After I wrote about the European Super League in my last column over a fortnight ago, I thought “yeah, no one is going to try something this dumb again.”
I, alongside most other sport fans out there, had every reason to believe that everyone had learnt their lesson by now and would simply let the current leagues carry on with their traditions without any added shakeups.
But nah, here we are yet again. Golf has had the PGA Tour in America and some other places for god knows how long, and a European tour in Europe. Certain events on the calendar draw millions of viewers and are a really special time of year – for example; the US Open, the Masters, etc. These are all steeped in tradition, and to even comprehend players leaving it for another league is unworldly. A super league backed by Saudi Arabia has reportedly offered 10 of the top current players roughly $30 million to $50 million (USD) contracts to come and play in their franchise tournament.
What was the PGA’s response to this? Suspension and possible lifetime bans to players who defect to the dark side. Fair enough I say – protecting what they have and what people already watch in the millions. Rory McIlroy, one of the best golfers in the world, blatantly called it a money grab. He compared it to the European Super League, which has been labelled a disgrace by many (and already failed).
Luckily, so far we have seen no players, sponsors, or manufacturers sign up to this godforsaken league. With that being said, it is absolutely mind blowing that these fellas are being offered tens of millions of dollars to hit some balls around a big open field, when they’re already being paid millions to do it on their current tour. Meanwhile, I’m just trying to make sure I hit a few fairways while I pay $X per year to play at my course.
