PR Lesson Learned From The PGA & LIV Golf Tour Merger

At the 1988 Republican National Convention, presidential candidate George H. W. Bush said a line that he will always be associated with -- "Read my lips: no new taxes." While it helped him defeat Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis in the election, many political observers feel that because he was unable to keep that promise he failed to win reelection, losing to Bill Clinton four years later.

In August 2012, President Barack Obama said Syria’s use of chemical weapons would be a “red line” that the United States would not allow.  Less than a year later Syria used chemical weapons, but because of various circumstances Obama did not live up to his words.

Bush’s “taxes” remark and Obama’s “red line” remark are two of the most famous examples of president’s not being able to follow through on their statements. (Presidential historians can, I’m sure, provide many other examples.)

But let’s face it. One former President has never wavered from his statements. So let’s give credit where credit is due to the twice-impeached and criminally-indicted former president of the United States, Donald Trump.

Unfortunately, Mr. Trump’s remarks might have been written by the speechwriters of the totalitarian leaders he has praised -- Russian President Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, the dictatorial Chinese leader, and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.

So it’s no surprise that the totalitarian-loving former president praised the merger between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s LIV Tour, even though the Kingdom has been accused of human rights violations for as long as I can remember, and probably as long as it has been in existence.

Needless to say, though I will, in addition to seeing nothing wrong about playing games with totalitarian leaders, when Trump praises a venture it's prudent to remember the line "Follow the money" – a phrase that's now part of our national lexicon — was supposedly whispered to reporter Bob Woodward by Deep Throat as a way to cut through the lies and deceptions and find the truth about the Watergate scandal,” (as reported by NPR in 2012).  

That “follow the money” line applies to the PGA and Saudi merger as well as to the former president’s golf course interests.

On June 7, USA TODAY reported, “One of the big winners of the just-announced LIV Golf-PGA Tour merger could be former president Donald J. Trump.

“Trump has established significant financial ties with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the LIV Golf tour -- financed by the country's sovereign wealth fund -- has staged several events at Trump-owned golf courses over its two seasons of existence.”

“Now, with the rival tours in alignment, Trump and his family businesses stand to gain even more prestige, influence and money as a result of the merger. It may ultimately lead to one of his long-sought goals: to have a Trump course host one of the four major championships in men's professional golf.”

A New York Times June 6 article reported, “This merger is a wonderful thing for the game of golf,” Eric Trump said in an interview on Tuesday. “I truly believe that.”

“His father, Donald J. Trump, also praised the deal. On Truth Social, the former president’s social media platform and personal megaphone, he wrote: “Great news from LIV Golf. A big, beautiful, and glamorous deal for the wonderful world of golf.”

On July 28, 2022, Golfweek reported, “Before Donald Trump was elected President of the United States, he was well known in the golf community as the namesake of the courses and grounds that share his name.

There are 12 Trump Golf-owned properties in the United States, two in Scotland, one in Ireland and one in the United Arab Emirates. The Trump Organization manages Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point in New York, though for a short period of time it lost control until winning a legal battle. It also has three golf properties opening soon: two in Indonesia and one in Dubai.”

Mr. Trump’s and the PGA Tours blind eyes toward playing footsie with a dictatorial-run country reminds me of the International Olympic Committee’s history of doing the same.

In 1936, despite it being known that the Nazis were persecuting Jews, and other people that they considered undesirable, the IOC permitted Germany to host the summer and winter Olympics. (The first concentration camp, Dachau, was already in use. It became the template for other concentration camps.)

Even after World War 2, started by Germany three years after the Nazi Olympics, the IOC didn’t change its position about totalitarian governments. In 1968 the IOC awarded its game to Mexico, despite the country’s single-party, authoritarian government. Twice, the IOC awarded its games to Russia in 1980 and again in 2014 and another totalitarian government Yugoslavia hosted the games in 1984. In 2008, China was given the Summer Olympics and the 2022 Winter Beijing Olympics.

What do all of these Olympic Games have in common? They were all awarded to totalitarian regimes by the Olympic powers and American sponsors meekly “followed the athletes,” no matter where the games were played. And it’s likely they’ll follow the golfers to the courses in dictatorial-run countries.

American companies that sponsored those games in totalitarian countries are less honest than Donald Trump, which is a herculean task to accomplish. Those sponsors say, “They’re just following the athletes, when in reality they mean that’s where the money is.

At least Mr. Trump makes no bones about his beliefs. Unfortunately, they have divided our country, resulted in an insurrection and have brought out from under the rocks white supremacist and other hateful organizations.

In all probability, the merger of the PGA Tour with the Saudis will be a boon for sports sponsors, pro golfers, golf course owners and the TV networks that televise golf events. 

Also benefiting from the merger will be our business, because media criticism is certain to follow the combined tour, meaning that PR firms will be called upon consistently by sponsors for advice. (In our business, bad news is good news.)

My advice to PR agencies: Make certain that your sports marketing account team includes a person who has the background necessary to respond to negative media coverage and not wither under incoming flak.

Occasionally, but not often, morality and justice wins on the sports playing fields. The Department of Justice (DOA) has notified the PGA Tour that it will review its planned merger with the Saudi’s LIV Golf because it has anti-trust concerns.

If the PGA and Saudi officials want the contact information for DOJ officials one of their most enthusiastic backers certainly can provide it, none other than the criminally-indicted Donald Trump.

But before contacting him, the golf execs should remember an ancient proverb: “With friends like that, who needs enemies.”

Assigning sports junkies to sports marketing accounts is not a good idea. Staff the account teams with people who realize that sports is as much a business as any other account that the agency handles. And begin planning your responses for clients that sponsor golf tournaments right now, because it’s a certainty you’ll need them to respond to reporters’ questions.

Totalitarian governments and businesses have long used “sportswashing” – a word meaning governments and businesses and other organizations that use sports sponsorships or create events to cover up their sordid practices.

For decades, “sportswashing” has been used by the moguls of all major sports. But never before has it been blessed by a former president. Which puts the merger of the former golf rivals on the top of the garbage heap. 

A headline of a story about the merger in The Athletic precisely summarized the happening in its headline: “In the PGA Tour, LIV Golf battle the money won. Morality was always secondary.”

As it always is in  the sports business.