The Saudi Royal Family is preparing to launch a multibillion-dollar agency to invest in U.S. and European sports franchises, according to reports.
On the tail of the announced merger between the Saudi’s Public Investment Fund-backed LIV Golf with the U.S. PGA Tour, the government is preparing to grab up ownership portions of many other sports teams in the U.S. and elsewhere, according to the Financial Times.
“After the World Cup, there’s definitely been a sense of bullishness to invest in global sports,” said a person familiar with the PIF’s strategy to the Financial Times. “It was driven by the fact that Qatar did it so well, and Saudi Arabia’s performance in the World Cup. There’s been a noticeable sea change in how they look at global sports.”
Fans of Newcastle United wearing traditional Saudi headdresses following the ownership takeover by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund ahead of the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur at St. James Park on October 17, 2021, in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
The Saudis are not the first country in the Middle East to begin reaching outside their borders to invest in sports organizations. Abu Dhabi and Qatar have also initiated such investments.
However, the size of the Saudi campaign is unprecedented and shows that Riyadh is looking to gain global power and influence quickly.
However, the new investment effort will be separate from the PIF, and the PGA Tour merger will not be within its purview.
“The sovereign fund is chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s day-to-day ruler who has tasked the PIF with steering his country’s economic reform plan, increasingly centralising targeted sectors including sports under the sovereign wealth fund,” The Times wrote.
“The company, which is chaired by Prince Mohammed and has a $38bn war chest, has spent almost $8bn on acquisitions over the past 18 months in what one analyst described as a “bulldozer approach,” snapping up among others the US-based games developer Scopely for $5bn,” the Times added.
Attendees visit the Public Investment Fund (PIF) booth on day two of the Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022. (Tasneem Alsultan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The Saudi investment efforts come amid growing criticism of Saudi Arabia’s dismal human rights record. Some U.S. activist groups have accused U.S. sports franchises looking to team up with Saudi Arabia of perpetrating “sports washing” of Saudi human rights violations.
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