Six days after Buffalo Bills safety Jordan Poyer announced the cancelation of his Celebrity Open golf tournament at Trump National Doral, the All-Pro has reversed course.
Poyer broke the news himself during an appearance on FOX News on Friday, June 30. “It’s going to be a great time,” the 32-year-old said. Avalon Sports put out an official statement that confirmed the event was not changing locations, but would proceed as scheduled on July 10 at The Blue Monster Course, which is owned by the former president’s company.
Avalon Sports announced the event will still benefit Erie County Medical Center Foundation. While Poyer told The Buffalo News in an article published on Thursday, June 29 that he “wasn’t going to work with them anymore” and felt like he was “being used as a pawn to do what they need me to do,” he also said, “I would love to work with them again if that path crossed.”
Poyer told the outlet that he was fully aware canceling the event would kickstart a controversial debate. “I knew the entire time what I was doing,” he told The Buffalo News “It was going to start a conversation.”
“Everything was moving smoothly (with the golf tournament) and then all of a sudden, obviously the indictments started to come out with Trump, whatever that means.” Earlier this month, Trump became the first former president to face federal criminal charges. Between being charged with 71 felony counts, and being found liable by a jury in May for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll, per AP News, many people struggled to get on board with the event’s location choice.
The Event’s New Sponsor, PublicSq., Is a Conservative Online Shopping Alternative
Avalon Sports revealed a new sponsor for Poyer’s Celebrity Open in their statement. “We are grateful to announce that PublicSq. will be our presenting sponsor for this year’s edition,” they wrote.
PublicSq. promotes itself as “America’s Marketplace” for “freedom-loving Americans.” According to The New York Post, companies must “be approved for the platform” and “promise to respect PublicSq.’s ‘pro-America’ values — and promise that they won’t ‘spend time, money, or resources antagonistically against those values.'”
PublicSq.’s CEO Michael Seifert told the outlet, “The companies they look for are operated by businesses that are ‘pro-life, pro-family, and pro-freedom.” The company said in a statement to The New York Post on Friday, “PublicSq is proud to partner with Jordan Poyer. We’re glad to see he’s standing against the cancel-culture mob that tried to shut down this charity event and we will always support freedom-loving Americans like Jordan whenever there is an opportunity to do so.”
It’s unclear who the “cancel-culture mob” as it’s unknown which sponsors or golfers pulled out “last minute,” as his wife, Rachel Bush, described on Twitter. Poyer thanked PublicSq. for stepping in a video posted on Instagram and noted that they still have sponsorship opportunities available. For those who’d like to attend or participate, “Put your beliefs aside, put your thoughts aside, don’t matter. Just come and have a great time,” Poyer said.
Fans Had Strongly Mixed Reactions the Rescheduled Event
Fans had strongly mixed reactions to the golf tournament still taking place at Trump National Doral. One person tweeted, “It’s almost like there’s hundreds of other golf courses in florida not named after an 2x impeached president,” while another man wrote, “I can’t wait until football season. Drama for no reason. Cancel something nobody knew about and say you’re being repressed. Only to not cancel it at all. Corny.”
Between the much-publicized cancelation and revamped announcement, Cover 1 contributor Greg Vorse tweeted, “Helluva job stirring up attention.”
Others were incredibly excited to see Poyer’s event go as originally planned. One woman tweeted, “Happy it all worked out!”
While Seifert told Newsweek that PublicSq. saw their platform “skyrocket” in popularity following backlash regarding Bud Light’s partnership with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney, Caitlyn Jenner was thrilled to see the company become a sponsor of the event. Jenner tweeted, “Thanks to @officialpsq for coming through!!! The public pressure worked and the tournament is back on! @TrumpDoral.”
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