Steve Cohen and other sports investors set to pump billions into the PGA Tour
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- A US sports group could invest as much as $3 billion into the PGA Tour, according to a new report.
- The deal would put PGA Tour's for-profit entity at a $12 billion valuation, sources told Bloomberg.
- The nine-figure deal comes in an effort to seize some power back from its Saudi rival LIV Golf.
A US sports consortium is set to pump billions into the PGA Tour, according to a new report.
The nine-figure investment, which could be $3 billion, comes from the Strategic Sports Group, a collective of investors and businesses that helps sports teams drive revenue, with additional funding from the Saudi Public Investment Fund, anonymous sources told Bloomberg.
The collective includes Steve Cohen, the New York Mets' owner behind Cohen Private Ventures, Marc Lasry, former co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, and Fenway Sports Group.
Thanks to the deal, PGA Tour Enterprises, the for-profit organization behind the Tour's commercial endeavors, could reach a valuation of $12 billion, one source said.
The PGA Tour didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider before publication.
The major investment comes amid an ongoing rivalry between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. In 2022, the Saudis launched LIV Golf and spent hundreds of millions on contracts to poach PGA's top golfers like Phil Mickelson. PGA Tour complained, and when the US golf entity barred several LIV players from participating in major tournaments, the LIV sued the organization over antitrust violations.
A few months later, in June, PGA announced it would merge with LIV Golf and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, causing shockwaves across the sports industry. Families of the 9/11 terrorist attacks criticized the PGA Tour for the merger, classifying the decision as a demonstration of "hypocrisy and greed."
"We cannot compete with a foreign government with unlimited money," Jay Monahan, the commissioner of PGA Tour, told The Wall Street Journal regarding the merger. "This was the time….We waited to be in the strongest possible position to get this deal in place."