On June 6, The PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf announced that they would come together to merge to form "a new collectively owned" entity in golf. The merger of the three golf tours in the latest chapter in Saudi Arabia's attempt to rule the world of sports. For sometime now Saudi Arabia is pushing hard to takeover sports and that has seen the Middle Easter country splurge outrageous sums of money in sports like football, Formula 1, horse racing and boxing. Here is a look at the the how Saudi Arabia is penetrating sports. (Image: Reuters)
Saudi Arabia has become the host of some of the premium boxing events. In 2019 Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz Jr went toe to toe for the IBF, WBA, WBO & IBO World Heavyweight titles at Diriyah Arena, Diriyah, Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabian authorities reportedly paid £30 million ($41.1 million) to host the event in Saudi Arabia.(Image: Reuters)
The Saudi Cup is an international horse race held at King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It is the richest horse race ever held, with a $20 million purse. The first edition of the race was held on February 29, 2020. (Image: Reuters)
In July 2022, Saudi Arabia’s public investment fund (PIF) expanded its sports portfolio by purchasing a stake in Formula 1 team Aston Martin. making it the second largest shareholder in the business after Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll. As a result of buying the stakes in Aston Martin, the race cars prominently featured the name "Aramco", one of the largest companies in the world, basted in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has hosted three grands prix since joining the Formula 1 calendar in 2021, most recently in March as the second race of the 2023 season.A Bloomberg report published in January also suggested that the PIF explored the idea of purchasing of Formula 1 altogether from Liberty Media Corp. by investing $20B. (Image: Reuters)
Saudi Arabia also made headlines in England when in 2021 the PIF completed the takeover of Premier League club Newcastle United F.C. in a deal worth just over £300 million. At the time of the takeover Newcastle were languishing at the 19th place on the Premier League table but the club finished at a respectable 11th place at the conclusion of the 2021-22 Premier League season. At the end of the 2022-23 season, Newcastle United finished fourth in the league thereby also securing a spot in the Champions League for the first time in 20 years. (Image: Reuters)
Saudi Arabia is also attempting to enhance the profile of its football league, The Saudi Pro League, by bringing in some of the best known faces in football for outrageous sums of money. Saudi Arabia's first major scalp was bringing in Cristiano Rolando. The Portugal, Manchester United and Real Madrid legend signed for Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr for a contract worth upwards of £173m a year. More recently, Karim Benzema, another Real Madrid legend and the current Ballon d'Or winner, headed to Middle East to join Al-Ittihad for a yearly salary of £172m.