LIV Golf: Four Burning Questions That Need Answering
By Bill Felber
4. The human rights question
In recent years, many major sports have found themselves enmeshed in broader sociological debates. That’s happened in the NFL, the NBA, and in Major League Baseball.
Thus far, one of the standout exceptions in that respect has been the PGA Tour, which has largely operated outside the realm of cultural-sociological pressure.
In this debate, the PGA Tour holds a comfortable position, since it opposes the Saudi-backed league. Social activists see the Saudis as pariahs for various aspects of their human rights record.
Pro golfers are independent contractors. But that means they, too, have to worry about such pressures.
Almost all the top-name players are affiliated with several major corporate sponsors, often with an international platform.
As such those sponsors have a substantial sensitivity to pressure groups, even ones with no usual interest in as patrician an activity as golf.
And when sponsors begin to pull back, players have to take notice.
That has already begun. Royal Bank of Canada, which has sponsored Dustin Johnson, announced Wednesday that it was terminating its relationship with him and also with Graeme McDowell over their decision to join the LIV Tour.
RBC’s decision could be based on an unwillingness to offend activists, or it could be based on an unwillingness to offend the PGA Tour, or both. Either will suffice.
The most visible Americans joining the LIV circuit or being courted by it all have some sponsorship exposure. Na has a deal with WAAC Golf, a Korean clothing company. He is also involved with ProSponsor, a firm that specializes in linking athletes with sponsors.
LIV Golf: Dustin Johnson Commits, Is He Finished With The PGA Tour?. dark. Next
Gooch is sponsored by numerous golf-related businesses, among them Callaway, Levelwear Golf, and Titleist. He also has numerous non-golf sponsorships: Jani-King Towel, LEO Cyber Security, and Easy Post among them.
As a two-time Major winner, Johnson probably has the greatest exposure of all, and thus the greatest potential liability. His estimated $11 million in endorsement exposure includes, aside from RBC, such well-known firms as Adidas, BodyArmour, Net Jets, and Taylor Made.