Democratic Senators Call On Attorney General To Investigate PGA Tour - LIV Golf Merger, Mention Sports Washing
The merger between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF) has only been announced. Nothing between the three parties has been made official, and some U.S. senators appear that they want to keep it that way.
Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren (Massachusettes) and Ron Wyden (Oregon) sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter calling on the AG's office to scrutinize the PGA Tour's plans with Saudi Arabia and LIV Golf.
The letter, a copy of which was obtained by ESPN, claims that the merger would allow Saudi Arabia to cover up it's less-than-stellar human rights record.
The merger would allow "the Saudi government's efforts to 'sports wash' its egregious human rights record" and "raises an array of potential legal and regulatory issues, including relating to the PGA Tour's non-profit tax status and antitrust law," the letter reads, in part.
Democratic senator Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut) has demanded communication records between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf as well.
Dem. Senators Claim Merger Between PGA Tour And Saudi Could Form A Monopoly
The senators also argue that the proposed agreement would violate the Clayton Act, which aims to regulate business practices and stop anticompetitive acquisitions and mergers. The Department of Justice had already begun an investigation into the PGA Tour on anticompetitive grounds in August 2022.
The letter also states that an alliance between the PGA Tour and the PIF would serve as a "merger-to-monopoly."
"When LIV was still a threat to the PGA Tour's dominant position over golf tournaments in the United States, the two were in fierce competition for golfers and offered increasingly higher tournament prizes as a result," the letter states. "This merger-to-monopoly intentionally eliminates LIV as a potential competitor and would likely cause the new entity to reverse the pattern of newly increased tournament prizes for its golfers."
Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of Saudi's PIF, was very much a part of the PGA Tour - LIV Golf merger decision and announcement. (Photo by Luke Walker/WME IMG/WME IMG via Getty Images)
The letter from Democratic senators isn't the only letter to make headlines since the announcement of the merger on June 6.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan wrote a letter dated June 9 addressed to congressional members claiming that the Tour was "left on our own" when it came to competing against the threat and influence of Saudia Arabia's PIF in the world of professional golf.
Monahan has been on record stating that the Tour couldn't compete against the Saudi's "unlimited money."
The Saudi Arabia PIF holds an estimated value of $620 billion.
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