, they don’t have the deep pockets that the Saudi PIF does, but pretty much nobody on planet earth can match that kind of wealth. However, if the PGA-Saudi marriage ever runs into trouble, through government intervention or otherwise, Endeavor could make a lot of sense as a potential investment partner.
