In a move that practically no one in the sports or broadcasting worlds saw coming, it was on Tuesday that the PGA Tour and LIV Golf will merge in an effort to promote golf around the world. The two rival tours will also unite with DP World Tour — the PGA’s European Tour — to form a new commercial entity to promote all of the brands in order to deliver “maximum excitement and competition among the game’s best players,” according to a press release issued by the PGA Tour.

While the three tours will continue to exist and operate independently, LIV’s parent company Public Investment Fund (PIF) will make a capital investment into the new commercial enterprise, whose name will be announced at a later date. PIF is run and funded by Saudi prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has been accused of crimes against humanity and the brutal murder of Suadi-American journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The organization will be the sole initial investor in the new entity and will have the right of first refusal on any other capital brought into the fund. However, the PGA will maintain a majority on the board and of the voting shares for the organization.

In addition, the three organizations will work together on ways to highlight and promote team golf — the format favored by LIV — moving forward. This agreement also paves the way for players who opted to leave the PGA Tour in favor of the Saudi-backed LIV Tour to re-apply for PGA membership following the 2023 season. It also ends all pending litigation between the tours, bringing to a close a particularly heated and nasty period in the history of golf.

“After two years of disruption and distraction, this is a historic day for the game we all know and love,” PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan said. “This transformational partnership recognizes the immeasurable strength of the PGA TOUR’s history, legacy and pro-competitive model and combines with it the DP World Tour and LIV – including the team golf concept – to create an organization that will benefit golf’s players, commercial and charitable partners and fans. Going forward, fans can be confident that we will, collectively, deliver on the promise we’ve always made – to promote competition of the best in professional golf and that we are committed to securing and driving the game’s future.”

The initial lure of the LIV Tour for players was that it guaranteed them major paydays that exceeded even the biggest winners’ purses on the PGA Tour, but didn’t require them to win tournaments to cash in. The upstart tour also promised that players would not be required to be on the road as much as they were with the traditional PGA schedule. LIV also utilizes a team-focused format that is seen usually only in special events like the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup.

However, by signing a contract with LIV, major players like Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Graeme McDowell, Phil Mickelson, Louis Oosthuizen, Ian Poulter, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Lee Westwood, and others were forced to give up membership on the PGA Tour, meaning that they could only play in events that did not fall under the organization’s jurisdiction. For example, Koepka won the 2023 PGA Championship last month.

“Today is a very exciting day for this special game and the people it touches around the world,” PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan said. “We are proud to partner with the PGA TOUR to leverage PIF’s unparalleled success and track record of unlocking value and bringing innovation and global best practices to business and sectors worldwide. We are committed to unifying, promoting and growing the game of golf around the world and offering the highest-quality product to the many millions of long-time fans globally, while cultivating new fans.

How Does PGA Tour, LIV Tour Deal Impact Golf Broadcasting Rights?

As of now, it does not appear that where you can watch the tournaments will change, at least not in the near term. One of the reasons that LIV was forced to sign an unusual domestic broadcast deal with The CW was because the PGA Tour had existing deals with nearly every major broadcaster, and those media companies did not want to jeopardize their relationships with the PGA by getting into bed with the rival brand.

So, for the time being, golf fans will still be able to see the PGA Tour split between CBS, ESPN, NBC, and their various cable and streaming offshoots and the LIV Tour on The CW for the duration of 2023. However, if the new, yet-to-be-named commercial entity is designed to promote golf around the globe, there is no guarantee that LIV will exist when the 2024 season rolls around, or if it will hold onto its top names.

Nonetheless, whatever form the disparate tours take moving forward, it very well could lead to more exposure for LIV via the PGA’s longstanding media partners.