We Found The Ridiculous Details of PGA Tour Equity Grants for Top Players

The PGA Tour Enterprises (PGATE) equity grants of stock options are not even close to what PGA Tour executives are saying. We found the ridiculous details and how they put the "Gate" in PGATE.
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Special credits in this episode: (none this time)

[@bingham7957]

04:00 "...but I can't walk." PRICELESS!!!

[@SiLoMixMaster]

LIV Adelaide was fantastic, even better than last year with the team playoff between Aussie Rippers and the South African Stingers, couldn't have written a better script. It will be voted the best golf event of 2024 like it was in 2023 (outside of the Ryder Cup)

[@DanielSong39]

It's a Tiger Woods slush fund

[@killerangel4613]

Not even he is getting much

[@Noeau]

Thanks guys for shedding light on the equity issue. It was breaking news last week but it was swept under the rug where no one talked in length about it. Until now.

[@markbatcho60]

Thank you for adding sanity to the whole “equity” stake…..they were given shares in an entity imploding cash…..with revenues decreasing and costs increasing…

[@perryseehoe590]

And on the other side of the street, LIV teams are planning to have their own TEAM golf courses, OPERATIONS, resorts and as do soccer and football clubs. Things that actually have value and create incomes.

[@rickproctor6693]

Thank you both for telling the truth.👊

[@dalvinaverill6802]

maybe they can start paying Jay's salary in equity shares, ha

[@ThinkingManShow]

: )

[@nworbydnar]

An excellent overview.

[@user-vs7gh1us7c]

The PGA is a dumpster fire.

[@colinclelland8960]

So the PGAT players lost trust in the management but now entrust them with this massively important decision about their future. Hmm.

[@lawnmower11]

What a cluster.

[@dinglbarry1275]

I have little doubt whatever dealings the pga tour and Rory have, have already been made. Ever since the interview with Rory dispelling liv rumors where Rory makes the absolute statement that he's going to play for the pga tour for the rest of his career. That statement makes 0 sense if any dealings where still up in the air, especially since Rory appeared to have flipped when Rahm went to LIV and Rory appeared to have been putting himself out there to get an offer from LIV. If he was set to play on the pga for his career why wouldn't he have made that statement when he was going on podcasts and what not during that time and how can you make a statement along those lines when there's supposed to be a degree of uncertainty about what the future of golf looks like. Also considering that Rory had already embarrassed himself having stuck his foot in his mouth the last thing he would do is make such an absolute statement unless he knew something absolutely. Using common sense I have little doubt that Rory's been given a sum of money by the pga in some fashion and/or some type of contract or pga equity nonsense that locks Rory to the pga for the rest of his career, otherwise he likely doesn't say that (one little exception would be that there are secret pga contracts and dealings going around and Rory wanted to officially advertise to the pga that he's going to play with them for his entire career, however that would only devalue your potential worth). And Rory's not sharp enough to recognize that by saying that he's revealing a lot. I'm shocked that no one else seems to have picked up on it though. but it made me suspicious from the moment I heard it. And it's frustrating because just when my annoyances with Rory had neutralized, it would seem that he's back to being a golf politician again, which for whatever reason he seems to play his best golf when he's in that role. Even though Spieth has always been sharp with what he says to the media in reference to the pga and liv dealings, Spieth's game goes to hell when he's on the pga board, the second he quits he gets his first win in 4 years. Then when Rory leaves, Spieth joins again and his game has gone to garbage since. Could be a coincidence, but the timing is impeccable.

[@oahujuniorgolfassociationc6656]

Rory is illogical, temperamental, and can’t shut up. If he’s quiet it’s only a matter of time. Yes anyone who is smart at business doesn’t make a definitive statement like that.

[@keithpanco]

Imagine if Jay only took Greg's call. LIV would be a rotational international team event involving the PGA Tour.

[@nicholastebet6766]

Who here watched the PGA tour tournament this weekend? Product is not in decline but in freefall

[@ThinkingManShow]

was there one? : )

[@jeremiahwasabullfrog957]

PBS cooking shows are more exciting.

[@nworbydnar]

The arrogance of the PGA is incredible. Too many events at Augusta National… it infects the soul.

[@rickproctor6693]

PGAT valuation is 10 billion. They say they lost some last year. Typically when that happens to them, they adjust the percentage amount they give to charity. 3.5% to 13.5% is what they have done.

[@oahujuniorgolfassociationc6656]

They are saying 12 billion.

[@2Thes22]

If LIV signs 5 more top 12 players the PGA Tour will be worth nothing and will go begging to PIF. The most valuable PGA players to LIV are Rory, Scheffler, Clark, Morikawa, Matsuyama, Fitzpatrick, Schauffele, Cantley, Hovland, Aberg, Spieth, Thomas. I think LIV could sign 8 of these without much trouble. LIV should sign as many of these, buy the Golf Channel and develop a business relationship with DP World Tour, R&A (Open) and PGA of America. They should also sign all Masters and Open winners who are still relevant and all European Ryder Cup players not already in this list.

[@Toffinater]

So Jimmy Dunne has resigned from the PGA Tour Policy Board with immediate effect, citing that his vote is superfluous now player directors outnumber independent directors. So has Tiger effectively taken over the PGA Tour…

[@UncleRicoOSU]

Seeing Tiger do the talk show circuit to promote his clothing line has been something else.

[@brandonpelly848]

Hey guys, great vid, I had a quick question. Back in 2022, I recall there being a report clarifying the details of the offer LIV golf made to Tiger Woods, in the form of equity, etc. What makes his deal with the PGA better than the LIV? if this is true, did he really just accept $100 million in equity from the tour, when LIV offered $700-800 million, would this be considered a lost opportunity? He obviously viewed the PGA tour at the time, the better tour that he viewed is gonna be there for decades to come, etc.etc., but now with LIV staying put, I don't see this as a win for the Tour, I see this as a potential death knell to the tour, in the end they (LIV/PIF, people think PIF is going to abandon LIV but look at what it's doing right now, you think they'll just dump their trump card in these negotiations?) will just make the Tour bend the knee and kiss the ring. I feel the people making decisions are still making them with emotion, not taking a step back and actually realizing what they're dealing with. Short sided american logic being played out first hand for the world to see lol

[@ThinkingManShow]

Thx Brandon. Nothing for Tiger to gain by going to LIV back in the beginning. He can’t play any longer to the level he expects and he can’t be CEO of LIV.

[@springinfialta106]

Can they get dividends?

[@peteryates7505]

PGA is 2 dominoes from collapsing…Rory and Scottie dictate viability

[@dereckguilfoyle1219]

I saw the equity can't be sold for 8 years, but you are correct, this is a giant con job.

[@billfairless6256]

PGA T Enterprises will be the same as most start ups, lots of promises not many results. AMAZON :Founder and longtime CEO Jeff Bezos instilled a "Day One" philosophy in the company and insisted that it would invest for the long term. Amazon has never paid a dividend, and the company rarely buys back its stock. TESLA:Tesla has never declared dividends on our common stock. We intend on retaining all future earnings to finance future growth and therefore, do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. The only people who will make any real cash out of PGAT Enterprises are SSG and their equity partners. The real value in the PGAT is the properties they own. It will come as no surprise if these properties are sold off as non core assets . PGAT fans should be more worried about what is happening to the real assets of the PGAT rather than the loyalty program.

[@lawnmower11]

Time to discuss Jimmy dealmaker Dunne’s exit and the players taking control, it appears

[@ThinkingManShow]

Thx Lawnmower…..Jimmy’s exit is on our audio podcast. 51 min show: open.substack.com/pub/thinkingmanshow/p/dunne-is-out?r=2lkbzu&

[@nbt3663]

This shows the fallacy of the case against Trump in New York. Proble is he paid the bank back and they hope to loan him more again, and Rory ain't getting crap for his 83 bs points. What a joke the Tour has become.

[@ziister]

The LIV set up is the captain got funded a stack of money but that was to fund their team: base salaries for caddies and support staff; travel and expenses etc for everyone. players etc get the prize money and the team gets some merch revenues. The captains are not pocketing the money, they have to run a team franchise. The PGA impact and this new deal is literally trying to payout the rich guys to keep quiet whilst they try to figure out how to make dying economics work.

[@theprogrammegroup]

This is not accurate

[@ziister]

Ok, i’ll let the members of the team know their contracts are not real

[@thomasjoseph3488]

👍

[@cwmcclintock5757]

Did U forget? "Explain this to me as if I were a small child or a German shepherd. It wasn't brains that got me this job". (One of the greatest moments in financial cinema). OK, 1.2B shares is the float. How many of the players actually graduated from a real college/university? They are going to sign new contracts for 5-10 years? That essentially makes THEM the Assets of the PGA Tour with zero Liability. Except they are like leased property that the Tour doesn't have to make any monthly lease payments? The players are doing this for equity shares they can't monetize???? Holy spit. Wait , wait I have it. Just like when Private Equity buys not-for-profit hospitals, there will be dividend/earnings/FCF distributions of some sort. "Owned, operated, and licensed by the PGA TOUR, the TPC Network is comprised of 30 premier private, resort and daily fee golf properties designed by some of golf's most elite architects". Sell them off. They wanted to buy the PGA so they have at least 1 major? Uh, maybe. But PGA Golf Properties & Club Facilities owns a gaggle of courses, too.. including the Valhalla group. First paid will be a one time massive dividend to the PE group. Then the Elite Management Club will stuff their bonuses and pensions full of 10s of $MMs. That'll leave $151MM in FCF, which will go to Tiger and Rory because they have Preferred "A" voting shares. The last $1 million will be divided among the other 1.05B shares that the shareholders/players have. To get them through while the PGA Tour declares Chapter 10 and fights off litigation by corporate sponsors. OOORRRRR Jay Monahan will replicate the DJT ticker SPAC. ;) I can't think of 2 companies more alike in total financial incompetency. ;)

[@oahujuniorgolfassociationc6656]

I read all that. The tpc courses brings up a good point. Norman is talking about LIv owning courses today like the pga tour. Theres more value than just commercials.

[@cwmcclintock5757]

@@oahujuniorgolfassociationc6656 The PGA Tour has bunches of revenue streams. I'm not a qualified accountant, and the PGA Tour has been a not-for-profit, but that doesn't mean they can't build subsidiary assets.There are ~50 PGA Superstores with 27 new ones planned during the next year or so. That business belongs to the Blank (read Home Depot founder) Family. They license the stores from the Tour and also sell PGA licenced clothing etc among the usual golf OEMs. Trying to sort out all this craziness has been near impossible because we haven't been able to put a Value on the PGA Tour.

[@frustratedgolfer7988]

No mention of Scotty Scheffler, only the number one golfer in the world. Jordan and JT can’t make the cut any more and tiger is done. The horses the PGA are betting on are a dwindling asset. Not enough stock options to spread around for the next generation of stars. Should be interesting.

[@oahujuniorgolfassociationc6656]

It’s a desperate attempt to compete. I do think if the players put in their time, they will get their money. They do have the 1.5 billion in the bank. And there is a chance to get more money as they sell off their assets even more. But yea the whole thing is ridiculously confusing with seemingly even more barriers and conflicting decision makers than the non profit model. They have Both profit and non profit somehow but still a confusing mess. If I’m a pga tour player I would just want to make sure before signing that there are no additional penalties -aside from losing their investment stake- for LIVing.

[@ThinkingManShow]

Good take Oahu.

[@rooboy69]

What a mess

[@user-gm8rb7yk4t]

Still getting my head around Jay Monahan's $22.5 million salary + Bonus for 2023 . I don't smell a Rat but more like the entire colony

[@nworbydnar]

Isn’t it fascinating: the game of golf, built on individual accomplishment and personal effort and personal integrity has been corrupted and ruined by greed, and money. Bobby Jones was right to stay an amateur.

[@ThinkingManShow]

Thank you Nwor. Bob Jones was a special human in many ways. Let’s hope that Augusta keeps him as their guiding light.

[@jacklbrt]

What I get from all this is that the players will get equity, not shares of some company, PGA Tour Enterprises, or whatever. And that equity would come in the form of a cash, "loyalty" payment/ dividend based on several parameters, ie, length of time on tour, wins, popularity, ranking, whatever, paid out over a period of time(vesting?). So, basically, "We'll pay you to stay with the PGA Tour, instead of leaving for LIV", hence the big cash infusion from the SSG. A large portion of the money from SSG would be used to buy the current player's loyalty. But not in a lump sum. Instead, paid out over some period of time. Another lame plan that will benefit the Tour more than most of the players, in my opinion

[@944clogue]

IT'S OBVIOUS TIGER IS PINEING FOR JAY'S POSITION......

[@alexsamain812]

Why ? Seems like a lot of stress for a billionaire. Tiger should just focus on winning the Senior US Open and then retire happily into the sunset.

[@944clogue]

@@alexsamain812 HE'S 47 CAN'T GET ON THE CHAMPION TOUR TIL 50, PLUS HE CAN'T WALK FOR 4 DAYS ON THE FLAT BELLY TOUR.... AND ITS PRESTIGE,

[@Leon-ph7br]

Why don't you keep supporting the increasingly boring and irrelevant PGA Tour Rory and Tiger? Clearly you are in good hands. Promise. Since LIV has arrived and LIV players no longer are allowed to play on the PGA tour, I don't watch the PGA tour anymore. And if they aren't welcome to play in the majors due to your stupid points rankings, soon I will not be watching the majors anymore either. Good luck with your mini PGA tour going forward, and keep making your "majors" irrelevant ... and let's see how that goes.

[@stryderja9570]

Remember the Tour owns the pension fund, properties on thr TPC network, IP, goodwill etc.

[@theprogrammegroup]

Pension fund and charity fund are not included in PGAT Enterprises they stay within PGAT as the non profit entity

[@stryderja9570]

@theprogrammegroup true. But the other stuff are included.

[@johnklaus9111]

You're not following the true point, though right? How much money does this "not for profit" have and who has it and why? They've been making billions per year and paying out a hundred million or so. 😊 That's the point, the PGA USGA RA are a big monopoly scam.

[@danielterry382]

You seem to be Experts on this, but you are not Lawyers, or CPA's. You are not connected to the PGA tour or the players in any way. Tiger is represented by IMG, I think they know more than Podcasters, that play Muni golf.

[@ThinkingManShow]

Funny Daniel.

[@waffleninja1000]

Mr. Short Game has a source that already said the basic framework for the PGA-LIV merger is done. Tiger is getting a LIV team. He has been right before, so I believe him. Probably 5 new teams. My guess for the teams are: Tiger, Rory, Scottie, ?, ?. Video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/h3XYZo2DgsmkZ7s

[@Ball_Striker]

What shorty doesn't know is, it's never happening! Yasir is playing the same game that Monahan played against Yasir.

[@alexsamain812]

Mr short game is an idiot - even a broken clock is right 2x a day

[@oahujuniorgolfassociationc6656]

Everyone has been right before. But not many have been publicly wrong as much as your boy.

[@alexsamain812]

Even a broken clock is right twice a day

[@Macattack11639]

If you believe that, i have some oceanfront property in Nebraska to sell you. Tiger cares a out his PGA TOUR legacy. Period. Rory wants to raise his family and win 2-3 majors. Scottie is DEEPLY religious and would start his own church before taking money from terrorists. Keep dreaming buddy.

[@jeremiahwasabullfrog957]

If only Al Capone had known about the PGA. Jay Monahan is Geraldo looking for Capone's stash in a Chicago basement crawlspace.