Qatar’s government-owned Investment Authority is growing its investments in United States sports teams and now has a minority stake in the NBA’s Washington Wizards, the NHL’s Washington Capitals, and the WNBA’s Washington Mystics.
The stakes in the teams fell into the hands of the Muslim nation when it purchased five percent of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the investment group that owns stakes in the teams, according to Sportico.
The Qatari investment is part of a $4.05 billion deal that also includes stakes in G League’s Capital City GoGo, Capital One Arena, and NBC Sports Washington, among other organizations and properties.
The process now moves to approval of the deal among the leagues, though the National Hockey League has apparently already signaled its approval. The NBA has yet to make a decision.
Qatar now joins Saudi Arabia in expanding ownership stakes in American sports as the Saudi government-backed Public Investment Fund (PIF) continues to develop its two-billion-dollar merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.
The PGA Tour merger is highly controversial and comes amid accusations that the Tour is participating in “sportswashing” Saudi money.
A group of 9/11 family members and survivors from the organization 9/11 Justice hold a press conference in Bedminster, New Jersey, on July 29, 2022. (TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)
The merger sparked a group of Democrat Congressmen to sponsor a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives to put a halt to the deal based on the Saudis’ dismal record on human rights.
An investigation into the proposed merger has also been launched by the Department of Justice.
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