Mickelson, DeChambeau Sue PGA Tour Alleging Antitrust Violations

Breaking Business Mickelson, DeChambeau Sue PGA Tour Alleging Antitrust Violations Derek Saul Forbes Staff New! Follow this author to improve your content experience. Got it! Aug 3, 2022, 01:38pm EDT | Updated Aug 3, 2022, 02:22pm EDT Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Topline A group of 11 LIV Golf players led by Americans Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau filed an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour in federal court Wednesday, setting the stage for a contentious legal battle between the rival golf circuits. Phil Mickelson, left, and Bryson DeChambeau, right, are among the 11 LIV Golf players who sued the .

. . [+] PGA Tour.

Getty Images Key Facts The PGA Tour—which has suspended all members who play in LIV Golf events—has acted in a “nakedly anticompetitive manner” and seeks the “destruction of competition,” the 11 golfers wrote in a complaint filed in the U. S. District Court of Northern California.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the lawsuit. Three of the golfers—Talor Gooch, Matt Jones and Hudson Swafford—asked a judge to issue a temporary restraining order so they can play in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs. The suit comes as a surprise given the PGA Tour confirmed last month the Department of Justice had launched an antitrust investigation, and several legal experts told Forbes last month they expected golfers to await results from the federal probe as opposed to taking action of their own given the hefty legal expenses associated with antitrust suits.

Key Background Financed by the Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, LIV Golf has signed away 10 of the top 50 ranked golfers in the world thanks to huge contracts. The PGA Tour responded in June by suspending DeChambeau, Mickelson and other tour members slated to play in LIV Golf events. The PGA Tour has argued internally and externally that it has not acted in an anticompetitive manner, telling tour members in a memo obtained by Forbes last month it is “confident that it has acted, and will continue to act, in full compliance with the antitrust laws.

” A 1990s antitrust investigation by the Federal Trade Commission did not find the PGA Tour guilty, a fact alluded to by the tour in the memo sent after news of the Justice Department investigation broke. However, Marc Edelman, a professor of law at Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business, told Forbes last month that the results of the earlier probe may no longer be a fair precedent given the federal government’s recent handling of sports antitrust cases. Crucial Quote “The players are right to have brought this action to challenge the PGA’s anti-competitive rules and to vindicate their rights as independent contractors to play where and when they choose,” LIV Golf spokesperson Jane MacNeille said in an emailed statement to Forbes .

“Despite the PGA Tour’s effort to stifle competition, we think golfers should be allowed to play golf. ” Further Reading Here’s Why The PGA Should Worry About DOJ Probe, Experts Say ( Forbes ) Follow me on Twitter . Send me a secure tip .

Derek Saul Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions.