So Rick Shiels has signed a multi-year strategic partnership with LIV Golf.

This is a fascinating move for Rick, and just the latest in years worth of dealings, partnerships and acquisitions between Rick and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, or PIF as you know it.
54 is a British golf PR powerhouse and they began managing Rick in 2016 alongside some other UK media personalities as well as brands including Titleist.
In 2022 54 acquired a significant stake in Rick Shiels Media and after this sale, Rick’s youtube channel skyrocketed, production improved and Rick Shiels became the most followed golf content creator in the world.
54 is part owned by Sanabil Private Equity, which is a Saudi Arabian company whose chairman is Yassir Al-Rumayyan, Al-Rumayyan is also chairman of Saudi Aramco, Newcastle United and he’s also the governor of the PIF, which of course funds and owns LIV Golf.

To recap, Sanabil Private Equity owns a part of 54, and 54 owns a part of Rick Shiels Media.

So although this announcement is new, the relationship between Rick Shiels Media & LIV’s ownership has been there for years, so this announcement shouldn’t really come across as a shock.
Public reaction has been very negative, with Rick losing over 20,000 youtube subscribers in 72 hours.
Rick and his co-host Guy have been critical of LIV in the past so that editorial integrity has been called into question and whether Rick’s team will still be critical of LIV going forward.
Now, what does this mean for us golf fans? Not much realistically, but will we start to see more of a social media battle between LIV and the PGA Tour who also have their own Creators Council, who knows?
Will it be entertaining, absolutely!
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