{"id":84430,"date":"2024-03-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-17T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2024\/03\/17\/game-set-and-match-to-the-pif\/"},"modified":"2024-03-17T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-03-17T00:00:00","slug":"game-set-and-match-to-the-pif","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2024\/03\/17\/game-set-and-match-to-the-pif\/","title":{"rendered":"Game, set, and match to the PIF?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sports continued to drive the<\/strong> conversation for Saudi in the foreign <\/strong>press <\/strong>over the <\/strong>weekend<\/strong>, with whispers on Bloomberg<\/a> suggesting that the PIF could be among a group of \u201cstrategic partners\u201d brought in by the ATP Tour, the governing body of men\u2019s professional tennis, to help expand the sport. <\/p>\n

The PIF and other government agencies could earmark some USD 2 bn<\/strong> for ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, raise prize money, sponsorship funding and a new tennis event here, two sources told Bloomberg. <\/p>\n

AND- <\/strong>Reuters<\/a><\/strong> writes that PIF is looking to invest in a new tournament<\/strong> that would join the nine high-profile Masters 1000 tournaments that attract top players. <\/p>\n

BACKGROUND- <\/strong>The PIF signed a \u201cmulti-year strategic partnership\u201d<\/a> with ATP Tour that would see it become the official naming partner of ATP rankings and partner in ATP Tour events, including Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Beijing, and Italy\u2019s Nitto ATP Finals. It also includes the Next Gen ATP Finals, which Jeddah will host until 2027.<\/p>\n

IN GOLF- Player directors of the PGA Tour are reportedly preparing for a sit-down with <\/strong>PIF boss <\/strong>Yasir Al Rumayyan <\/strong>in the coming days<\/strong> for talks on the fate of the PGA Tour merger with PIF-backed LIV Golf, The Guardian<\/a> reported. \u201cWe are being encouraged to potentially meet with them at some point, yeah,\u201d former world number one Jordan Spieth, who is also one of the player directors of the PGA Tour said. His statements come amid speculation<\/a> that a big investment in PGA by US sports bn\u2019aires could have scuppered merger talks with PIF.<\/p>\n

Also getting attention:<\/strong><\/p>\n