69 Comments

Once again, the Benjamins speak louder than any thoughts of morality. I also noticed that only Democrats were listed as opposing this transaction. This doesn't surprise me, as the Republican Party seems to be moving toward authoritative control. They have defended DJT against the DOJ and never said a word about banning books, etc., by the leader of Florida. If you don't speak out against things like this, then your silence says you approve.

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This whole episode is an example of how much of a failure this countries approach to anti trust violations has been. The consolidation of multiple commodities like manufacturing and farming operations are in many most cases raising the cost of those goods and not improving the quality of the product.

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Jun 14, 2023·edited Jun 14, 2023

I continue to be disgusted and horrified by the Republican Party. This is the type of thing that they would have taken a strong stand against. Just one more example of how they have abandoned any attempt at decency and reasonable governance and leadership. I suppose if it was a Fox “News” celebrity who was kidnapped and chopped up then they would be screaming and demanding investigations but a WaPo journalist…nah. The fact that they and the corporations are mute on this merger is not surprising.

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Money. Still the root of evil. PGA members all have a choice. They can take the money and run or stand up for what for morals they previously pretended to have.

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Never fails: when asked even a slightly difficult question, corporate "spokespersons" somehow have nothing to say.

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Also, G-d Bless Messi who turned down 9 figures from the Saudis to join MLS' Inter Miami. He has a new fan.

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All those requested to comment were too busy shoveling the Big Cash into their coffers to have time or inkling to reply. Money talks...decency walks. 🥶😱🤦‍♀️

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Golf's primary fan base are wealthy people. Wealthy people will excuse any behavior that adds money to the bottom line.

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Why in hell is the PGA tax-exempt in the first place?

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Jun 14, 2023·edited Jun 14, 2023

Corporations make money for their investors. That's capitalism. It's also a system where achieving its ends has historically been prone to immoral exploitation and behavior. The PGA-LIV deal clearly demonstrates this. It is disheartening how greed has become a virtue in the business world. Dark times, indeed!

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Next thing to look into would be the horse racing industry.

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The deal is relatively fresh, so there's still a chance some of these sponsors pick a side. That said, the current level of silent noncommitment reeks of cowardice.

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I’m not really surprised that corporate sponsors aren’t commenting yet. There will be an intensive internal debate analysing the revenue impact of their future stance. It’s absolutely certain there will not be a moral component to these discussions. After all, corporations only exist to make money.

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I don’t know much about golf or the PGA, but the morning after the merger I read a quote from a PGA player that implied that the PGA was supposed to be the “players” tour and as far as he knew no one at the negotiating table had talked to any of the players about how they felt about this. Some, heck many! players don’t want to associate themselves with LIV and the Saudis. One more professional sports league blowing itself up over money. It seems like if you’re not making “the most” then you’re not making “enough”. Frankly it’s all disgusting and after decades of watching Football, Baseball, and Hockey we no longer have cable and no longer watch any of these leagues. Don’t miss them either. (Glad to have watched the Nats run to the World Series in 2019 though!)

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It also continues to be problematic that the US has a "relationship" with Saudi Arabia, a backward patriarchy.

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Rock and a hard place. On the one hand, as long as our economy runs on oil, and it will for the foreseeable future, our government should not upset the Saudis too much. On the other hand, if we were to wash our hands of the Saudis and OPEC, would our domestic oil companies take up the slack and would we allow them to do so. Neither the Saudis nor the domestic oil companies have our best interests at heart. Inasmuch as we would like to waive the magic wand and rid our oil dependency yesterday, that just isn't going to happen. Oil is going to be around running our economy for a long long time.

Like race car drivers, pro golfers have their own sponsors. Those men and women who want to leave PGA can leverage their resources and form a new tour....contracts permitting.

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