# PGA and LIV Golf to merge **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** golf\ **Created:** [June 6, 2023, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-and-liv-golf-to-merge/985102 "2023-06-06T14:31:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-and-liv-golf-to-merge/985102/81 "2026-10-10T23:05:40Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > I don’t know if you misunderstood my post or misunderstand the situation. I understood your post, yes. > [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > Is the PGA now going to say “Fooled ya!” and roll back the changes they have made over the last four years? Immediately, no. But I strongly suspect that they will do what they can to claw back things, now that there’s no longer viable competition. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-and-liv-golf-to-merge/985102/82 "2026-10-10T23:09:18Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I understood your post, yes. I wasn’t trying to be snarky, but reading my post it seems that I was. My apologies. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-and-liv-golf-to-merge/985102/83 "2026-10-10T23:10:56Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > My apologies. None needed! I didn’t read it as snarky. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2026, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-and-liv-golf-to-merge/985102/84 "2026-10-10T23:32:38Z")
I saw a YouTube video from the WSJ that the problem with LIV Golf was that it depended entirely on Saudi money. I don’t watch golf but all of the tournaments I see advertised on television have corporate sponsors; FedEx, Travelers, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-and-liv-golf-to-merge/985102/85 "2026-10-11T02:29:51Z")
Yes, it seems like they had revenue in the millions and expenses in the hundreds of millions, more than 90% of which was being funded by the PIF. The biggest “asset” which could be worth many millions could be the tax loss carry-forward. You and I couldn’t do this, but if you’re big enough to lose $800M, you can sell those losses to someone who can deduct it against future taxable income! ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-and-liv-golf-to-merge/985102/86 "2026-10-11T02:41:39Z")
That’s usually what happens. Baseball has a good example. The boom in game fixing in the 1910s, culminating with the throwing of the 2919 World Series, was a direct result of the birth and death of the Federal League. Salaries soared when the Feds started raiding the existing leagues for stars, and when they folded the owners in the American and National Leagues ruthlessly slashed salaries, infuriating the players and giving them incentive to get a little on the side. Similarly, the NFL saw a salary boom when they had to compete with the USFL in the 1980s, and when that league folded the players saw the writing on the wall, which led to the 1987 strike, the decertification of the players’ union, and the McNeil lawsuit claiming antitrust and restraint of trade violations. It took years to get the salaries back up to when they had to overbid for players. I would expect the PGA to roll prize money back, or at least not increase it much. I don’t know that they ever did increase it much because LIV never gained any real traction. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2026, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-and-liv-golf-to-merge/985102/87 "2026-10-15T15:35:22Z")
Jon Rahm reached an agreement with LIV Golf, in which he is giving up any monetary claims, in return for getting back his rights to his name, image, likeness, and other “related marks.” Not too surprising, given he had already announced his intention to leave, but the big news in this article is down near the bottom: > [@](#): > > During a hearing Wednesday, LIV Golf attorney Robert Fitzgerald told [bankruptcy judge Michael B.] Kaplan that the tour should know by the end of the month whether it will be ceasing operations or moving forward with LIV 2.0. > **[Jon Rahm reaches separation deal with LIV, gives up rest of nine-figure contract](https://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/50188685/jon-rahm-reaches-separation-agreement-liv-golf)** > > Jon Rahm and LIV Golf have reached a separation agreement in which Rahm agreed to release all of his monetary and economic claims in exchange for the return of his exclusive name, image and likeness rights and other related marks. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2026, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-and-liv-golf-to-merge/985102/88 "2026-10-15T15:43:48Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Said one PGA Tour player reached by ESPN on Tuesday, “No f—ing way.” Why “no f—ing way”? Seems like there will be more money, so is it the travel, the ethics of the Middle East, or what? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2026, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-and-liv-golf-to-merge/985102/89 "2026-10-15T15:48:46Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Said one PGA Tour player reached by ESPN on Tuesday, “No f—ing way.” I do not see that quote in the ESPN article I linked to, and I didn’t share it, so I’m not sure why you quoted me there. Do you have a source and context for that quote? I am going to guess “no f\*\*\*ing way” may be more of a “well, if that’s true, then I guess LIV is about to die.” ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2026, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-and-liv-golf-to-merge/985102/90 "2026-10-15T15:51:04Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I do not see that quote in the ESPN article I linked to, and I didn’t share it, so I’m not sure why you quoted me there. Do you have a source and context for that quote? It’s in the OP under @kenobi_65 Did I mess it up? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2026, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-and-liv-golf-to-merge/985102/91 "2026-10-15T15:55:15Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > It’s in the OP under @kenobi_65 Did I mess it up? Oh! That was from three-plus years ago, and the story has moved on since then. I didn’t realize you were quoting the OP, especially as I had just posted an update a few minutes ago (and assumed you were replying to the update). The proposed merger between LIV and the PGA which spawned this thread never materialized; the thread has evolved into an ongoing chronicle of LIV’s travails. The Saudis, who were funding LIV, pulled out back in April, and LIV declared bankruptcy last month; it’s an open question as to whether LIV will survive at all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pga-and-liv-golf-to-merge/985102.md?page=4)