For those of you reading this headline and being wildly confused, here is a quick recap of the past 48 hours or so before we dive in:

• After having retired in disgrace over years of alleged sexual misconduct coverups, Vince McMahan announces he is unretiring and returning to WWE, presumably in a board member capacity

• Shortly after, it is announced that WWE is exploring the possibility of a sale, hiring JP Morgan

• On Tuesday, January 10, Stephanie McMahon (daughter of Vince) who had been named the Co-CEO of WWE along with Nick Khan (no relation to AEW owner Tony Khan) after Vince’s retirement, abruptly resigns from her role, posting a letter to Twitter with the announcement

• Shortly after that announcement is made another announcement is released stating that Vince has been unanimously elected as the Chairman of the Board, essentially taking back the company he walked away from months prior 

• In the overnight hours of Wednesday, January 11 rumors begin to swirl and it is announced that the WWE and the Kindgom of Saudi Arabia have allegedly come to a deal for the Kingdom to buy the WWE from Vince and turn the company private

Now you might be thinking to yourself, “isn’t this a golf website, why are you giving me a rundown of the wrestling world?”

Well, dear reader, while you are correct in thinking that, let me remind you that the people who just allegedly bought the WWE also own this little startup golf league called LIV Golf, not sure if you have heard of it. 

So, what could the Saudi’s acquisition of the biggest name in Sports Entertainment mean for the world of golf? Let’s take a look:

TV Rights

It’s no secret that LIV has struggled mightly to secure a TV rights deal here in the U.S. Currently their events air on Youtube, where anywhere from 30,000 to 50,000 people tune in WORLDWIDE. There have been talks of LIV doing a time buy on one of the many Fox stations but that hasn’t panned out yet. As for the WWE, their current tv rights deal with NBC Universal and Fox is scheduled to expire sometime in 2024 which means that negotiations for a new deal are eminent if they haven’t already begun.

While this is purely speculation, it could very well be possible that the Saudis use the leverage and the relationships that the WWE has forged with their TV partners over the years to try and sell LIV and the WWE as a package deal. In other words, go to NBC Universal, Fox, etc, and say that if they want to continue airing WWE programming, they will also need to air LIV events. 

Where this gets interesting is that while NBC Universal has a decades-long relationship with the WWF/WWE that predates even the “modern era” of WWE, they have that same decades-long relationship with the PGA Tour. Is the Tour really going to want LIV golf events airing on NBC? Or could we possibly see LIV events airing on one of the many NBC Universal cable channels?

(Side note: it would be pretty comical to get a live cut-in for that night’s episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen on Bravo as Brooks and DJ are coming down the stretch on a Sunday.)

Potential Crossover Events

Whether you love it or hate it, the AT&T Pro-Am is one of the most talked about events of the year on the PGA Tour schedule. It’s the one time a year that we, as golf fans, get to watch some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment tee it up with some of the top professionals in the game. 

With the Saudis now owning a golf league, several professional soccer teams internationally, and now, presumably, the biggest wrestling company in the world, the door is open for LIV to host their own edition of the AT&T Pro-Am, chock-full of WWE Superstars. While the concept seems pretty wild, the idea of The Miz playing a couple of rounds of golf with the likes of Brooks and DJ does seem compelling. 

Continued Sportswashing Efforts

At the end of the day, regardless if the alleged acquisition of WWE has any effect on the golf world, the purchase of WWE is just another example of the Saudi's attempt at sports washing. For the most part, it would appear to be working too since it took this long into this article to even bring up the idea of sport washing or the truly abhorrent track record the Kingdom has when it comes to basic human rights.