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Golf

Pro Golfers Reference Threats To GSE Worldwide In PGA Tour Complaint

On August 3, many professional golfers, including Phil Mickelson, Talor Gooch, and Bryson DeChambeau, filed a Complaint, in federal court, against the PGA Tour. It largely reads like a lawsuit filed to provide relief to LIV Golf, which is upset that the PGA Tour has taken measures to dissuade golfers from playing in the new golf organization.

But one thing that caught my eye with regard to the sports agent industry is a claim surrounding GSE Worldwide, which represents many professional golfers and quite a few who have joined LIV Golf. The Complaint says that, at various points, the PGA Tour has threatened Tour members’ agents and business partners with punishment if the players joined LIV Golf.

“For example, in June and July 2022, the Tour threatened some Plaintiffs’ representatives at GSE Worldwide Management they would lose their credentials to represent any Tour members because several GSE Worldwide Management golfers had elected to join LIV Golf over the Tour’s threats,” states the Complaint.

GSE Worldwide represents multiple plaintiffs who have filed the lawsuit such as DeChambeau, Abraham Ancer, Jason Kokrak, and Carlos Ortiz.

GSE Worldwide has “creamed off millions of dollars in fees for funneling its clients into the Saudi rat trap,” per Eamon Lynch of Golfweek. His words, not mine.

By Darren Heitner

Darren Heitner created Sports Agent Blog as a New Year's Resolution on December 31, 2005. Originally titled, "I Want To Be A Sports Agent," the website was founded with the intention of causing Heitner to learn more about the profession that he wanted to join, meet reputable individuals in the space and force himself to stay on top of the latest news and trends.

Heitner now runs Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., which is a law firm with many practice areas, including sports law and contract law. Heitner has represented numerous athletes and sports agents as legal counsel. He has also served as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington from 2011-2014, where he created and taught a course titled, Sport Agency Management, which included subjects ranging from NCAA regulations to athlete agent certification and the rules governing the profession. Heitner serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where he teaches a Sports Law class that includes case law surrounding athlete agents and the NCAA rules.