Exploring the financial structure of the PGA Tour, the chapter delves into the emergence of LIV golf, a Saudi-backed tour, raising concerns about Saudi Arabia's motives and the concept of sports washing. It compares the financial appeal of the Saudi tour to the PGA tour and discusses the tensions between players, revenue sharing, and transparency within the professional golf world.
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).