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Tennis is probably the best candidate for a rival tour. Like golf, it’s an individual sport, which makes it easier for P.I.F. to lure athletes with big checks. And while there’s a smaller cohort of stars to recruit than in golf, a rival league would need only about a dozen players for an elite tour. Some tennis stars, including fifth-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas, have already played in Saudi Arabia at the Diriyah tennis exhibition. The threat of Saudi competition is likely one reason the WTA raised money from the private equity firm CVC Capital this year.
Not all options involve poaching athletes. Insiders say they expect the Saudis to begin investing in U.S. sports teams. The N.B.A. has already changed its rules to allow it. And while the N.F.L. doesn’t allow any institutional investors, many expect that to change soon, too.
And while the path didn’t seem available a couple of years ago, the most efficient route for P.I.F. to own a major sports series like the PGA Tour may now be to just acquire one.
“It certainly would be easier to come through the front door,” LionTree’s Michael said.
“If the PGA had, from the get-go, said, ‘Hey, you can value us at some massive premium to what we think we’re valued and give us $3 billion,’ we would have never had LIV Golf.” — Lauren Hirsch
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Trump’s latest legal limbo. Former President Donald Trump was charged with felony counts of retaining national defense secrets, conspiring to obstruct justice and making false statements. The charges add to a list of legal challenges for Trump, who leads early polling in the race to become the Republican presidential nominee next year.
Sequoia splits. The Silicon Valley venture capital firm separated into three companies: one focused on the United States and Europe, another on China, and one on India and Southeast Asia. The decision reflected how rising tensions between Washington and Beijing are making it harder for investors to operate in the world’s two biggest economies without facing severe political constraints.
Turmoil at CNN. David Zaslav, head of Warner Bros. Discovery, fired CNN’s chief executive, Chris Licht, after months of disquiet among the news network’s staff, falling ratings and an unflattering profile of the media executive in The Atlantic.
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