Is LIV “the long term of golf” or just playing golf with a soundtrack?
The lawsuit alleges that the PGA Tour not only threatened golfers seeking to play in LIV tournaments, but also “threatened sponsors, suppliers and agents to force players to forgo opportunities to play at LIV Golf events”; “orchestrated an illegal organization boycott consistent with the European Tour to deny LIV Golf its members”; and the “confident” teams that hosted the first four golf championships, urging them to ban LIV golfers from participating in the sport’s most prominent events.
“The conduct of the Tour has no other purpose than to cause harm to the players and prevent them from accessing the first significant competitive risk the Tour has faced in decades,” reads the lawsuit, which was filed in the U. S. District Court for the North. District. from California to Oakland.
Could the DOJ fight the PGA Tour-LIV Golf? It’s complicated.
PGA Tour golfers must obtain permission to play in unsanctioned tournaments, and historically they were allowed 3 such cases per season (usually to play in European Tour events, which has an operating agreement with the PGA Tour). The lawsuit alleges that the circuit “put together” this “regulation of conflicting events” to prevent its golfers from betting on any unauthorized tournament and that this formula does not “allow a significant festival through other circuits. “
The U. S. Department of Justice The U. S. Department of Homeland Security is also investigating the PGA Tour for conceivable antitrust violations, according to the Wall Street Journal, which is at least the time federal officials have investigated excursion transactions. In 1994, antitrust lawyers for the Federal Trade Commission attempted to get the U. S. government to do so. The U. S. Government repeals the rule requiring golfers to get permission to play on contentious occasions, and another that players will have to download permission to appear on television systems not approved by the PGA Tour, because they created imaginable “unfair strategies. “of the competition”.
But after extensive pressure through then-Commissioner Tim Finchem, a former administrative official of President Jimmy Carter, the 4 FTC commissioners voted unanimously to reject the antitrust lawyers’ advice to take legal action against the PGA Tour.
In player demand, 3 LIV golfers are also seeking a transitory restraining order that would allow them to participate in the fedEx Cup playoffs at the end of the season, a 3-tournament festival that begins next week with an event that includes the 125 most sensible golfers in the season rankings. Golfers compile problems based on their performance during the season, and three defectors — Gooch (No. 20 in the FedEx Cup standings), Jones (No. 62) and Swafford (No. 63 — would have been eligible for next week’s St Jude Championship. if they had not been banned by the PGA Tour after participating in LIV Golf events.
In a note to players sent Wednesday after the complaint was filed, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan called the 3 players’ attempt to advance to the FedEx Cup playoffs “an attempt to use the TOUR platform to advertise and enjoy its benefits and efforts. “
“Basically, those suspended players, who are now Saudi Golf League workers, left the TOUR and now they must go back. With the Saudi Golf League on hiatus, they are looking to use lawyers to make their way through the festival. our members in a smart position,” reads the memo, which was received through The Post.
There are two FedEx Cup qualification pages on the PGA Tour website, one with LIV golfers still included and one with retired golfers and players below them have progressed. The latter will be used for the box of 125 golfers for next week’s first game of the playoffs, unless ordered by a judge.
After the first elimination tournament, the top 70 in the FedEx Cup standings qualify for the BMW Championship, and the top 30 after this event will participate in the end-of-season circuit championship. The winner of this tournament will get $18 million, and golfers who finish the season in the best position of the FedEx Cup are admitted to the following year’s major championships.
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