Wagering on Saudi-owned LIV Golf is not welcome at sports betting sites in the Bay State.
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) met Tuesday and unanimously rejected the addition of LIV Golf events to the commonwealth's list of approved wagering markets.
While Massachusetts sports betting includes gambling on the PGA Tour, majors, and other golf events, its wagering catalog did not previously allow for LIV-related markets.
It will not for the foreseeable future, either, as commissioners voiced concern about the financial backing of LIV, which is owned by a Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund, as well as the recent controversy reignited by a proposed merger of LIV with the U.S.-based PGA Tour.
The request was to allow wagering on the league in its current form and before its proposed merger, which was envisioned as taking place in 2024. Commissioner Eileen O’Brien noted the U.S. Justice Department is reportedly eyeing the LIV-PGA tie-up over antitrust considerations.
“So in terms of a request based on the merged entity, etc., I would not be wanting to do that for that reason,” O’Brien said during Tuesday’s meeting. “And then for a lot of the reasons that are in the press in terms of the financial backing of the LIV league, to me, I feel uncomfortable putting this in our catalog, even as a LIV freestanding, notwithstanding the DOJ investigation of the merger.”
According to documents for today's Massachusetts Gaming Commission meeting, LIV Golf prohibits its players from gambling on the sport, including its events and those of rival tours. MGC is reviewing a request from DraftKings to add LIV events to the state's sports-betting… pic.twitter.com/XClKyQl9Ah
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) July 11, 2023
LIV Golf is indeed something of a fraught subject these days. The MGC meeting took place at the same time as one held by a subcommittee of the U.S. Senate's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee regarding the proposed merger of the PGA Tour and LIV, which only began play last year.
The PGA TOUR, DP World Tour, and the LIV-owning Public Investment Fund (PIF), the last of which is Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, and one of the largest in the world, announced in early June a deal to merge their golf businesses into a new for-profit entity.
While the agreement was framed as a way to drive interest and ensure top-level competition in the sport, Saudi Arabia's involvement, the country's human-rights record, and the potentially dominant market position of the new entity (among other things) have attracted the attention of lawmakers and regulators.
“Today's hearing is about much more than the game of golf,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal said at the outset of Tuesday’s Senate meeting. “It's about how a brutal, repressive regime can buy influence, indeed, even take over a cherished American institution to cleanse its public image.”
Swing and a miss
That controversy was a driving force behind the MGC’s decision to keep LIV Golf off the state’s legal sports betting menu.
Boston-based bookmaker DraftKings was the operator that petitioned the MGC to add LIV Golf events to the Massachusetts sports betting catalog. The request was done so “to add this league prior to its merger believed to take place for the 2024 season,” the MGC’s summary noted.
DraftKings also said it is offering wagering on LIV Golf events in other states and does not believe it needs to contact the league before adding it in Massachusetts. Nevertheless, commissioners decided against allowing operators to take bets on LIV.
“If this is for the ‘24 season, I think we have time that we can take another look at this in the very near future,” Commissioner Bradford Hill said Tuesday. “And I think we need that time. But I too am not comfortable putting this in our catalog right now with all the controversy that surrounds it.”
