Hilton Head Island, S.C. is the location where the $1.5 billion initial investment into PGA Tour Enterprises, the circuit’s new for-profit arm, was announced. This investment also brought a promise of collective expertise from Strategic Sports Group, a consortium of sports business leaders led by Fenway Sports. Tour commissioner Jay Monahan welcomed key SSG members to the leadership team, acknowledging their exceptional track records and achievements in global professional sports. This partnership is expected to provide a wealth of knowledge into the opportunities ahead for the PGA Tour.
The creation of the PGA Tour Enterprises board of directors was announced on March 6, with the board meeting taking place at the RBC Heritage for nearly four hours. The meeting included a Player Advisory Council meeting that featured Theo Epstein, the former Boston Red Sox general manager who joined Fenway Sports as a senior advisor in February. Sources described the meeting between the 16-player PAC and Epstein as a “meet and greet.” The board of directors includes Monahan, player directors Tiger Woods, Patrick Cantlay, Adam Scott, Webb Simpson, Jordan Spieth, and Peter Malnati, independent director Joe Gorder, the four SSG directors John Henry, Arthur Blank, Andrew Cohen, and Sam Kennedy, and director liaison Joe Ogilvie.
The partnership with SSG was announced on January 31 and includes a “strategic investment of up to $3 billion,” with a significant portion of that investment allocated for player equity into PGA Tour Enterprises. Members of the board of directors met with PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan in the Bahamas last month, and negotiations with the fund are said to be “accelerating,” although there are still “several key issues that we still need to work through,” according to Monahan at The Players Championship.