FSG’s principal owner, John Henry has reportedly held talks with Newcastle‘s Saudi Arabian owners over a £800 million-plus investment in a non-Liverpool-related venture.
Earlier in 2024, a consortium led by Fenway Sports Group (FSG) instigated a £2.3 billion investment into golf’s PGA Tour.
This came in the form of the creation of a new commercial venture, PGA Enterprises, which allows players to become equity holders in the project.
This would also permit co-investment from the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) in the future, something that is now coming to fruition.
ESPN reported that talks took place last week in New York, with PGA Tour Enterprises chairman Joe Gorder and FSG owner John Henry part of “a transactional subcommittee that is negotiating with the Saudis, along with Tiger Woods and golfer Adam Scott.”
This is an interesting development for golf and for Liverpool due to the nature of FSG’s relationship with the PIF, who own 85 percent of Newcastle.
The relationship between Liverpool and Newcastle‘s owners would need to be at least co-operative for the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour to merge with the FSG-led PGA Tour.
It will be intriguing to see how this could affect the clubs’ behaviour around Premier League issues, including votes on rule changes and issues relating to profit and sustainability rules, with potential conflicting interests in the different sports.
John Henry’s July comments
In an interview with the Boston Globe in July, an outlet Henry owns, the Liverpool chairman was asked about FSG’s growth strategy in the wake of their investment into the golf market.
He noted how they are now at capacity, saying: “It means that we’re not looking to grow at this point.
“I hate to say that on the record, but we’ve got our hands full with Boston, Liverpool, this, Pittsburgh [Penguins], NASCAR, real estate.
“We’re working on a couple of things that we were working on before we got involved here (PGA Tour).
“There will be other opportunities, I’m sure, that we’ll look at, but we are fully engaged. We’re not out there, and I think we’ve never been out there, looking for opportunities.”
Let’s hope no conflict of interest emerges between Liverpool and FSG’s golf investments.
Fan Comments