The world of professional golf has been upended by the new LIV tour that will compete with the PGA Tour and other existing tours worldwide.
LIV is funded by the Saudi Arabian government, which is backing the new tour with $2 billion.
Their pitch to attract pro golfers to their tour is straightforward. They're offering what the Yahoo Sports article LIV Golf: How a new league is upending the entire world of golf describes as "Vast, phenomenal, life-changing piles of cash."
According to reports, they guaranteed golfer Dustin Johnson more than $100 million, plus any prize money he wins, to join the new tour (which he did).
And LIV’s chief executive reported they offered Tiger Woods “mind-blowingly enormous amounts of money” to join. Woods, so far, has turned LIV down.
Professional golfers are not employees of the PGA.
They’re independent contractors who earn the right to play in PGA tour events.
However, PGA pro golfers need special permission from the PGA to play in non-PGA tour events. And the PGA is not granting permission to PGA Tour pros to play in LIV events.
Because of this, several pros have resigned their membership in the PGA, including Dustin Johnson. More are expected to follow, drawn by the large amounts of money offered by the Saudis.
This is also leading to questions about how professional golfers are classified and what rights they have as independent contractors. Key quote by pro golfer Rickie Fowler from Yahoo Sports What Dustin Johnson’s leap to Saudi-backed LIV means for golf:
“Are we independent contractors or not?” Rickie Fowler asked prior to the PGA Championship. “I feel like there needs to be some clarity between if you’re an independent contractor or ... basically an employee.”
The work-related issues pro golfers face are, obviously, very different than those of the average independent contractor or gig worker.
But at the core of this dispute is an issue that often comes up with independent workers, which is how much control an organization can exert over independent contractors.
And this will, like other gig worker classification issues, be decided by the courts.
But it's an interesting example of how all professions and industries are being impacted by the changing nature of work.
This dispute introduced us to a new buzzword - sportswashing. The Washington Post has a good article on this topic.