Thursday Themes - Positive Outcome Edition

A late arrival to the keyboard, but we'll try to power through and catch up on the Tour/LIV stuff.  Perhaps we'll close some of those open browser tabs tomorrow.

I'd like to chip in and buy Jay a copy of Roget's Thesaurus, as he's desperately in need of some synonyms....as Brendan Porath notes:

The Positive Outcome Presser

Jay Monahan achieved a positive outcome in his annual state of the tour address at east lake on Tuesday by not stepping in it. it was not a shining performance, and compared to the now-infamous

press conference when he challenged liv by announcing the tour’s designated events plan, it felt equivocating, even chastened. we rarely hear from Monahan in a setting where he has to face questions outside the friendly confines of CNBC, and that’s for a reason. it’s not his strong suit. but at such a contentious and critical time, getting out of there without making much news counts as a positive outcome.

That was the phrase of the day, pounced on by close listeners: positive outcome. in the middle of a 19-minute opening monologue on a host of issues, he concluded on the status of the framework agreement — the worth and substance of which seems to decrease by the day — by saying, “I am confident that we will reach an agreement that achieves a positive outcome for the PGA tour and our fans. i see it and I'm certain of it.” given that this was in the prepared remarks, it seemed to be deliberate framing, and he went back to it during the more off-the-cuff exchanges of the Q&A portion with the press.

At least we haven't heard anyone use "fealty" in quite some time....But the P-word was just a we bit over-used:

“And at this point, I think players are focused on their play and they know, you know, as we move forward, and certainly as we move towards the end of the year, there's a responsibility, an expectation, from them towards me and the team that, you know, we're going to be in a position to communicate a positive outcome for the PGA Tour.”

“We're confident that we're going to reach a positive outcome for the PGA Tour…”

“And I feel inspired and ready to go from the position we're in, ultimately, to generate a really positive outcome for the PGA Tour, and I came back ready to do that, alongside my peers and our players.”

So, what does said positive outcome look like:

“What is a positive outcome? It’s what I said earlier,” Monahan said, sidestepping the direct question in a manner so impressive it ought to have brought a tear to the eye of the PR flaks in attendance.

And what, exactly, had Monahan said about 10 questions earlier about a “positive outcome” for the PGA Tour? Well, almost nothing.

“Our commitment [is] to moving from the divisive nature of the relationship we had to a productive one, for us to be able to make a fundamental transition to our business with the formation of NewCo, to have an investable entity for PIF to believe able to invest in that previously didn’t exist, for the PGA Tour to be in control of the future of men’s professional golf and for us to be partners.”

He does add a smidgeon more, throwing Golf Twitter a bone:

But then, as if propelled by some divine force, Monahan continued his answer — revealing for the first time a series of small but highly notable details about the shape of the agreement with the PIF.

“For fans, [a positive outcome is] for us to be able to use the capital to be able to invest back in our product,” Monahan said. “You know, to do things like further reduce commercial inventory in our broadcast, to further invest in our data businesses, to further invest in our media business, to potentially invest in entities and companies that we think are going to help us grow and diversify our fan base and the game.”

Wait, hold on a sec... what's wrong with your existing fan base?  I totally get where we need to sell out to these guys so you can invest in your data business....

Eamon Lynch has a characteristically contrary take:

Lynch: Jay Monahan opens up on his health, but stays positively mum on his Saudi deal

The health stuff seems to this cynical observer quite the red herring, as nothing quite adds up.  This from Eamon helps little:

The only area in which Monahan provided clarity was his health. “I have never felt better mentally and physically than I feel right now. And obviously, I had to take some steps to go from where I was to this position. But I’m a work in progress,” he said. “So I’m working on the things that I’ve learned that are going to help me in my life and help me in this role. That’s how I feel, but more importantly my doctors, my wife, and girls, ultimately, that’s how they feel about how I’m doing. They are my arbiters. I feel as strong as I’ve felt in a long, long time.”

Perhaps the most shocking thing here is Eamon's credulity, because Jay was so disabled that Tour took the extraordinary step of announcing a transfer of authority.  Yet that is all "solved" in a month, and his wife and girls are happy to send him straight back into the cauldron?  I'm sorry, I was born in the morning, but not this morning....

But I was most stuck by the dueling banjos on the subject of viability, first back to Porath:

Overall, I thought Monahan’s lengthy monologue made a strong case for the health of the PGA Tour. That’s the point of a scripted opening, of course, but amidst the chaos of the past year, the Tour has a story to tell beyond the rake-stepping of recent months. Some of the numbers were framed with amusing benevolence, but the Tour has objectively progressed and grown under his watch. Now, did it proactively prepare and react to the mammoth threat it faced while also doing all this other stuff? That’s a rougher story. The Tour seemed to be humming along relatively healthy, and didn’t NEED the Saudi money, but they DID need them go away.

 If you say so, but Eamon has a different take ( along with a bonus use of that P-word):

Even when Monahan touted figures highlighting the robustness of the PGA Tour’s business — viewership, engagement, revenue, demographics — it felt like a perfunctory concession to metrics that only matter in a rational business environment, a conventional standard by which he is no longer judged. His shareholders in the locker room primarily have one yardstick (money) and one concern (how they’ll get more of it).

Which explains why the commissioner was at pains Tuesday to remind us for whom he works. Monahan never could muster the imperious swagger of his predecessors, but what little he had was extinguished by the recent revolt in which players demanded more say in governance. I asked if he saw that move by players as an indictment of how the organization has been managed.

“I did not,” he replied. “I look at this as not an indictment, but a very positive message… We’ve listened, we’ve responded, and now we have the right people, the right process in place for us to be able to move forward and determine that future. But I look at it as a positive and something that I and we embrace.”

They're giving me whiplash..... The whole reason the deal had to be struck was that their terrific peni will not toil in the fields for the amount of money that's generated from all of Jay's metrics.... So, I'm reliably informed that it's all positive, but simultaneously that none of it is sustainable.

So, you might be in robust health, Jay, but you're a carrier of depression....

One of the things I correctly called in the aftermath of that D-Day was how quickly the good guys would accommodate themselves to their new reality. specifically citing Rory.  The best case description of Rory's roll in all this is that he functioned as an "Useful idiot", and I'll spare you the worst case....

But now all is good in the world:

Tiger Woods’ presence on tour’s policy board ‘has been felt already,’ according to Rory McIlroy

His mere presence?  care to get a little more granular, Rors?

“Tiger being on the board, I think it's meaningful that he's on it, that he's engaged,” McIlroy said.

“He's certainly been spending more time on it than I have. He's been talking to some people. He's been talking to a lot of people. He's really engaged in just trying to get the best outcome for the players on the PGA Tour. I think his difference has been felt already. His presence on there will only continue to grow as we head towards that December 31st deadline.”

That presence is seen as striking a balance between the tour potentially accepting enormous invest from the PIF—which has invested over $2 billion into LIV as well as other sports such as its purchase of English soccer team Newcastle F.C.—and maintaining the integrity of a U.S. circuit Woods helped build. Before Woods was appointed, 41 tour players, including McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm, sent a letter to commissioner Jay endorsing Woods as a sixth player representative on the board.

So, it's positive?   But has anyone asked what Tiger was put on that policy board to, yanno, do? 

He's there to ensure that Rory gets paid (Cantlay and all the others, as well).  It cements the coup by the elite players, as well as that important point made by Eamon Lynch.  It was never about the source of the money, it was always about where that money would end up.

And perhaps now would be a good time to remind folks of who will be sitting next to Tiger at these meetings:

As part of the agreement, a new company would be formed called PGA Tour Enterprises. PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan—who would get a seat on the PGA Tour Policy Board alongside Tiger Woods—would be the chairman of the for-profit LLC, with Monahan as CEO.

And while this might get a tad redundant, I'm just fascinated by the gaslighting:

“I would say that we operate in good faith and I see that on both sides. And that framework agreement, which is an agreement to reach an agreement, put us in a position to reach an agreement. Those safeguards that are in place and our commitment to moving from the divisive nature of the relationship we had to a productive one, for us to be able to make a fundamental transition to our business with the formation of NewCo [PGA Tour Enterprises], to have an investable entity for PIF to believe able to invest in that previously didn’t exist, for the PGA Tour to be in control of the future of men’s professional golf and for us to be partners, if we were going to end the litigation, we would have just announced that we were ending the litigation.”

Good faith?  From the Saudis?  Good thing I didn't have liquids in my mouth.... But note, the Saudi billions are to go into NewCo, which is a for-profit entity, so wink-wink, they must be investing for the returns, though there isn't a whiff of what those investments and associated returns might be.   But, as a wise man once allegedly said, follow the money:

He said that would allow the PGA Tour “to use the capital to be able to invest back in our product, to do things like further reduce commercial inventory in our broadcast, to further invest in our data businesses, to further invest in our media business, to potentially invest in entities and companies that we think are going to help us grow and diversify our fan base and the game.

Somehow the money will go from NewCo into the Tour's not-for-profit entity (that's where those TV contracts are), without any demands from the Saudis.....  In perpetuity...... See why Rory is smiling

I need to go take a shower, but will see y'all tomorrow.