An Overview of Saudi Involvement in Sports and Where We Stand Now

Whether we like it or not, Saudi Arabia has become a major force in global sports due to their financial investment. The Saudi-funded Public Investment Fund (PIF) now hosts events, owns teams, funds leagues, and will host the 2034 World Cup. In a sportswashing campaign that now has created leagues such as their attempt with LIV Golf, it started off by hosting events and buying/investing in teams. 

The PIF is Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund that is tied to their “Vision 2030,” which aims to diversify the Saudi economy beyond oil. According to PIF, sports are part of Saudi Arabia’s effort to grow tourism, entertainment, and new industries beyond oil. This has drawn harsh criticism and has been described as “sportswashing.” The idea behind this criticism is that sports can improve the nation’s international image, one that certainly needs repair in this case. According to Human Rights Watch, Saudi sports investments should be viewed alongside concerns about their human rights record. From murdered journalists to women’s and labor rights, alarms certainly ring when it comes to human rights in Saudi Arabia. PIF emphasizes economic development and diversification instead of the sportswashing angle. 

One of the earliest examples of this was WWE. Back in 2018, Saudi Arabia began a long-term partnership with WWE, which, according to WWE, was connected to Vision 2030. This was a prime example of the early strategy to bring major international events to Saudi Arabia. 

Shortly after, Saudi Arabia used this strategy to become a major location for elite boxing. The first major boxing match to be held there was between Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz II in 2019. Hosting this high stakes, heavily trafficked, and heavily viewed event attracted tourism and international attention, which was exactly their goal. 

Beyond wrestling and boxing, Saudi Arabia then decided it was time to get involved with the booming industry that is Formula 1 racing. The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was born and the first iteration of it was in 2021, according to Formula 1. Saudi Arabia does not own Formula 1, so this was a continuation of their hosting and commercial partnership model. Suddenly, large sporting events being held in Saudi Arabia started to feel more normal, which was exactly their goal. It was soon after the Formula 1 partnership that the PIF decided to dip its feet into ownership. 

In 2021, a PIF-led group purchased the English Premier League club Newcastle United. At this point, hosting major events was seemingly part of the routine, so they got involved with ownership in a major institution of sport in the western world. For obvious reasons, this started to get people’s attention. The Newcastle acquisition raised an interesting legal issue. According to the Premier League, the deal was approved after it received “legally binding assurances” that Saudi Arabia itself would not fully control Newcastle United. The situation essentially became an ownership group that was invested only financially. Critics of the PIF and Vision 2030 did not remain silent, and the question became how separate a sovereign wealth fund truly is from the government that controls it. 

Seemingly before questions like that could even be answered, LIV Golf was born. This was their biggest step yet. PIF helped create a new professional golf league in 2022. Instead of buying into an organization that already existed, Saudi money created a very loud and direct competitor to the PGA Tour. LIV made noise by attracting big name golfers with large guaranteed contracts and prize money. LIV quickly became a force to be reckoned with in the golf world, poaching golfers from the PGA Tour and forcing the PGA to change the way they operate. The response from the PGA Tour caused major legal discussions about antitrust and competition. PGA players who left for LIV were faced with suspensions, a framework including fines was laid out for returning players, and the entire format of the PGA schedule was altered. This all came with lawsuits bringing up the question of whether an established league like the PGA can restrict players from joining a competitor.  

Come 2026, after years of pouring money into the league and not seeing a good return on their investment, LIV entered Chapter 11 restructuring. According to Reuters, LIV secured new financing to help make the league more sustainable, raising suspicion about whether or not Saudi-backed projects like LIV can even get to the point where they operate like a normal business. Now, the future of LIV is grim as their big stars are backing away from their agreements and the league itself has re-worked itself dramatically from its original identity. 

Saudi Arabia heavily invested in its own soccer league, as well. Beyond the long list of things that they involved themselves with, the PIF acquired major stakes (75%) in four major clubs in the Saudi league. From here, they used their influence and financial resources to sign major international soccer stars to come and play in the league. Most notably, Christiano Ronaldo was the biggest example of this. Their goal here was to make the Saudi Pro League more relevant on the international level. 

Investment from the PIF extends beyond ownership and launching competing leagues. As mentioned earlier, this whole concept began with hosting international events. PIF has created SRJ Sports Investments, which, according to PIF, invests in sports organizations, commercial rights, and international events. The biggest future example of this is the 2034 FIFA World Cup, which Saudi Arabia was selected to host. According to FIFA, the bid evaluation included infrastructure, commercial issues, sustainability, and human rights. This obviously raises eyebrows due to the rough human rights record that Saudi Arabia holds. Critics argue that FIFA should have applied a stronger human rights scrutiny in their evaluation. According to Human Rights Watch, Saudi Arabia’s hosting rights should receive greater attention because of concerns surrounding both labor and general human rights. 

Though the trend continues, we have clearly seen a shift in strategy and action over the years. According to Reuters, Saudi Arabia no longer plans to begin construction on a new World Cup Stadium this year. LIV Golf has also restructured and PIF has sold portions of its assets related to sports. This may signal a move from aggressive expansion toward financial sustainability driven by figuring out what works best for them. 

At this point, Saudi involvement in sports has grown far beyond simply hosting events or sponsoring teams. The Newcastle takeover raised questions about whether PIF should really be treated as separate from the Saudi government, while LIV Golf created antitrust issues after the PGA Tour suspended players who joined the new league. These situations show how Saudi investment has become large enough to create legal questions involving ownership, competition, and government involvement across sports. 

The biggest takeaway is that Saudi involvement in sports has grown far beyond simple sponsorship. Saudi-linked entities now act as owners, investors, league creators, and major event hosts across the sports world. Moving forward, the bigger question may be whether these investments can become financially sustainable enough to continue without the same level of massive state-backed spending, because as we saw with LIV Golf, it is not always feasible to operate that way.