PGA Tour Seeks Dismissal Of Haney Lawsuit, Cites "Supervisory Interest" In SiriusXM Programming

Back in February the judge in Hank Haney’s lawsuit sealed the docket as mediation and discovery were ongoing, suggesting the sides might be talking.

Now Rex Hoggard reports for GolfChannel.com that the PGA Tour is back in court asking to dismiss the suit that cost Haney his popular SiriusXM radio show.

Stopping short of confirming its Radio Sawgrass status, lawyers for the Tour argued it had the right to censor the channel as part of a licensing agreement. Did I say censor? I mean, took a “supervisory interest” in Sirius XM.

From Hoggard’s report:

Haney’s contention that the Tour interfered with his contract stems at least partly from a call from Tour commissioner Jay Monahan to Scott Greenstein, SiriusXM president and chief content officer, the day after the incident.

Monahan told Greenstein that Haney’s comments were “completely unacceptable, indefensible.” In his testimony Greenstein said Monahan “was clearly upset” but that he “did not threaten Greenstein.”

The Tour also argued in its motion for summary judgement that the circuit has a “supervisory interest” in SiriusXM as a result of the license agreement between the two organizations and that “programming was required to be agreed upon by the parties in advance of distribution.”

They don’t call it state media for nothin!