Saudi money has flooded the sports world in recent years. Formula 1 came to Jeddah, the best boxers faced each other in the ring in Saudi Arabia and Cristiano Ronaldo went to play football in the Saudi Pro League. There were plans for the Asian Winter Games in a new city to be built in the desert, for a ‘flying stadium’ for the Football World Cup that the country will host in 2034. Nothing was too crazy.
Now it turns out that the trees do not grow into the sky after all. Last week the Saudi announced sovereign wealth fund PIF (with a capital of more than 900 billion dollars) to turn off the money tap for LIV Golf, the golf tour that split from the PGA tour with Saudi investments worth billions. This created a new global golf competition in addition to the existing one. The PIF, led by the all-powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (‘MBS’), reported that LIV Golf will no longer have to rely on Saudi money after the current season.
In January, Saudi Arabia withdrew from organizing the 2029 Asian Winter Games. Last month it became clear that the masters snooker tournament will not return to Saudi Arabia after two editions, despite a ten-year contract. And the end-of-year tennis tournament the WTA Finals will no longer take place there after this year.
What lies behind that?
The new course was already started some time ago. MBS itself announced earlier this year that it wanted to be ‘flexible’ and to focus mainly on projects that serve a clear domestic interest.
“Many megaprojects were behind schedule and overambitious. It was no longer financially sustainable,” says James Montague, author of Engulfed. How Saudi Arabia Bought Sport, and the Worldwhich will be published in Dutch later this month. “There was simply way too much spent.”
With the sports investments, Bin Salman wants to diversify the Saudi economy and make it less dependent on oil, including by attracting tourists and investments, as stated in the Saudi Vision 2030. At the same time, they must portray Saudi Arabia in a positive light and promote the numerous human rights violationssuch as the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, fade into the background, says Montague.
The investments are often ‘sportswashing’ mentioned, but Montague thinks that term does not cover it all. “sportswashing is mainly a distraction from the terrible things you do by linking your name to sports. But it is much more layered: it is also about becoming attractive through soft powermake yourself indispensable to countries in which you invest.” He means, for example, the United Kingdom, where the PIF owns football club Newcastle United.
Two personal factors also played a role in golf. Yasir al-Rumayyan, chairman of the PIF and confidant of MBS, is a huge golf fan. He was the driving force behind the aggressive campaign that lured top golfers away from the PGA for eight-figure sums and turned the golf world upside down. A nice bonus for the Saudis: Donald Trump also likes golf, and through LIV they were able to keep in touch with his family. This weekend the golfers will tee off at the Trump National Golf Club, near Washington.
Little fun for the public and golfers
Since its founding in 2021, the Saudis are estimated to have pumped around $5 billion into LIV Golf. With the exception of a few events, the public was not particularly interested. The format in which golfers play against each other in teams did not catch on, and the players detached from the PGA tour also seemed to enjoy it little, Montague saw during a report for his book in Dallas. Visitors appeared to be particularly interested in the Dutch DJ Martin Garrix, who, exceptionally, they could admire along the track for 30 dollars per ticket.
LIV never offered the prospect of financial gain for the Saudi treasury. In 2024, the organization recorded a loss of $461 million, compared to $395 million a year earlier. Al-Rumayyan had to give up his toy and recently stepped down as chairman of LIV. Irish CEO Scott O’Neil faces the almost impossible task of realizing a restart.
The allocation of the 2034 World Cup has played an important role in reconsidering expenditure
Now the Saudis want to focus on investments that also yield financial results and that mainly serve their own population. “Two-thirds of people in Saudi Arabia are under the age of 35,” says sports scientist Simon Chadwick. “The investments also have a bread-and-play element. If you give top sports and entertainment to the youth, they are less inclined to protest or ask questions.” Stopping LIV Golf fits well with the new strategy, according to Chadwick. “They reject assets that do not provide clear financial gain and do not contribute to the Saudi sports system. And no Saudi is interested in golf.”
According to Chadwick, the awarding of the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia in December 2024 has played an important role in reconsidering spending. “The Saudi government has started thinking about how to organize the Football World Cup successfully. That will cost a lot of money, and as a result other investments have proven to be too expensive.” For example, the mega project Neom, a futuristic city in a 170 kilometer line, has now been converted into a large number of data centers in a 2.4 kilometer strip.
The war in the Gulf region accelerated the changes that were already underway. Unable to export its oil due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Saudi Arabia is in financial difficulties. In addition, businessmen and tourists are more hesitant to travel to the Gulf States because of the war. “Saudi Arabia realizes that they are too hard power should apply, for example by investing in defense“, says Montague. “It thought it was in a safe bubble, but now it appears to be quite vulnerable. You can change a lot with money, but not your geography.”
Yet it also remains soft power important for normalization on the world stage, general popularity and fame of the country and policy goals such as frustrating climate action – for example, state oil company Aramco is still a sponsor of world football association FIFA and Formula 1.
E-sports and football are still important
Saudi investment in sports will increasingly focus on a number of strategic projects in the coming years, Chadwick predicts. One of these is e-sports, a hobby of MBS himself. “Saudi Arabia organizes the e-sports World Cup, bought gaming company Electronic Arts and works closely with Chinese computer manufacturer Lenovo.” For example, an entire ecosystem around e-sports operates from Saudi Arabia, Chadwick sees: “You could call it the international capital of e-sports. That would never have happened with golf.”
The Football World Cup is also important. The World Cup can count on billions of viewers worldwide and is commercially very interesting. Moreover, it is the number one national sport in Saudi Arabia. Its own Pro League is dominant in Asian club football, although fewer top players go there than a few years ago. Formula 1 also has that global appearance. Motorsport will be housed from 2028 with a new circuit in Qiddiya, an entertainment and tourism hub under construction, as part of the Saudi Vision 2030.
Fans of the Saudi football club Al Nassr
Photo REUTERS
And then there is Newcastle United, the football club that was taken over by the PIF in 2021. According to Montague, although it may not fit into the adapted strategy, this remains a useful asset, which “gives access to the largest sports competition in the world”, the English Premier League, “and thus to the largest billboard in the world. Sports that do not fit into the new Saudi strategy, such as boxing, must also fear for their financing, Montague expects.
And LIV Golf? Highly paid golfers like Jon Rahm will finish the season that runs until August. With their switch they gambled and lost. Some will return to the PGA with their tails between their legs, if it takes them into grace. Or they have to take a completely different turn: 32-year-old top player Bryson DeChambeau said this week that, if LIV Golf ceases to exist, he wants to focus on the growth of his YouTube channel.
Correction: An earlier version of this piece stated that golfer Brooks Koepka would also complete the season. However, he left LIV Golf in December 2025. That has been adjusted above.
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