Hank Haney discusses the newest rumors surrounding a merge or match between the PGA TOUR and LIV GOLF TOUR which involves Greg Norman potentially stepping down as CEO of LIV GOLF.
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Mm hmm. Welcome everyone to the Hank Haney podcast here on nofilter dot net. You can check out the Hank Any podcast here on No Filter and you can also see it on the Hank Any podcast YouTube channel. And you can hear the Hank Any Podcast on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts. So today I want to talk about all the news that's happening with the liv PGA Tour talks, because there's been a lot of stuff going on and I've been waiting for something to happen on this because this happens to be one of my favorite topics. I love this topic and I've been waiting to see what's going to come down next. Well, it finally started happening. One of the first things that started happening was when they were talking about the fact that the Public Investment Fund, which is the Saudi's yas El Ramanan, he's the head of the Public Investment Fund. They said, he's talking to the European Tour. Well, actually, prior to that, there was news that all these l I V guys, Sergio Patrick Reid, everyone that that is l I V that also had status on the you know, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, all these guys that had the status on the European Tour DP World Tour as they call it. They were all of a sudden, they're all going to get to play, John Rahm, They're all going to get to play now. They paid their fines and they're they're back, and now now they should have never been. That was one of the dumbest moves ever when the European Tour got rid of those guys and went in bed with the PGA Tour on whatever it is they were going to do together. You knew they were going to get screwed, and sure enough, nothing as good as happened to the DP World Tour. Since that that whole thing happened, they should have gone from day one and pair it up with the Public Investment Fund and the l i V, and that would have been a great deal. So this rumor comes down that that first the players are going to be playing. They're back. They paid their fines, and I don't know if they paid their fines. I don't know. You know, people are saying they need to pay back all their money. That was never gonna happen, all the money they got from l IV. No chance that was gonna happen. But people were saying that, and then they were saying they had to pay their fines, and they had all these enormous fines. I don't know if if the l i V paid the fine or the players pay the fines, But whatever happened, these guys are back on board and they're they're back playing. I mean, Sergio's paid up. I don't think everybody's back, but some of the you know, most of the guys are back and they're gonna they're gonna be playing in an upcoming DP World Tour tournaments, which is which is good news for the DP World Tour because that tour is hurting and they need they need some help. So this could be a big thing for them, This could get them going. They should have taken the money from the Public Investment Fund, from the l i V. They should have paired together with them. Maybe it's not too late, because the rumor is is that the Public Investment Fund is talking to the DP World Tour about maybe they're you know, maybe they're going to do something together. Now we'll see. I mean that that remains to be seen. But maybe that was just a negotiating tactic. You never know what's going on here. I mean, it's so hard to tell what's going on. But maybe that was just a tactic to get the PGA Tour to you know, sign on to whatever deal it is they're trying to negotiate, because this thing has been dragging on. I mean, like, how long has this been going? I mean, does it take this long to make a deal? And you keep hearing it it's close and I'm sure you know now it's holiday season, you know, But I my guess is something's going to happen, like, you know, pretty soon. I think I think you're starting to feel there's enough rumors going on, you can you know they're they're talking about, uh, you know, teaming up with the European Tour. They're talking about, you know, you got the big match coming up, the Crypto dot Com Showdown with Bryson and Brooks Bryson Nichambeau and Brooks Koepka against Scottie Scheffler and Rory Mcer. I mean, that's a big Those are the two biggest guys on l IV and the two biggest guys on the PGA Tour. I mean, that's as big as it gets right there, and they're gonna they're playing the match out in Las Vegas coming up, you know, just on the on the seventeenth of December, so that that's coming up. And then there's the rumor also going on that the PGA Tour and l i V are close. They're close, and we've heard this before, but they're close to to putting something together. This was this was on Bloomberg, so it's you know, this is just not a guy on the on the X on the Twitter. This is somebody who's who you know, is a news report or business reporter, and they said they're close to putting this deal. Together, and Public Investment Fund is going to end up owning six percent of PGA Tour Enterprises. Now, PGA Tour Enterprises is like the uh the new division of the PGA Tour. Of course, you know, how do you buy six percent of a charitable company? I thought the PGA Tour was was a charitable Well, they came up with this new division and and they're going to have a make money side and a charity side, I guess is what they're what they're going to do. And they're gonna the Public Investment Fund is going to own six percent. Now they were talking about putting in like three billion dollars or whatever. Now surely they're not putting in any three billion dollars for you know, six percent. That would be uh be a little little stiff. Because they said I read somewhere where they said that the tour was valued at a total investment at billion. Sure seems like it would be more than that, but I don't know, you know, And then they said that that it was going to cost them seven hundred and twenty million. I'm that probably that doesn't sound like the three billion or one and a half billion or whatever it is. You know that Sports group put in put in one and a half billion with all the sports owners, the Strategic Sports or whatever that the whole conglomerate was was called. I don't know who knows what the deal is, but it sounds like it doesn't sound like this is a merger, let's put it that way. This sounds like it's going to be some kind of a partnership deal. I can tell you what everybody thought, l IV was going away. L IV is not going away now. I do think LIV is done buying players. There was a rumor the last week that Tony Fena was headed over there, and of course the Shaffley you know, Xanders Shoffley rumor. That's just that. That's like every other week, you know, you hear about about that. I don't think any of that's going to happen. I don't think. I I think they're done buying players. I really do. Now they may get a couple guys, but they might, you know what they might they pay off. They got some big persons. They don't have a lot of players, you know, sixty players or whatever they're up to now. I think, you know, for years they talked about how the PGA Tour had you know, they got the PG Tour, you got the Champions Tour, and you know, the guys that are forty to fifty years old, they're kind of stuck in no man's land. You know, they weren't making enough money on the PGA Tour. They're waiting to they become fifty and they could play on the Champions or they're not a lot of money on that Champions Tour anyways. So I think the LIV kind of looks like it, you know, and it's looked like this for a long time. I mean, they've got some exceptions, you know, Cameron Smith, Jon ram Capka. I mean, you know, I'm not saying these guys can't play. And they're good, they're great names, they've won major championships, but it's kind of a you know, forty to fifty, you know, maybe thirty eight to you know fifty, maybe thirty eight to fifty five.
I don't know.
You know, you got Phil Micholson out there, and there's nothing wrong with that, and I don't think that's bad. You know, they people make a name for themselves and then they got the opportunity to go out there and play on l IV. I mean, it's going to be interesting to see how it all shakes out. But I don't think l IV is going away. I don't think there's going to be some big merger. I think the LIV is going to turn into more. They're going to play worldwide more, and you know, it's it's a tour for guys that maybe don't want to play as much. It's a tour for guys that want something a little different. It's a you know, it was a tour for guys that got paid a lot of money. And I think in general, I've said this many times, everybody, everybody on these tours is all going to be playing less golf. They are because they're all making more money and they're not going to be out there playing thirty four, thirty five, thirty six. I remember back in the day touring pros played thirty six forty weeks a year. That's not going to happen anymore. These guys are playing less, getting paid more, and that's a perfect perfect scenario for him, and I think that's how it's gonna it's going to continue.
Now.
The other news was Greg Norman is not going to be the CEO anymore. You know, that's interesting because that that was long rumored as a stumbling block too, because the PG Tour and Greg Norman don't get along, and Monahan, the you know, commissioner of the PG Tour, like it's amazing, like you know everything you read that guy's makes twenty four million dollars a year like that. I said something like that last year, like you made more than like everybody but Scotty Scheffler. So I'm like two years ago or something they said, I mean, that's unbelievable. I mean, and you know, people, you know, I don't know. I mean, geez, you listen to people talk. They're like, how does this guy still have a job? But I don't know, you know, I mean he grew the pursons, he grew the fields, and you know, boy, he botched up this this l iv thing. There's no doubt. I mean, god, you know, golf'spent a mess. Will it get back together? You know, maybe getting read of Greg Norman is is something that's going to help that happen. Another thing that might help it happen. And a lot of people put some hope on this is this big match thing, you know, the match in Las Vegas December seventeenth. You know, Bryson and de Chambeau and Brooks Kopka against Scottie Scheffler and Rory Macroy. There's the big names right there. And when you listen to these guys talk, you know, Rory said it took a little while for me to get through to the PGA tour that this would be a good thing. But they're behind it. I you know, at first, they weren't really talking about it much. The LIV was promoting it, but PJ Tour wasn't. But then I listen on I listened on the on This Serious Xam the other day. I was just listening to it today and they were talking about the showdown match and I'm like, I couldn't believe my ears. They're talking about something that has to do with LIV. And they actually had a positive tone of voice, which was amazing. They and being able to get a positive thing out of their mouth about l I V No. No, you know, l IV is the evil thing, and all of a sudden, it's a flipper switcher. I mean it's it's like a three sixty. It's like a flipper flopper. They are now, you know, talking about it in a little bit more positive light, so you get the feeling that something's, something's gonna happen. And Scotti Scheffler made you know the comment he said, he said, you know, we hope we can get everybody together, and you know, only playing against these guys, only playing against Brooks and Bryce in four weeks a year is not very good, not good for golf. You know, wish we could play together like twenty weeks. Yeah, I don't think that's ever going to happen. Maybe eight, how about eight? Eight would be good? Eight eight, eight weeks a year. Somehow they got to figure that out. Let's let's just the whole golf thing needs to be redone revisited and eight weeks a year. You know, four is not enough. Eight would be good. You know, all the US players together playing eight weeks a year. I don't know where they're going to get those eight weeks from or where they're going to be, but that seems like that would be a doable goal. Eight weeks a year where all the best players play together. If that happens, I think golf will be in a in a really good space. There's also rumor, and it was I think Michelson said it. I don't know if Rory said it. I mean a couple of guys maybe maybe it was Michaelson and Bryceon. I mean they're obviously here and stuff. You know, they're in the know, they're there, they're in the loop, and they said there's a you know possibility maybe next year, who knows not in the too distant future, a PGA Tour versus l IV match, and that's the one that everybody wants to see. Well, you know what that is. That's a money maker, is what that is? That's that you know, like like think about how much moy the Ryder Cup makes that that stupid President's Cup makes money. My god, what would the l I V and the PGA Tour, you know what would that be? You know, that's another match they could put together. And I mean it's got to be able to make fifty million, doesn't it. I mean, I mean maybe it makes one hundred mills. I don't know what it makes. Scott's got to make a lot of money, you know, a three day match, put it together. You know, maybe that that that that's uh, that that's something that's very very doable. And you got to think that that would be the first thing on the agenda if there's this new PGA Tour Enterprises and it's a company that you know, the Public Investment Fund owns six percent of the PGA Tour owns. And then you got this Strategic Sports Partnership. You know all those sports owners you know from the Atlanta Falcons and the Boston Red Sox and you know everybody that everybody that's in on that those got. You got to think the first thing they would do like like, Okay, what are we going to do? How are we going to make How's this business going to make money? We put all this money into this thing. We want to see this business make money. I mean, and how could we make it make money? I mean? The first thing on their list has got to be PGA Tour LIV match gotta be gotta be so that seems like a foregone conclusion, and that'll be great for golf. And you know what I cheer for. Here's what I cheer for. I don't care LIV, I don't care PGA Tour. All I care about is golf. I just want golf to do good. I think it's my prediction by the end of the year, maybe not too far into the into twenty twenty five, maybe right about the time Donald Trump, who by the way, was seated next to Yasir Aromottin at the fights the UFC Fights in Madison Square Garden, sitting right next to him. He had Elon Musk on one side, he had Yaser on the other side. And you know who he was playing golf with. Like the week before Donald Trump played, he played with j Monhan, the commission of PJA. To Donald Trump said it'd take him fifteen minutes to put this deal together. You know what it looks like. It looks like he's helping put that deal together. And when he does, gof's gonna benefit. And that's all I care about. I just want golf to benefit. That's what I want, all right. Hope everybody enjoyed the podcast. Make sure you watch all the great programming here on nofilter dot net and we will talk to you soon on the Hank Any Podcast.