Abstract
Professional sports leagues have seen competitor leagues arise in the past—the WHL and the NHL; the AFL and the NFL; the ABA and the NBA; and now, LIV Golf and the PGA Tour. The professional golf landscape hopes the current divide will be solved by a merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, however the PGA Tour faces unique challenges. The Tour currently classifies its players as independent contractors but retain a high degree of control over the players’ media rights and ability to play in professional golf events outside of the Tour. Additionally, critics have pointed to the Tour’s domination of the Official World Golf Rankings and reciprocity with certain professional golf leagues as a reason to investigate the Tour for monopolistic behavior. This Note discusses the underlying antitrust and labor law issues the PGA Tour has been battling for decades and forecasts the effect of the potential merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.
Recommended Citation
Haber, Luke
(2023)
"PGA Tour's Anti-Trust Issues Come to a Head in the LIV Golf Controversy,"
Florida Entertainment and Sports Law Review: Vol. 3:
Iss.
2, Article 8.
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/feslr/vol3/iss2/8