Why Saudi Arabia Is Really Investing in Golf and Soccer – Foreign Policy

The story about Saudi Arabia investing heavily in international sports to launder its public image—a practice known as “sportswashing”—never seems to get old. Just as it was beginning to ebb, the country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) announced the acquisition of a $100 million stake in the U.S.-based mixed martial arts (MMA) Professional Fighters League. Though unlikely to cause as much of a stir as the announcement that Saudi-owned LIV Golf was partnering with the Professional Golf Association, the move nevertheless suggests that Riyadh will not be deterred in expanding its portfolio of sports properties.

The story about Saudi Arabia investing heavily in international sports to launder its public image—a practice known as “sportswashing”—never seems to get old. Just as it was beginning to ebb, the country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) announced the acquisition of a $100 million stake in the U.S.-based mixed martial arts (MMA) Professional Fighters League. Though unlikely to cause as much of a stir as the announcement that Saudi-owned LIV Golf was partnering with the Professional Golf Association, the move nevertheless suggests that Riyadh will not be deterred in expanding its portfolio of sports properties.

In addition to its foray into golf and now MMA, the PIF owns Newcastle United of the English Premier League, and there is some talk of a major investment in tennis. The Saudis have also made headlines by signing some of the biggest names in international soccer to play in the kingdom’s fourth-rate (at best) professional league. In addition to Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar Jr., and Karim Benzema—who have signed combined contracts worth nearly $600 million—there are at least another two dozen other footballers who have departed more prestigious leagues to play in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia’s investment in international sports has exposed the country’s leadership to charges from activists, journalists, analysts, and U.S. politicians of all stripes that the Saudis are using golf, soccer, and now MMA to obscure their human rights record and other unsavory aspects of the country’s political system.

But if that was the goal, it has not worked. The best evidence of this failure is the bevy of stories about how the Saudis are sportswashing that repeat in detail the transgressions of Saudi Arabia’s rulers, especially Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. With nearly every announcement of the PIF’s investment in a league, purchase of a team, or revelation of enormous contracts for soccer stars, the details of Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses are repeated—atrocities such as the  butchering of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as well as more recent outrages such as the alleged mass killing of Ethiopian migrants along the Saudi-Yemeni border and the death sentence handed down to a 54-year-old retired teacher named Mohammed al-Ghamdi for reposting criticisms of the crown prince on X—where Ghamdi has a meager total of 10 followers across two accounts—and YouTube.

The Saudis may be sportswashing—though any country that hosts an international competition of some sort can be accused of the same—but the charge misses the Saudi leadership’s larger goal: to convince the world that Saudi Arabia is not just the world’s largest gas station, but that it is also an important player in a variety of other fields, including finance, high-tech, geopolitics, the arts, entertainment, and yes, sports. Sport itself is not the point—it’s merely a loss leader in a much more elaborate national branding campaign.

This is how LIV Golf, Newcastle United, and other sports investments intersect with the much-discussed but rarely read Vision 2030, which is both a road map and a marketing deck (more the latter) for Mohammed bin Salman’s ambitious economic and social reform project. Along with sports, Vision 2030 commits Saudi Arabia to investing in tourism and tech, among other things. Much of this is aimed at changing the narrative around Saudi Arabia from a country dominated by oil and religion to one that’s modern, progressive, and cutting edge—a “Cool Arabia,” if you will.

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Take one example: Just five years ago, the Saudi city of Al Ula—home to some of the world’s most magnificent ruins, including a UNESCO World Heritage Site—was a sleepy town whose treasures few had ever seen, and where there was no place for visitors to stay. Today, it boasts a variety of luxury accommodations that are attracting well-heeled tourists and conference-goers from all over the world.

In early 2023, the Saudis announced major investments from tech behemoths Microsoft, Oracle, and Huawei. And in August, the crown prince announced a $200 million initiative that will, in part, foster the commercial application of research and development being undertaken at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. It is uncertain whether the investment in tech will pan out, but the headlines create the perception that Saudi society is on the move; that the kingdom is bigger, bolder, and better than it was in the past.

And, of course, there is nothing cooler than Neom, the crown prince’s futuristic city emerging along Saudi Arabia’s northwest, which has no real reason for being other than the fact that Mohammed bin Salman dreamed it up (and apparently keeps changing his mind about, to the eternal frustration of his planners). When, not long after Neom was announced, a group of analysts asked Saudi officials from the PIF and Ministry of Investment what justified such an enormous investment, they gleefully mustered that the vision for the city was “cool.”

The Saudis have also invited major ballet companies to perform in Jeddah; hosted one of the world’s largest raves; and screened Barbie, which was banned in neighboring Kuwait, Lebanon, and Algeria. (Of course, it is still Saudi Arabia. According to news reports, the rapper Iggy Azalea was forced to cut a late August set in Jeddah short because a “wardrobe malfunction” revealed a bare left leg, including her upper thigh.)

The quality of play on the LIV Golf tour was never really an issue for its owners—what matters more to the Saudis is merely that LIV Golf exists, and that Neom will exist, and that they hosted a giant rave. In the same way, there was never any chance that the National Security Advisors’ meeting that Mohammed bin Salman convened on Aug. 5 in Jeddah was going to advance the cause of peace in Ukraine. Rather, the point was to demonstrate the Saudi leadership’s power in bringing together the U.S. national security advisor, his Indian counterpart, a senior Chinese diplomat, and senior officials from 40 other countries.

The fact that Chinese Special Envoy for Eurasian Affairs Li Hui attended, given the state of Sino-American relations and Beijing’s relationship with Moscow, was for the Saudis an important indication of their influence and a marker that Riyadh is in a certain league of the most important international actors. That nothing of note was accomplished at the conclave did not matter one whit. And although sports, entertainment, arts, and diplomacy are obviously different, they are all aimed at establishing Cool Arabia.

It would be disingenuous to suggest that everything the Saudis have done in the better part of the past half decade is just for public relations purposes. The crown prince has overseen real reforms that many Saudis like, including the opening of cultural spaces so that those who are so inclined can go see Barbie, attend an MMA match, or enjoy the ballet.

But the sudden burst of activity and investment across a number of sectors seems contrived. Like Neom, the summit on Ukraine, as well as investment in sports, culture, and entertainment, are an ostentatious effort to convince the world that unlike the allegedly passive kingdom of Mohammed bin Salman’s uncles, who allowed the British and Americans to shape the Middle East, Saudi Arabia is destined to be a global mover and shaker during the crown prince’s reign.

That’s all fair, and best of luck to Mohammed bin Salman and his advisors. But surely they realize that it is not just about the spectacle of investing in sports, convening summits, and throwing giant raves. If Saudi Arabia wants to be a big deal, it can’t be just a show. Everyone knows that Saudi Arabia can move energy markets, but if the Saudis want to be taken seriously, they will need to do far more than paying gobs of money to soccer stars. If they don’t, Mohammed bin Salman will be reduced to little more than a ringmaster in his own circus.