We’re going to come right out and say it crudely considering this merger — money talks and bullshit walks. Everything in professional sports is about money — whether it’s how much teams and athletes make, advertising, sponsorship, television and media, etc. The amounts of money fans are willing to part with to experience professional sports — whether in the form of tickets to attend, T.V. viewing, apparel and merchandise, or buying the beer the sports promote — equals the dollars available to make the pro sports machine run. …

At first the PGA Tour and critics of a Saudi-backed league claimed that the players who made the move to the LIV were mostly past their prime, and the appearance money paid to players to participate and the formats to be used meant the LIV events would be largely novelty acts.

But marquee names like Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, and Bryson DeChambeau, (in addition to Mickelson) accepted eye-popping sign-on bonuses and left the PGA Tour for the LIV. The actual amounts are confidential, but reports are in the $100 – $200 million range for several of them. Reports are also that the biggest name in golf — maybe ever — Tiger Woods was offered and turned down a $700 million offer to go to LIV. Rory McIlroy was reportedly offered $300 million and didn’t bite. And Will Zalatoris, who is 25 years old and has earned only $15 million on the PGA Tour so far, reportedly turned down $100 million. With interest rates approaching ten percent, arguably Zalatoris could have put the $100 million in CDs, drew a guaranteed millions a year in interest, and played golf for fun on weekends at his local muni for the next 65 years. Yeah, we’d be pissed too to miss that kind of a deal.

[When someone tells you, “It’s not the money, it’s the principle,” you can usually bet that it’s the money. Even then, one rarely sees this level of outright hypocrisy as we have from the PGA and Jay Monahan. — Ed]