The Justice Department has begun to examine an agreement between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabian backers of LIV Golf to determine whether it violates federal antitrust statutes, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
The inquiry is in its early stages, and it isn’t clear yet whether the Justice Department will take any enforcement action.
The PGA Tour, European tour and Saudi Arabia’s national wealth fund came together in a partnership that was negotiated so privately over two months that none of the players and some board members were aware.
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan had been critical of LIV Golf since the rival circuit began poaching some of golf’s biggest names with signing bonuses of $100 million or more, money provided by the Public Investment Fund.
The PGA Tour suspended players who defected to LIV, such as Phil Mickelson, leading to 11 players and eventually LIV to file an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour last August. The PGA Tour then filed a countersuit, and the case was not expected to go trial until at least 2024.
Part of the agreement is to drop all litigation.
The Justice Department already was looking into antitrust issues since last summer.
On Wednesday, U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., asked the Justice Department’s antitrust division to scrutinize the agreement.
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