Greg Norman bullish on Premier Golf League’s prospects, with or without Tiger Woods - Golf.com

Cash, and lots of it, is the price of admission if you’re trying to challenge the PGA Tour, but Norman says the league has an ace in the hole: the chance for select players to earn ownership equity in PGL teams.

“The whole concept of owning a team, I think that’s brilliant,” he said. “So, as you fade away as a top player, you still own a team, like Formula 1. The whole idea of owning a team is something I wish I’d thought about in my concept.”

If player ownership won’t move the needle, then management is next in the PGL’s crosshairs. Convincing agents and managers that defecting to the PGL is in their clients’ best interest will be essential to the league’s success.

When Shackelford asked Mark Steinberg, Tiger Woods’s agent, about the prospect of the new tour, Steinberg was highly complimentary of the PGA Tour, adding “it’s getting better by the year.” But he didn’t write off the PGL, saying, “you have to listen to everyone and all options.”

While Woods himself hasn’t said anything publicly about the proposed league, it stands to reason that a large portion of the league’s viability among golf fans is tied to its ability to draw a star of Woods’ magnitude into the fold.

Norman, though, sees it differently.

“I’m not talking about the players very much, and that’s because, if the concept is right, the players will always be there,” he said. “These guys are pass-through entities. The Tiger Woods’ of the world, the Rory McIlroy’s, the Koepka’s, the Dustin Johnson’s. These guys are eventually going to move on in time. But the concept is not.”

The would-be league is still two years away from its proposed launch. There’s plenty that can happen in that time, including a reported $700-millon-dollar-per-year network TV deal for the PGA Tour. That contract would throw considerable financial weight back behind the Tour, which seems less than thrilled by the new kid on the block.

“If the Team Golf Concept or another iteration of this structure becomes a reality in 2022 or at any time before or after, our members will have to decide whether they want to continue to be a member of the PGA Tour or play on a new series,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan wrote in a letter to players last week.

Regardless of the Tour’s wishes (or the PGL’s start date), it doesn’t appear the new league is headed to the backburner any time soon.

“There are smart people behind this. The Raine Group, they’re Wall Street geniuses,” Norman said. “They’re not doing this to give away money, they’re doing this to get a return on their investment.”

2020-02-07 17:01:53Z
https://www.golf.com/news/2020/02/07/greg-norman-optimistic-premier-golf-league/