Exploring the ownership of major football clubs and controversies surrounding the acquisition of the World Cup, this chapter dives into ties with wealthy individuals from countries like Russia and Qatar. It discusses scheduling challenges posed by the Winter World Cup, contrasts the impracticality with a humorous analogy, and touches on issues like sports washing and the intersection of sports and politics.
In ancient Rome, it was bread and circuses. Today, it’s a World Cup, an Olympics, and a new Saudi-backed golf league that’s challenging the PGA Tour. Can a sporting event really repair a country’s reputation — or will it trigger the dreaded Streisand Effect? Also: why the major U.S. sports leagues are warming up to the idea of foreign investment.
- RESOURCES:
- "The New N.F.L. Owners?" by Lauren Hirsch, Kevin Draper, Michael J. de la Merced and Sarah Kessler (The New York Times, 2024).
- "PGA Tour Raises $1.5 Billion From Group of U.S. Investors," by Lauren Hirsch (The New York Times, 2024).
- "PGA Tour, LIV Golf Agree to Merge," by Andrew Beaton and Louise Radnofsky (The Wall Street Journal, 2023).
- Phil: The Rip-Roaring (and Unauthorized!) Biography of Golf's Most Colorful Superstar, by Alan Shipnuck (2022).
- "Dustin Johnson Paid £100m to Perform Late U-Turn and Join Saudi-Backed Rebel Series," by By James Corrigan and Tom Morgan (The Telegraph, 2022).
- "Russia Was the Hottest Place in Sports. Now It’s Frozen Out," by Joshua Robinson, Ben Cohen, and Louise Radnofsky (The Wall Street Journal, 2022).
- "Could This Be the Year ‘Sportwashing’ Backfires?" by Andrés Martinez (The Los Angeles Times, 2022).
- "The Truth About Phil and Saudi Arabia," by Alan Shipnuck (The Fire Pit Collective, 2022).
- The New Yale Book of Quotations, by Fred Shapiro (2021).
- "The Surprising Reason That There Are So Many Thai Restaurants in America," by Myles Karp (Vice, 2018).