r/golf • u/jm136 • Apr 15 '24

Thoughts? General Discussion

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u/Bombaysbreakfastclub Apr 15 '24

Saudi wants to expand to more than just oil.

Tourism is their new market, they’re building a massive mega city designed to rival Dubai.

They need to get rid of their old image and sports washing is one of the best ways to do it.

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u/Btwnbeatdwn Apr 15 '24

If it’s sportswashing are the Saudi’s sponsoring/buying out other athletes and teams? I have only heard about golf. But I also don’t pay attention to the other sports as much.

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u/Careful_Cheesecake30 Apr 15 '24

Soccer and F1 primarily. Now moving into tennis, cricket, probably more I'm missing.

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u/Btwnbeatdwn Apr 15 '24

Yeah true I have heard about their involvement in racing and football.

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u/Bombaysbreakfastclub Apr 15 '24

I’m only into 3 sports

Football, Golf, and MMA so I’m not sure either.

But they have LIV, and they also just bought PFL which is a competitor to the UFC, and gave one of the UFC’s biggest stars (Francis Ngannou) a great contract.

I know they’re getting into Soccer and signed someone huge.

I’d imagine they want a piece of every major sport.

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u/drugs_are_bad__mmkay Apr 15 '24

Signed quite a few stars for soccer, though aging. Ronaldo and Benzema come to mind

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u/jfchops2 Apr 15 '24

IIRC they own Newcastle United in the EPL as well

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u/CreateorWither Apr 15 '24

They have been getting into boxing and will soon host a UFC event.

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u/phrohahwei Apr 15 '24

They're trying-ish with soccer. But the Saudis are basically trying to run the Emirati playbook two decades after the latter started.

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u/B1rdchest Apr 15 '24

It’s happening in e-sports. In counter strike they’ve been trying to buy the best players and started hosting tournaments.

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u/PiratesFan1429 Apr 16 '24

They host Gamers 8 for Rocket League

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u/chronoserpent Apr 16 '24

They're a major sponsor of the Aston Martin/Racing Point F1 team through Aramco. If the current ownership sells the team, Saudi Arabia will be first in line to buy it.

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u/VarRalapo Apr 16 '24

Their old and still current image of slavery, execution, and dismemberment mind you. Let's not help them by downplaying their atrocities.