Saudi Arabia has been making investments in various sports, spreading its influence and evolving the country, with the recently announced merger between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour being the latest example.
The country’s Public Investment Fund is the main driver behind LIV Golf, and the kingdom has faced accusations that it is attempting to improve its international image and reputation by funding the league — a tactic known as “sportswashing.”
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Activists who oppose LIV and other investments have pointed to the country’s history of human rights violations, particularly the 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, has touted sport as an important part of helping transform the country for the future through its Vision 2030.
Here is a look at some of the sports Saudi Arabia has thrown money at.
Golf
LIV Golf, founded in 2021, has been one of the most visible investments in sport by Saudi Arabia, with a challenge to the long-running PGA Tour.
The PGA Tour has resisted LIV Golf over the past two years, but LIV Golf had bigger money prizes and was enticing golfers to defect, which likely pressured the PGA Tour to partner with the upstart league rather than continue to compete with it on the green and in the courtroom.
With the merger announcement on Tuesday, the Public Investment Fund is going to “make a capital investment into the new entity to facilitate its growth and success,” something PGA golfer Rory McIlroy alluded to at a press conference on Wednesday.
“At least the PGA Tour now controls how that money is spent. If you’re thinking about one of the biggest sovereign wealth funds in the world, would you rather have them as a partner or an enemy? At the end of the day, money talks, and you’d rather have them as a partner,” McIlroy said.
Soccer
Two major investments Saudi Arabia has made in soccer involve a Portuguese player and an English club.
Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the most well-known soccer players in the world, signed a $75 million a year contract with Saudi Club Al-Nassr in December 2022. Ronaldo’s signing was easily the most high profile of the Saudi league’s history and lured him away from top soccer leagues, including Serie A, La Liga, and the Premier League, with the high contract value.
Another recent investment in the “beautiful game” by the Saudis was when the Public Investment Fund purchased Newcastle United as part of an investment group in 2021.
“We are extremely proud to become the new owners of Newcastle United, one of the most famous clubs in English football. We thank the Newcastle fans for their tremendously loyal support over the years and we are excited to work together with them,” Yasir Al-Rumayyan, PIF governor, said in a statement at the time.
The purchase of Newcastle United gives the Saudis a club in arguably the most illustrious soccer league in Europe and the world.
Formula One
The Saudi Arabian government also expanded its sporting footprint in 2020 when it announced a multi-year partnership with Formula One to establish a yearly Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah. The partnership was touted as part of the country’s “transformational journey” at the time of announcement.
“Saudi Arabia is accelerating forward and the speed, energy, excitement of Formula 1 perfectly reflects the transformational journey the country is on. As we’ve witnessed in recent years our people want to be at the very heart of the biggest moments in live sport and entertainment. And they don’t come any bigger than Formula 1,” Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Saud, Saudi minister of sport, said in a statement at the time.
The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was held in 2021, 2022, and 2023, and is expected to be held again in 2024.
WWE
The professional wrestling organization has maintained a relationship with the Saudi government for nearly a decade since it first announced a WWE event in the country in December 2013. Since the first event in 2014, WWE has hosted a dozen events in the country and announced an expansion to their partnership in 2019.
The 2019 announcement promised an expanded “live event partnership through 2027,” with WWE specifically mentioning Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 as a motivating factor behind the expanded partnership.
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“This long-term partnership demonstrates WWE and GEA’s commitment to bring sports entertainment to the region and supports Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030,” the 2019 news release said.
The most recent WWE event hosted in Saudi Arabia was the Night of Champions in Jeddah last month.
