Tennis and golf. Golf and tennis. enduringly connected by their commonalities. As intricate as their professional circuits, which consist of players accompanied by handlers traveling from one location to another to compete in four events annually, and as basic as their lexicons. Slice, backspin, hold, sweet spot, and ace.
Another similarity this week is Saudi Arabian investment. Or, to put it another way, making a purchase.
The Saudi PIF, which has been in talks with the Tour for the most of the past year and is the source of funding for LIV Golf, and the ATP, the tennis counterpart of the PGA Tour, have finally confirmed an official collaboration. Earlier in 2024, there had been rumors of the relationship, but Jon Wertheim, a tennis reporter and commentator, has confirmed that it is a five-year agreement worth an estimated $100 million. (Jon correctly notes that amount is insignificant compared to the PIF’s golf investments, but it may also be a sign of more to come.)
The men’s ranking system name rights are the first part of the investment. “The Saudis bought math,” as tennis great Andy Roddick put it, or rather, the right to associate its name with the formula used to evaluate players. Additionally, the PIF will be “court-side branded” at some of the largest tennis tournaments. As predicted, the tennis counterpart of the Players Championship, the BNP Paribas Open, posted a laudatory 188-word description of the PIF as a “Premier Partner” on its website just one day later. Not only that, but Jeddah will host the final championship of the ATP’s under-21 extension till 2027.
Although there are still many unanswered questions regarding the nature of the cooperation, Wertheim’s initial assessment seems to be spot on. Comparing the investment to the PIF’s introduction of LIV Golf, he described it as a “kindler, gentler” method of making an impression. Indeed, the launch of LIV was even less tactful. For the most part, it has been seen (and utilized) as a leverageable tool that allows players to play less golf and make much more money.
That being said, there are certain parallels between the PIF’s activities in golf and tennis. Enthusiasts of the club-and-ball game ought to pay attention to developments in the racket-and-ball game, as there are numerous hints as to what might be included in a future PIF-PGA Tour partnership.
To begin with, there have been whispers that the PIF plans to host a tennis “Super League” that would include the four grand slam tournaments as well as the top nine events in the sport. Even while it’s still up for debate (LIV Golf was formerly in a similar state of organizational uncertainty), professional players have been talking publicly about profit-sharing, prize money, and how they want to split it for a while now, suggesting that there is enough interest in the concept.
Does this sound familiar?
It may seem improbable that golf will see anything akin to a “super league,” particularly in light of the fact that LIV Golf mediated a big legal dispute between the leaders of all four major championships. Nobody will forget that move anytime soon. However, Rory McIlroy keeps expressing his vision of a golf tour akin to the Champions League that rises above the professional game as it exists now and visits distant locations where LIV Golf has found success, such as Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, and even Saudi Arabia. (An audience can be as simple as organizing a tournament, for better or worse.)
The PIF has opened the financial floodgates, and there are signs that later this summer, its soccer properties will pursue some of the world’s top football players once more. Saudi Arabia’s interest in sports is not limited to tennis; SRJ Sports Investments, a PIF-owned company, is allegedly close to starting a new cycle circuit.
That same fund put $100 million into the newly formed Professional Fighters League, which is the UFC’s relative opponent. (Those high-profile transactions occurred within SRJ’s initial six months of operation.)
It appears that the PIF frequently launches something fresh and marginally different, but just next to the incumbent, according to their sporting strategy. An intriguingly, the playbook began with LIV Golf. It appears to be only the first domino right now.
Naturally, investing in PGA Tour Enterprises, the new for-profit division of the PGA Tour, would be different. To begin with, the American government’s antitrust regulators are closely monitoring any agreement reached by the parties. However, this kind of investment, perhaps worth between $2 and $3 billion, would also help the Kingdom achieve its objective of introducing professional sports to Saudi Arabia.
Arranging a LIV Golf competition in Jeddah is one thing; securing a spot in King Abdullah Economic City on the PGA Tour’s upcoming schedule is quite another. In any case, a Tour event in the Kingdom is precisely the kind of opportunity that players have been talking about in clubhouses and on driving ranges ever since the Framework Agreement was reached on June 6th. Currently, Saudi Arabia solely hosts its own men’s golf events; its Middle Eastern rivals, the United Arab Emirates, continue to sponsor and host some of the major DP World Tour events.
Despite being small in scope, this investment in tennis normalizes the three crucial letters P-I-F on TV screens at some of the world’s most prestigious games. Aramco, the $2 trillion petroleum conglomerate in Saudi Arabia, has sponsored and organized golf competitions under the “Golf Saudi” apparel brand.
That’s a lesson to be learned from the tennis agreement. Sports events are sponsored by a plethora of PIF-owned companies, with Aramco leading the pack. And there are a ton of locations in golf where sponsorship is obtained. Is it possible for OWGR to get a sponsor? Why not? Similar to how next week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational is “presented by Mastercard,” the ATP Next-Gen Finals are “presented by NEOM,” a newly formed city. This fall, Rafael Nadal, the recently appointed ambassador of the Saudi Tennis Federation, will compete in an exhibition series against Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, and three other top tennis players at the first-ever “6 Kings Slam” tennis event coming to Riyadh.
A check for several million dollars is on the line for each person. In theory, it sounds a lot like the 2014 PGA Grand Slam of Golf, which offered a $200,000 guarantee to the finisher even before it concluded.
A recurrent topic of conversation among all these announced, speculated about, and anticipated alliances is Saudi Arabia’s ultimate objective(s) for these investments. The Middle Eastern country’s attempt to spread its wealth and, consequently, sportswash its image of dictatorship, faces strong opposition. Tennis greats Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova recently expressed opposition to the Women’s Tennis Association considering a similar deal with Saudi Arabia, advising against accepting funding from a nation whose record on women’s rights in particular has been among the worst in the world.
Evert and Navratilova in golf may not exist anymore, at least not since PGA Tour leadership decided on June 6 that a significant portion of the sport was for sale. However, the PIF seems to be equipped to handle the next sporting investment because of the previous ones. That may be just what athletes want, as it effectively assures them of a financial bump without sacrificing their reputations in the slightest. However, the Saudis have meant far rougher waters for those in charge of these sports’ governance. Nobody knows better than golf.
