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A joint motion has been filed by the attorneys of both LIV Golf and the PGA Tour to the US District Court for Northern California asking for a case management conference to discuss postponing the existing trial date and extending the discovery schedule for the ongoing antitrust lawsuit.
The current trial is scheduled for January 2024 under the supervision of U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman. The last date for complete document discovery is set for March 30, while the cutoff for fact discovery is on May 26.
The argument given by the LIV golf Lawyers was that “the Tour is exploiting litigation delay to choke off air to LIV and players” and that the current schedule is “not only workable but critical to the careers of the Player Plaintiffs and the viability of LIV as a legitimate competitor to the Tour.”
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Last year, eleven golfers from the Saudi Circuit funded by the Public Investment Fund filed an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour. However, several players have dropped their names from the lawsuit over the last six months. Only Bryson DeChambeau, Matt Jones, and Peter Uihlein are left out now.
The PGA Tour has four reasons for its argument.
- The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF) and its governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, are still refusing to concede the subpoenas issued by the Tour for documents and testimony. The dispute is yet to be resolved and is likely to result in an appeal.
- Since the recently submitted documents describe PIF and Mr. Al-Rumayyan in a pivotal role in interfering with the Tour's contract, the Tour has appealed to amend its counterclaims of including PIF and Mr. Al-Rumayyan as counter-defendants.
- The present and ex-LIV complainants, including players and third parties, have failed to produce important documents, and some parties have even failed to produce any documents at all.
- Since the court set the current January 2024 trial date, the nature of this case has seen a significant evolution, from a case involving individual golfers to a case involving two rival golf leagues. This shift has undermined the reasoning behind the plaintiffs' demand for a fast-tracked trial schedule.
"Given the present status of discovery (or lack thereof) from PIF and Mr. Al-Rumayyan in particular, it is not realistic for the parties to meet the current deadlines," the Tour's attorneys wrote.
It further noted:
"In fact, PIF and Mr. Al-Rumayyan have already signaled that they are unlikely to comply with any order from this Court compelling them to provide discovery. Instead, they are indicating that they will pursue their meritless defenses through lengthy appeals."
LIV Golf's new season to kick off this month
Last week, the Saudi-based circuit announced its full schedule for 2023. The new season will feature 14 events in six different countries. Eight of the events will be held in the United States.
The first event will take place from February 24 to February 26 at Mayakoba’s El Camaleón Golf Course on Mexico’s Riviera Maya, Feb. 24-26.
Here is the full season schedule:
